The little press behind Lehmann’s trademark

The familiar Lehmann mark is a stylised screw press. Brandenburg’s city museum dates its introduction as the company’s identifying symbol to 1888, with revised versions appearing in later years.

The connection to metalworking is more than decorative. Ernst Paul Lehmann’s first patented invention was an industrial sheet-metal container with a special closure. The museum records that proceeds from this invention supplied the starting capital for his toy factory, founded with Jean Eichner in Brandenburg in 1881.

Lehmann also protected toys, components and designs through patents. From 1907, the business described itself in advertisements as a Patentwerk.

On a tinplate toy, that small press emblem points back to a manufacturer whose inventions began with a useful industrial container.