Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: If all goes according to plan, as you read this Kim, cats and I will be on our way back to New York City after our holiday sojourn in New Jersey. I start my new gig next week, January 17. Time has flown and our month in Jersey seems to have gone by in the wink of an eye.
Blackie on a sojourn upstairs in NJ.
Blackie made real gains in the house this time, making himself to home here. (He and Beau had a few tussles – wish I had gotten photos of them all puffed up like Halloween cats!) Cookie remained firmly installed behind the chair in the bedroom. (As I write at this very moment both have entirely disappeared due to a visit from the electrician earlier.) We are scheduled to embark early Saturday morning.
This sweet faced little puppet fellow showed up in the mail about a week after Christmas, a gift from a Jazz at Lincoln Center colleague and I could not have been more surprised or delighted. (Linsey is a dog person and she wrapped it in the best dog themed paper!)
The dog wrapping paper.
As it happens, I did not own this Steiff puppet before. He, or she (there is a pink ribbon) is indeed Steiff, complete with a button in the ear, if no longer a tag. He has an intense look in his glass eyes, a pink stitched nose and mouth. The insides of his ears are a medium gray felt and he sports spritely whiskers. There’s a nice white tummy and dark gray and white stripes on his back. He has pink stitched toes on his paws.
Back of puppet.
This kitty reminds me of Mr. Roger’s cat puppet on his show, Henrietta Pussycat. In the incarnation I remember I think she was a close match for this puppet, although online I see some versions of her where she is all dark gray and I gather even a very early one (pre-PBS?) where she is black. I’d like to see that. Not surprisingly she was my favorite puppet on his show, which was a favorite.
It feels a bit old and crunchy inside where your fingers are placed in the head. I have some kissing cousins to this cat – a stuffed striped cat that is very similar and a Felix puppet (not Steiff) of similar design. Kim just plucked the stuffed cat off the shelf to add him to a drawing he was adding to the end of his most recent book.
I will report back on our progress tomorrow. Wish us luck getting these kitties settled back in!
Pam’s Pictorama Post: First, thank you all for your lovely and thoughtful responses to yesterday’s post! Some came here, others via IG and some to me personally. It is a season for change for me and while hard I think it is a first step in forging the next great thing and will help build how Kim and I will be living in the coming years.
However, today is a real photo postcard that contains a toy and a cat – thereby combining several passions at one. It is a bit dark and I wonder if it has discolored and darkened with age.
It depicts a very good, fluffy kitty perched on the back of this very nice, most probably Steiff teddy bear. His tail seems to have been in motion behind him and is a bit of a blur, but otherwise kitty is is focused intently on something off camera.
Teddy is jointed and really was likely quite splendid if you could see him properly. I fancy I can actually see the Steiff tag hanging in the far ear. It is a dusty and ubiquitous looking flowered tablecloth that we can imagine doing much duty for the photographer.
On the back of the card it says, With fondest love & best wishes for a very happy New Year from Aunt Jessica. Love to Mother & Daddy. It was sent on December 31, 1910 from Liverpool. It is address to, Master W. Ledden, 24 [illegible) Street, London Road, Holyhead. On the half with the message there appears to be a further address which is pretty illegible too, 5-8 Clarence Grove, [Everlou?] The card has no maker’s mark or references.
Many of the postcards in the Pictorama collection are addressed to children and I always think of how much it must have pleased them to receive these cards in the mail, especially something a little jolly like this.
Perhaps my holiday vacation can be spent seeing which of the 7 indoor cats might become a photo model. (We are pretty sure we can just leave Hobo out of that experiment.) I think Beau and Blackie are the only real contenders – no one else seems to have the temperament in the least. Kim has always said he doesn’t think I should dress the cats up (yes, it has come up) so I don’t, but a future in posing with toys? I will let you all know if I have any success – but maybe I should stick to cookie baking!
Pam’s Pictorama Post: In both life and in collecting I show a marked preference (purfference?) for cats over dogs. Having said that, it isn’t that I don’t like dogs and I think if I had more resources, including space, I might collect dogs too in greater or even equal shares. (To say nothing of additional pet ownership which cannot currently include canines.)
