Odd Illustration: Bonzo and Felix

Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today is a rare post about something I do not own. I don’t make a habit of it, but this tidbit came to me via our good friend Bruce Simon. (He was mentioned most recently in our trip to Comic Con in San Diego post which can be found it all of its glory here.) Bruce thoughtfully sends wonderful odd treats from dvd’s of cartoons to items like this. Thank you Bruce! If you saw yesterday’s page in all its Felix glory this makes a sort of interesting bookend to the weekend. This one is casually dated ’25, so it is a year after yesterday’s magazine page. (For those who missed it you can find it here.)

This illustration appears to be in a copy of Punch magazine and was drawn by a British man named Arthur Watts. Watts was an illustrator and cartoonist for the likes of Punch and Tatler dating back to 1911. His line appears to have been social commentary on the divisions of class and etiquette of Britain.

*There is just a single blurry photo of him on the internet so I offer this – he’s in uniform and does look quite dashing however.*

He evidently had a strong dislike of modern art and so perhaps this is a bit of a rib on that among other things? Felix and Bonzo dancing together (ha cha cha!) as a huge mural? I mean, I love it and I’d have it in my restaurant in a heartbeat! Circles that remind me of champagne bubbles encircle them as cartoon cat and dog shake a leg. Was this his low brow elevated to high brow comment?

Interesting – I am just thinking about a truly odd vase I own where Felix and Bonzo are dancing – perhaps there was a thing about them that I don’t know? Was there a bit of interspecies cartoon romance? Huh. (That post can be found here.)

*Okay – at least I got the humor here! Undated Watts illustration.*

Perhaps it is just me, but I can’t quite entirely catch onto his sense of humor. In this picture, the man who is evidently the Detective is seated drinking alone, next to a crime scene, while the crowd of well heeled hoy polloi keep their distance and pile up to one side. Perhaps his humor is a bit too inside baseball to entirely get today?

His is a bit of a tragic story. Born in 1883, he showed artistic talent when young and eventually went to Slade art school. He served with note and honor in the Royal Marines Corp during WWI. He married a fellow artist, Phyllis Sachs, in 1911 and had a daughter. Phyllis died in 1922 (no record of how or why that I saw) and he remarried in ’24 to Marjorie Dawson Scott. They had three children and in July of 1935 he was rushing to fly home after the birth of their third child when his plane crashed in Italy flying from Milan, never clearing a mountain range and killing everyone.

The daughter from the first marriage became a well known costume designer, Margaret Furse. Among the other children one also became an illustrator, Marjorie Ann Watts – frankly I am inclined to like her crosshatch filled style a bit better.

*Marjorie Watts illustration – she seemed to be very interested in drawing anthropomorphic wolves.* *I like her more linear contrasting style.*

However, a hundred years later it is not news to Pictorama readers that Felix and Bonzo were the cultural icons of their day and make fun of them though Watts might, they are still quite fondly and well remembered even today!

I Yam What I Yam!

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Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: It’s a Popeye post today! I am not sure how much I have shared my real affection for the sailor man here, but I am a fan. Years ago I was in a particular funk and I cheered myself immensely reading all of the daily Segar strips over a period of weeks.

Some readers may know that I have an unusual predilection for daily strips rather than Sundays. I understand what the fuss is about when it comes to Sundays – they are gorgeous and I admit that it is an odd preference. There is something about the day in and out of a weekday strip that I love, a real whiff of the past, reading them as folks would have followed it in their paper daily. I feel the same way about Krazy Kat.

*These were the volumes I read, but others are more available now.*

Anyway, I had not given Popeye significant thought since watching an endless loop of the cartoons as a child. Seeing his origin and those elegantly drawn strips by Segar made me a fan. If you’ve never read them do yourself a favor and pick up one of the volumes – I think Fantagraphics has them collected again. I know they have a book of the Sundays too. At the time I read them I acquired a shelf of hard bound volumes that Fantagraphics had put out years before. I am in New Jersey or I would provide a shot of them in a place of pride in one of our bookcases there.

*Not my toy, but this is what the parrot looks like.*

Speaking of New Jersey – today’s toy was an unexpectedly great Jersey buy last weekend. Kim and I spent an afternoon poking around at the Antique Annex in Red Bank near here. I’ve written about this establishment which I have frequented for decades. When I was in college my Dad used to buy antique jewelry there for Christmas and my birthday. We’ve seen it through many iterations. A post about finds there last year can be found here.

