I inherited a toy wagon when my grandfather passed away:
The only thing my grandmother told me about it was that my grandfather had obtained it when he visited the set of Bonanza early on in the series, although I'm not sure how.
All the little pieces are independent of the wagon itself. They're all tied on with a few pieces of metal or string, and, from what I understand (I'm too afraid to actually try it), you can untie each of them and sort of set up camp. Anything anyone knows about it would be very much appreciated. I'd never consider selling it (it's all I have of him), but I'd like to know its origins or the history behind it. Is there such a thing as a toy historian?
This looks like an Allwood Brand Wood Kit. They were sold in hobby shops during the sixties and seventies. They were 1:16 scale models, based on the horse drawn vehicles that were seen on Bonanza or other television westerns. Allwood made five separate models ; You could build a Chuck Wagon, Beer Wagon, Conestoga Wagon, Covered Wagon and a Stage Coach.
It looks like you got an Allwood Covered Wagon model, with the extra "western stagecoach figurine décor" Those are the little pieces that are tied to the covered wagon. My father made the chuck wagon, beer wagon and stage coach models, when I was a little kid. Allwood does not have a web site and are probably out of business. Amazon says they are "out of stock" for the Allwood brand wood kits they used to sell.
If this isn't /r/askhistorians material, please tell me where this should've been posted, because I love stuff like this. The level of detail on that thing makes me wonder if maybe it weren't a toy at all, but rather a miniature that was used in making the TV show. I'm talking completely out my ear; don't take that too seriously. It's just the first thing to come to mind when I look at the photographs.