Last Christmas I wrote about a black and white toy dog I carried insistently everywhere as a child – Squeaky. (As it happens I still own Squeaky and that post can be read here.) I suppose it isn’t surprising that I was very involved with and possessive of my stuffed animals as a child, early signs of a collector. I was a bit linear in my affection – first it was Squeaky who was carried everywhere, followed by a Koala bear my father brought me from a work trip to Australia. The bear had no name, but he was carried until he was bald of fur (probably rabbit fur, sadly, in retrospect) in spots. I no longer have him unfortunately although I did find this type of toy and shared previously here. There were probably earlier denizens who I do not remember.
Me and Squeaky. This is a Christmas morning shot, but I don’t think it was when I got him. Just professing my undying affection for him probably!
My childhood was also filled with a series of real pooches, from our German Shephard Duchess to a rather maniacal mixed breed hound named Charlie Brown. I like dogs and generally they like me. Occasionally I find my enthusiasm gets the best of me and discover I have encouraged a very large dog to try sitting on my lap as a result. (When this happened with a friend’s German Shephard it did give me some pause. There was also an enormous Tibetan Mastiff who like the cut of my jib when he met me and just about knocked me over with love.)
Has a little green tail! The only green bit on him.
All that leads to today’s purchase, a gift from Kim who offered to grab him up for me! This new guy came via Instagram and our friends in Texas @Curiosities. There is something about him that reminds me of blankets of my childhood. Some of his color is fabric overlays (the red on his jowls) and other is painted on. His nose and mouth are sort of shaved into the surface “fur” or texture of his face. He has glass eyes and I think a friendly dependable expression. There is pink under his mouth which I think is a random addition but works with the color scheme overall.
Squeaky!
I am told that the original seller said he was German, or at least that he came from Germany. He has no tags. His colors and design make me think of Pendleton blankets, a Canadian export embraced in my childhood as well. His red ribbon is worn and I assume is original – matches the red on his face perfectly. His ears (which are stiff with wire) have been carefully resewn in back. He’s about 12 inches high, including his ears.
He is much softer in person than I imagined and he is somewhat stained with years of love and handling. I think the orange stripe from his mouth and on his cheeks are especially interesting. He is made up of a fascinating bunch of colors. In sum, he is a handsome fellow who has been much loved.
So another dog sneaks into Deitch Studio and the Pictorama collection. May the kitties beware!
Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: A few weeks ago I mentioned that Kim and I were off to Cold Spring for our anniversary and of course I did manage to find a few toy treats while we were there. That post was devoted to Kim’s anniversary gift to me which was a large Oswald Rabbit issued in a limited edition by Steiff. (That post can be found here.)
Interestingly, today’s post is also a Steiff fellow. I don’t buy too much Steiff. While they are certainly quality toys the prices often seem inflated to me and their selection of cats is limited. (Some other bits of Steiff in my collection can be found here and here.) Early Steiff teddies can be compelling and have almost human expression and look in their eye. Those are largely of course the ones that will set you back a mint however. (Upon some reflection though, quite a few have sneaked into Deitch Studio however!)
For all of that, on occasion, a vintage Steiff toy crosses my path. As I sit here writing about this new fellow, there is a rooster that can be wound up to hop around, right next to me as well. Clearly their birds have attitude that appeals.
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
I was a bit surprised that this fellow called to me, but I left the store and went back for him. (I purchased a few other bits including some random pieces of Bakelite silverware and some Mickey musicians for a future post.) I think he reminded me of my mom who rescued and rehabbed water fowl. She was especially devoted to swans, but some geese and ducks also did time in the Butler yard.
I remember that she had a pair of what she called puddle ducks, mallards. This little quacking couple stayed close to the house and did splash about in puddles and the small water garden mom had out there. The mom had ducklings she showed off. My mom was quite convinced, probably correctly, that they would have happily marched into the house to hang with us. They were quite fond of sitting in the driveway as I remember.
From our trip to Cold Spring in October – a perfect fall day there!
Of course what helps make this fellow jolly is his one wing raised as if in greeting. I find his oversized ducky paddle feet very endearing as well. For those who care he has both his tag and his button which is on the back of said wing. There is something especially endearing about the little indication of a feathered tail on his bottom and the detail on his beak, painted in.