While the merchandise had definitely turned over since our last trip at Christmas, it had a slightly picked over quality overall. This is their peak tourist season and a train leaves you just blocks from this couple of buildings of goodies so it is convenient for day trippers to our shore town.

*We had lunch at a pizzeria called The Brothers – a blast from my past, Dad and I used to frequent it. Some very fine NJ thin crust pie here.*

However, buried deep in a cabinet of toys which clearly bore investigation, there was Popeye. He was a bit dear, however a bit of bartering (cash is king) and he became quite reasonable. Frankly I have seen this toy for more previously at auction so I felt good about the purchase.

*A rather great display of Santa’s at the Annex. I might have to go back for one of these.*

In doing some research I realize he is missing a parrot which would have perched atop the cart. One auction site says that the parrot popped out but if that it is true it is a variation on the toy because that would not have been possible – he probably wiggled back and forth though.

I like Popeye’s striped trousers, his pipe and of course his identifying moniker on his tattoos. His cart, the Popeye Express, has labels for Asia, Turkey and China on one side and my beloved New York on the other side. (Sorry, New York was the only city worth mentioning guys!) His shoes are sort of funny, but of course are designed to help him scuttle along on the ground, rather than a sartorial statement.

Kim gives Popeye a little push this morning for this video.

There are some scratches and paint loss but he’s in pretty good condition. There is no maker’s label but it is identified online as Linemar Marx. I gather Linemar was the Japanese made division of Marx toys – manufacture was less expensive there and the toys were shipped back to the United States for sale. Many were character toys of the time. In the biz from 1918 to 1980, Marx holds a somewhat legendary name in toys. Known for their trains and cars in particular, they will always be character toys like this one for me.

Some of you might remember a Popeye post from several months back, a lamp which currently graces Kim’s work table here in New Jersey, but may be making a move downstairs soon where I can see him more. (That post is here.) Maybe Popeye is becoming a sub-genre here at Pictorama. We’ll have to see what toy treats might be in store for me and all you readers.

Pencil Felix In

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: I did consider saving this item for a back-to-school post after Labor Day, but here we are, in need of a post and here it is. For those of you heading back to school in a few weeks, you can consider it a shot over the bow in advance of that event.

I have looked at Felix pencil boxes for years – it almost seems like no two are alike so many variations on the theme turn up. I have bid on numerous ones and never won one to call my own. I guess I had an idea in my head about how much I was willing to pay and I just kept being outbid.

Finally this one, a rather superior one I might add, appeared online for sale with a flat price I was willing to pay and I jumped on it. Then I did something with a bit of foresight which was I had it sent to the house in New Jersey. Then, in all honesty, I utterly forgot that I had purchased it! It was tucked in a box with another purchase and I was very excited to discover it.

*Back of the pencil case – Felix as artiste!*

Condition is often a major issue in these as kids used them hard and they are after all meant to be somewhat disposable. Often they have crayon or pencil marks or they have been opened and closed so often that they are tattered and torn. By comparison this one is in virtually pristine condition aside from a bit of wear in the lower right corner.

Felix and two junior Felix-es march across the front with some sort of towers in the background. Felix the Cat is penned across the top quite nicely and while these are the rounded off version of Felix the bodies have a nice blockiness. The image and writing is somewhat etched into the cardboard which, in addition to this rich green color, has an interesting texture.

The back has more towers (castles?) and Felix perches while painting or drawing a picture held up by a friendly mouse. The cat and mouse depictions on the tiny top side of this are perhaps less friendly and Felix is bizarrely stretched – chasing a mouse but also held back by one. The bottom side has, instead three mice holding his tail which is stretched, as opposed to his entire body. The short sides have a great sort of Deco pattern.

*Lovely mostly intact inside of the case.*

For Felix fun we aren’t going to beat the outside, but the inside was a surprising treat! Tiny ruler, an eraser (which is as hard as a rock now) and a darling little series of watercolor pans, one broken and one missing but four still perfectly in place. Three pencils remain – two unsharpened and that wonderful Deco pattern paper continues inside.

This lovely item appears to come to us from the American Pencil Company, New York, U.S.A. The American Pencil Company appears in a marking on the front under the flap and also bears the number 1964. Pat Sullivan also gets a copyright mention across from it.

There is the same figured paper on the flap but in a simple golden beige. The whole thing snaps open and closed and that closure is still in good shape.

All in all, as a kid I would have returned to school with great confidence if given this dandy case, an excellent start to the school year.

