Month: October 2014

Flip and Froggy

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Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: The Frogs have it! Let me start with this – I don’t collect frogs. (Not that there’s anything wrong with collecting frogs.) However, as a toy collector these three have found their way into our home. Starting with Flip who I purchased on eBay. He is made by Dean’s Rag Company and I consider him an undervalued toy. Mine isn’t in pristine condition (he’s an old, old frog after all) but I bought him, unchallenged, for very little. No one needed Flip that day, but me I guess.  I am a fan of the Flip the Frog cartoons, although it wasn’t until well into adulthood that I caught up with them. (Kim introduced me to them. He saw them on tv as a child – says it was big news in their house when they went on tv. I’ve already discussed how impoverished my childhood was compared to his.) I can’t resist including a specimen cartoon – I don’t remember seeing this one before.  Flip really is one strange looking frog – even when he isn’t playing a dentist.

Next up is Froggy. This toy came to us as a wedding gift – thank you Monty! Smilin’ Ed and Andy’s Gang did not make it into the rerun tv packages of my childhood either, and I was introduced to Froggy and company while Kim was working on his book Smilin’ Ed.  (Brief commercial for the family product: you can find Smilin’ Ed here.) Kim worked on the story through our early years together so Froggy has endeared himself to me, despite being absolutely evil in the book. Here is a clip of Froggy in action (Incidentally, I have always wondered why there don’t seem to be any Midnight the Cat toys, but they’d probably be sort of scary anyway.)

So you can imagine my great surprise when a few years ago I wandered into the mall at Columbus Circle just before Christmas and there in a pop-up shop I found the new Froggy shown here! That’s right, someone found one of the variations on the Froggy toy and recreated him….as a dog toy. I bought up the few they had in stock and later found the company online. Needless to say, several people received Froggy toys that year! Should you wish to order a rather expensive, lead-free dog toy for you or someone else who appreciates vintage tv you can do so at Roll Over Red Rover. Perhaps given his misdeeds it is Froggy’s karma to end up reincarnated as a dog toy.

My Little Pony

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post:  What child doesn’t fantasize about having their own pony?  Kim and I were just discussing this and of course, we both wanted, and were denied (Mom! Dad!) pony ownership.  I mean, it’s like having your own elephant when you’re a kid, right? Top ‘o the world! This little girl has it all going and she knows it. Not just that natty little pony, but the jaunty outfit and tack, complete with chaps, saddle bag and saucy hat. Let’s face it, accessories do make the girl. Completing this photo are the cobblestones and the upright picket fence behind her.

My mother was evidently quite a rider when she was young – mucking stalls for riding time along with her best friend. A riding accident eventually persuaded her that it was too dangerous for her children to pursue so I never learned to ride. I’m sure I would have gone through a prolonged girl loves horses stage. Instead, I pretended our German Shepard was a pony and rode her (and would dress the cat up and put her on the dog’s back – circus kitty) and became intimately absorbed in the life of the cat and dog instead. But boy, oh boy, I would have loved this set up!

Pam Postscript: I found this on eBay shortly after posting this. In my less romantic childhood, this was my trusty steed.  Cowboys and Indians alike watch out! I think I even thought it could go to the moon – perhaps not surprising having into consciousness in the 1960’s.

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Happy

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Pam’s Pictorama photo post:  On the back of this photo postcard, very faded and in barely visible script it says, This is “Happy” the pet of the family taking a piece of bread. Some of you may remember another photo postcard post with a cat named Happy Hooligan – Happy clearly a good name for a cat at the turn-of-the-century.  I am a real sucker for tuxedo cats and Happy is no exception – he is a dead ringer for at least two of mine from days gone by.  (RIP Roscoe and Zippy!) As handsome as Happy is, nothing takes center stage entirely away from that woman’s hat.  Wowzers! The hat, her sheer girth, her enjoyment of Happy, and Happy reaching up to grab the food (bread??) out of her hands – proving once again that cats haven’t changed a bit in the last 100 years – made me leap to buy this photo. (Ancient Egyptian cats were probably head butting their humans when happy and using their paws to grab a bit of food from people’s hands.) It is a satisfying scene – sunny day, the horizontal siding on the house, broken by the window – but I am vaguely mystified by the covered table outside. Was this scene and composition carefully thought out and arranged in advance? Or were we just lucky to catch them that day?

Fear of Celluloid

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Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: The parade of toys continues as I detour into an area I have entered into with trepidation, celluloid! As you can tell from these fellows above, it is a fragile medium for toys and generally I amaze that any of these guys have lasted this long. Given the somewhat rough and tumble nature of our lives in our cramped, cat-filled apartment I have become the steward of these precious bits of ancient plastic with some reluctance.

With the exception of the cat playing the fiddle below, a gift from Kim, these were all purchased on eBay for very little money and I deeply suspected I was the only one who appreciated what they were. The cat with the parasol is the most recent purchase, last February I believe. I think it is very beautiful – almost as if it was made of ivory rather than plastic. The Felix next to him is missing his tail and the strings holding him together are looking for an excuse to break. He came with that small indentation in his chest. However, I have quite simply never, ever seen one like him. The smiling kitty that rounds out the group is clearly a kissing cousin to the one with the fiddle. These are both Japanese toys – there are other cats in the band along with the fiddle player but I have never been able to lay claim to another. The fiddle player was closer to black when I first got him and has faded to this red color over time.

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In some ways the transient nature of these toys does add to their appeal, however I think I had better get them put away before Cookie and Blackie wake up from their naps!