Duck butt! Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
I had a moment of wonder if he was a signet (baby swan) rather than a duck, looking at his longish neck. However a quick bit of research and I confirmed his duckling identity. It turns out that Steiff did make both geese and swans in addition to ducks – not surprisingly. The early felt swans are wonderful and the one on wheels would be irresistible – although I think it would live in New Jersey in tribute to mom. Meanwhile, given what they go for, it is perhaps an unlikely addition to Pictorama in the near future.
Pam’s Pictorama Post: This splendid fellow came into the house just before the en masse exodus to New Jersey in August. He was part of the haul from the British sale that brought numerous Felix treasures into the house. The items included a Felix walking statuette (that post is here) and a sort of box of Felix which included a rather extraordinary Felix hanky (post is here) and some Felix pins (which can be found here).
This is such a great item that I wanted to make sure he got his fair due. He caught my eye because although I guess he is a bear he is very black cat like. Although he comes from Britain he was listed as German, made in the 1930’s. No maker identified. I would have thought he was British and out of the Felix factories of the day. (See my post about those Felix factories of the day here.)
He perches atop of a spinning part and this helps direct him around in circles when wound.
Watch him turn his elderly circles!
I think there is a Felix version of this toy out there, but they are rare (if I haven’t imagined them) and I cannot even summon an image of one. This fellow works, albeit in a sort of desultory fashion. I think his days of ribald pedaling are behind him which is fine for his retirement here at Pictorama.
For some reason toys on wheels have always interested me although I mostly think of pull toys. I do love a good wind-up toy and this one is a wonderful combination of both.
Today is the first day back here at Deitch Studio in Manhattan when I have time to start to put things in order and Kim has pledged to help. For readers who have been following over the summer there was a harrowing period of moving Kim out of his warehouse space followed by moving the whole crew to New Jersey.
Cookie captured earlier this week looking quite chuffed at being back in NYC.
A delightful summer there followed (with some regional collecting), but now we are all back to work and Deitch Studio is working on all cylinders! At the office the orchestra’s season is set to start this week and Kim has finished the color work on his book he started in New Jersey. The cats are surprised to be back. Cookie is delighted and walked around the apartment crowing with pleasure. Blackie seems to be in a funk and is spending his days in the closet for the most part right now.
Meanwhile, the apartment is in a bit of chaos and it is hard to fit ourselves back in our single room. However it is comforting to be amongst the toys again and there are a few other items that came into the apartment either right before we left or during our time in New Jersey. So stay tuned – some more fascinating things to come!
Pam’s Pictorama Post: This great photo postcard appealed to the latent cowgirl in me. I know very little about these things so I don’t know if this nice fringed outfit is real or costume – even her nifty boots have fringe. She wears it with aplomb and a good bit of attitude, riding crop in hand. Undeniably she is an indoor cowgirl here on a living room carpet and in front of a curtained window. Her kerchief and hat are both at jaunty angles.
While I have never been on horseback (nor have I ever resided on a farm, let alone a ranch) I had an early enthusiasm for a fantasy version of them as evidenced by my being an early and avid adopter of the Jane West toys.
There was something endlessly satisfying about the sturdy plastic, jointed limbs. She had a cowgirl outfit molded to her body and heavy rubbery accessories. She was made to stand with some authority (unlike my beloved Barbies who of course had feet designed for perpetual, fashionable high heels) and somehow the fact that she was cast entirely in blue plastic did not detract from her appearance. Jane had a wonderful palomino horse which she could sit astride on.
Since I am not in NYC I cannot show my own example of Jane West, but instead this more complete one along with her horse!
In my otherwise Barbie-oriented childhood it is a bit hard in retrospect to know what the cowgirl thing was about. Unlike Barbie’s adventures (my Barbie was named for Jo in Little Women and she was a globe trotting journalist), I do not remember the play I dreamed up for her.
Notably Jane did not need a cowboy equivalent of Ken, at least mine did not. In my world she stood on her own and didn’t even deign to date GI Joe – my Barbie’s fallback companion. I believe she is a head taller than both.
My mother was horse-y as a young woman. I am not sure how she started riding, but I know that not coming from a wealthy family she worked mucking stalls along with her childhood friend Jackie so they were able to ride. I gather Mom was mad about horses until one day while they were riding her friend was badly thrown onto a fence. Luckily for her the fence was old and just gave under her otherwise he back would have been broken. It left mom skittish about riding and although my older sister had a few desultory riding lessons I never had the chance to even start.
As a teenager a good friend gave me an excellent vintage Annie Oakley jacket of the softest butterscotch colored suede which she found in her attic. As a very little girls she and her mom had had matching jackets! It was much beloved by me and I wore it until it literally fell to pieces. This was perhaps my best personal cowgirl moment. It was as close as I was to come. (During the pandemic I also read all of the volumes of the Ranch Girls series. A post that touches on them can be found here.)
I came across a Jane West doll several years ago and snatched her up for my toy collection. It felt good to have Jane in the house again and she lives on my shelf, ever ready for some cowgirl action.
Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Thus far 2023 has been a very Felix year here at Pictorama and especially noteworthy in photos, if I do say so myself. While this Felix picture roll may wrap pretty soon, it is a stormy Saturday here after a long enervating week in Manhattan and contemplating this particularly perky card seems the most cheerful today.
This is an especially wonderful Felix they are posing with here – big enough to be a small person in a costume. (The first time I saw one of these cards I thought that might be possible!) He has very nice, big, pointy ears and was designed with extra long arms which he wraps around the two little girls, very chummy! His bow is untied and a tad bedraggled, and admittedly there is something particularly buck-tooth about his usual sewn-on toothy grin.
Just a bit of a tease of the area over Kim’s desk I am referring to here.
The oldest of the three (I will take a guess on the baby) girls is the one dressed most beach ready casual, the other two are a bit more dressed up. I love the oldest girl’s sort of wild fly away hair. They look enough alike that I will declare them sisters. The card was never mailed and nothing is written on the back. There is a bit of white paint on the lower left corner, but it is hard to see it if you aren’t holding it in your hand.
This card has the unusual distinction of being the first I think I have ever purchased from a US dealer. All of my other posing with Felix cards have come from Britain, Australia or New Zealand. Having said that, I have no doubt that despite having found itself for sale in Florida that it was taken in Britain, as you will see below.
As I sat here in my early morning bleary-eyed state, my attention fell on a card on the wall, hovering over the computer, where I have tucked a few Felix photos on a wall that is largely devoted to film stills, a few lobby cards for early Westerns, and various other early 8″x10″ photos. I could see immediately that this card (which somehow I have not devoted an earlier post to) is a rather stunningly precise location match for the new one. Wowza!
Regretfully this one wasn’t making the trip out of the frame today! Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
The very same long-arm Felix seems to be reaching around these three-of-a-kind kids, those in their matching togs, glorious striped beach dresses, on the ends (note the alternating sock colors) and the odd fellow out in the middle. Felix is sans bow here and one ear is askew, but there is not doubt that he’s our fellow.
If we had any doubt about the location, the distinctive windows and even the light is so similar in the photos; that is what caught my eye first. A closer look reveals the same space below the white board building. I’m not sure I have any reason for assigning it as such, but my thought is Brighton.
While on a roll for guessing, although it is somewhat less absolutely a match, I offer another photo from my collection. I think a fair argument could be made for this prize pic having been taken at the same location based on Felix, the white board exterior and the light. Thoughts? (I wrote about this very favorite photo from my collection in a post here.) I must have had this thought before because they were hanging together.
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
The more recently purchased photo is smaller in proportion by several inches, 4″x5″ rather than 5″x7″. I wonder if their tracking number at the lower left is truly chronological – N5252 and N7130 – which would make the triplets the later one. (And the gentlemen in front of the photo establishment much earlier than either.) Presumably these numbers, which appear in some form on all these sort of day at the beach posing photos, were used to tie out the negative to the appropriate party so the photo could be sent to the correct person. Unlike tintypes, which were usually developed in real time in a soupy bath of hypo, I have always assumed that developing and printing the postcards took at least a nominally longer time.
Clearly multiple cards could have been ordered and printed of these real photo postcards. However, I have yet to come across two originals of the same card – although in my collection I have a few cases where multiple single tintype images were taken at the same time and saved together. I have always imagined that the postcards were mailed and arrived a few weeks later, a pleasant reminder of the day at the beach or the vacation, but perhaps why duplicates didn’t seem to be bothered to be made.
The pot of coffee I put on has finished and the sky is looking like it may clear (although still dubious), so Saturday is officially kicked off here at Pictorama. Tomorrow I will pick up from New Jersey.
Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: This weekend finds me unexpectedly in New Jersey, a captive of a sudden onset bad head cold following a series of migraines which made travel back to Manhattan beyond my short term ability.
The tables were turned and mom was ordering me to bed, to drink fluids and to consume quantities of soup. Mom has remained firmly in charge of her domain, but less so over my health these days. However, I did as instructed and, despite some mighty sneezing which remains, I am on the road to repair and hope to return to Kim and cats (and running for those of you who are tracking that) soon.
Mr. Steiff and family w/ a giant teddy!
Nevertheless, onto this rather spectacular photo I share with you today. I stumbled on this beauty, waited out the auction, paid a princely sum for it and then waited for it to arrive from Britain. And I waited, and waited. Somewhere in there it went astray in a postal strike and it was longer than a month before it arrived on our shores.
Identified by the seller as J. Easton Clifton Baths, Margate the card is unused and completely unmarked on the back. The seller puts the image at having been shot in 1920 and puts the period of manufacture at 1920-1929, I wonder if he or she knows something of the specifics of these cards that I do not.
Some splendid giant Steiff teddies make an appearance in this Edison film from 1907!
This card fits neatly into my collection of postcards posing with the giant stuffed black cat – sometimes astride him, other times beside as here. However, this has the significant bonus feature of the heretofore not seen enormous Steiff-like teddy bear! In my mind this leads to the question – did Steiff perhaps actually produce both the giant black cat and the bear? A quick internet search does not immediately turn up more of these outsized bear pics as I suddenly wondered if I had just been missing them. The giant cat chairs are more prevalent. (My previous posts featuring my collection of these cards can be found here and here for starters.) This leads as always to the question I ask – where have all the giant toys people posed with gone? Still I stalk the big kitties!
There is a reasonable argument to be made that is in indeed the same Margate kitty as below, although the tail is going in a decidedly different direction – perhaps a tail could change direction over time? These are more Steiff-ian than some of the others, another from my collection shown below.
Pams-Pictorama.com collection.
Margate was the happening place to have your photo taken at the time. Many a Felix was there for posing as well as these swell kits. Here is a post devoted to a Margate Felix for starters.
These lucky little girls, sporting their matching dresses, get to pose with both these prime props. One little girl has teddy’s arm around her, perched on his leg. Teddy has a boutonniere, a sprightly collar and jolly row of buttons down his chest. His head is at a pert angle. Kitty has a lovely large bow and sticks his tongue out at us. Those matching dresses are spring weight with knee socks rather than tights. However, behind them, the adults in their beach chairs are dressed a bit warmer in jackets and hats – for that typically not quite warm day at a British beach.
Felix at Margate. Pams-Pictorama.com collection.
So, it is time for me to reluctantly leave Margate of the 1920’s once again and figure out my way back to Manhattan. Kim, I hope to see you, Blackie and Cookie soon!
Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Those of us who dabble in the world of toy effigies of cartoon and comic book characters are well aware of how, contemporaneously anyway, Krazy Kat lagged a bit in the bid for toy fame and remunerative reproduction and merchandise. Even in animation, there’s appears to be a smattering of ancient silent cartoons that provide a reasonable representation of Krazy – and a mass of later cartoons which bare no resemblance to him in appearance or temperament, but which are great fun nonetheless.
And in parallel there are a very thin number of toys dedicated to or derived from the strip. There is one stuffed toy figure of Krazy from his hey day which is oddly (appropriately perhaps?) abstract and came in several different colors ranging from acid green to an equally shocking purple. (There is another which attempts a greater three dimensional reading of him. I own examples of both, shown below.)
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
However, all this to say that while the two dolls (yes, two, the man on the end holds one as does the girl in the middle which is harder to see) bear an interesting resemblance to those dolls they are somehow even further abstracted. Homemade versions of those already odd dolls? They look slightly demonic and the mystery as to why these folks had their photo taken with them as part of the family (while taking a mountainous hike) is a mystery lost to time indeed. (Although I do have other photos with folks featuring themselves with Krazy Kat dolls and those can be found here and here.)
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
This photo postcard was sold to me by someone in Massachusetts and it is unused and unmarked on the back. Without knowing definitively we can probably assume that this was taken in the United States. The older woman on the end and the young one next to her are smiling, but frankly the rest of the group is a bit grim, toys on display or not. Visually I like the contrast of the one woman in black tights and the other in white, both in plaid dresses. One doll is dark and the other light as well.
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
The seller identified these dolls as Felix and said he is in the process of selling off his Felix collection in retirement. I guess it’s a fair argument that these were intended to be Felix rather than Krazy as they don’t really look like either. Meanwhile, these dolls appear to have been designed to (arguably?) address us with a raised middle finger – a strange choice for a toy. Huh. The other hand points down. The simple toothy grin and the pointy ears contribute to the somewhat malevolent look which is born out more in the expression of the light one rather than the dark.
Obscene gesture or not, I would happily snatch these fellows up for the Pictorama collection should they ever turn up.
Pam’s Pictorama Post: Pictorama readers know that the Kim Deitch Valentine post is one of the highlights of every year and today is the great reveal day. For those of you who are new to the practice, it goes back to the very first February Kim and I were together and I asked for a drawing for Valentine’s Day. This is not surprising as I came into our relationship as a fan first and clearly my very own personal Kim Deitch drawing made just for me – I mean what could be better?
Over the years they have gotten to be full blown, hand colored productions. Kim plans an annual pause in his work for about ten days to produce them and discussions about the content start early in the year. Last year he had an idea in mind and usually we would go with that, but I had an unusually strong desire for a portrait of Cookie and Blackie and Kim complied handily with the wonderful picture below – a real favorite! (That post can be found here.)
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection – my very own Cookie and Blackie Valentine from last year!
So this year it was clear that it would be Kim’s concept from last year and a splendid tribute to my tin toys was conceived! Tintinabula (a Deitch almost word of wonder) it declares, marching across the top, the letters growing to an exclamation.
Of course, we drift into the realm of fantasy and (sadly) I do not own that splendid Tik Tok man in the middle – although I will put him in the category of maybe this drawing can wish him into my collection! This has lead to a search for a premium one and a discussion around him this morning. I share the best version below.
Pretty great but not in the Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.Kim’s made his hair more evident for one improvement.
Also, below is an example of the luscious looking Oz volume it comes from. Beautiful! I never read these and Kim says they are better to read when you are a small child, but they are undeniably an illustrated feast for the eyes. In my picture a tin newsgirl is fabricated at the bottom waving an issue, hot off the press, of the Tin Town Topics in her hand.
Oz book not in Pams-Pictorama.com Collection. (Although Kim might be hiding a copy in the house somewhere.)
Meanwhile, many of my actual toys make an appearance. My Butter and Egg Man (read the original post here) has a nice bit of real estate and figures prominently on one side of the drawing. (It is he who has come to town after all!) His suit is a bit more zooty in the drawing than below – bright red stripped trousers and Kim’s version wears a hat which is also a nice addition. The tune of Butter and Egg Man blasts out from a wind-up phonograph at his feet with bits of the lyrics around him.
Butter and Egg Man. Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
My splendid tin turkey has a spot in the bottom left with a slightly maniacal expression on his tin turkey face! An excellent wind-up dog I stumbled onto recently gets a spot below him – just about perfect the way he is. (Posts dedicated to the dog and turkey can be found here and here.)
A tin Felix from a scooter toy rides a Deitchian airplane in a flight of Felix fancy. Those who are carefully observant won’t miss the cheerful tin pig marching across the back. He was a birthday gift from many years ago and I have never seen another like him. I am pleased with his inclusion.
Each corner of the picture bears my name in a heart. At the top Kim has picked up my favorite expression when I see something I really like and which I leave you with for now, Wow, wow, wow!
Pam's Pictorama 