*Some of my peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers by special request yesterday!*

Hello Dearie

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: I am running late today for this post, my second from New Jersey this summer. The neglected garden needed my attention while it was still cool enough to work out here. It was a small start, but I am also tired from my first week as a commuter and getting over a bad head cold last weekend. However, it should also be noted that today is the first day of six since we got here where it has not been a torrential downpour either. Let the garden enjoyment (and work) begin!

Nevertheless, I have this little treasure which arrived at Deitch Studio shortly before our departure last weekend. While the aged quality of this photo makes it less than perfect, it was an irresistible image to add to the Pictorama collection.

The concept of the perfect Felix costume has long stoked my imagination and I believe informed Kim’s Alias the Cat. (That book – one of the best ever! – for purchase can be found here.) While I search to acquire the perfect mask photos of Felix costumes can also satisfy. I just posted about another and it is unusual because I don’t really have that many in my collection. (A post about that recent acquisition, shown above, can be found here.)

Early in my collecting I found an interesting clutch of early photos of folks donning Felix costumes. Tiny snapshots of people in masks or full costume. Oddly, I didn’t acquire them together either which is sort of fascinating. That post from the early days of Pictorama can be found here.

Today’s photo is a tintype and as to be expected that means the writing on Felix’s chest is reversed. Hard to know if Felix was an adult with these two small bunny attired kids. More likely an older child. While it is definitely an off-model mask it was commercially made, as were the bunny outfits the other children sport.

*One from a series of photos from the post mentioned above.*

I have no explanation for the staff or cane held, but the older of the two rabbit kids. If I had to guess (and it would be a guess) I would say the older of those two is a girl. I have no idea at all about the younger. They are outside and a careful look shows a woman behind them and some buildings, or more likely pictures of buildings, behind her. There are other indistinct people and things, however the picture grows wavy there and they are unreadable.

I was surprised to be reminded that this photo actually came from Louisiana, not Great Britain. The holder strikes me as oh so British and of course it’s most recent home before mine was not necessarily its place of origin. I believe that virtually all of the Felix tintypes I have of this sort have come from either England or Australia. Having said that, most of them are people posing with large Felix dolls and this is just kids in costume.

I have yet to decide how the Pictorma library will stretch in the Jersey digs and have yet to start to hang things, although some of the yard long photos are on display. I mostly leave the items here that have ended up here, but I hope for the leisure to make some determinations about decoration. More to come when I figure that out. For now it has gotten too hot for the garden and there are numerous cats requesting pets.

Spare Felix?

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Portland, Oregon! Although the seller of today’s find was in California, this photo obviously appears to hail from Portland originally. Rogue homemade Felix seems to have proliferated in Portland back in the day and I would love to know why that city seems to have had a special relationship with him.

It’s been quite a while since I have purchased a Pacific Northwest Felix, but I had a spate of them early in my collecting career which gave me the idea that they had a specific yen for him. Parade floats and costumes – there’s was homegrown Felix fun in that part of the country and I am sorry to have missed it. (These location specific Felixes form a sub-genre of my collection. Posts for these pics can be found here, here, here, here and here!)

*One of a clutch of photos of the same batch from an early post. Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.*

This natty fellow and his slightly off-model Felix-y wheel cover fits well in the group. While Felix looks slightly more like his identical cousin than himself, it is a pretty good likeness. the gentleman posing is so clearly pleased to show this off I’d say. Bow tie, vest and jacket, he’s dressed and posing for the photo.

*An early Portland parade post. Pams-Pictorama.com collection.*

It’s a small photo. Only a little more than 3″ x 2″. Like the other photos I have mentioned above, there isn’t a lot of information in the image. There is a nice cottage in view behind him, trees and telephone poles. There’s no back license plate which might have supplied a year, and nothing is written on the back. However, Oregon (and our assumed place of origin) is supplied over Felix.

*Another Portland parade post (although a not Felix), pic from 1909. Pams-Pictorama.com collection.*

I do not own a car and don’t really drive, although I assume with the house in Jersey this is something I will need to fix over time. Oh to be able to do it in style like this however.

Tiled

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today’s item was one of those now you see it now you don’t – and back again items on eBay. I was surprised and disappointed when it was pulled from sale and equally delighted when mysteriously it was relisted. Evidently it was from an estate sale of tiles. It was listed as from the 1930’s and it is in very good condition so it is hard to say.

I immediately had a vision of a fireplace in an Arts and Crafts style cottage somewhere lost in time, decorated with cheerful Felix tiles! Clearly I would buy the house just for that. (I have a friend whose father heard of a house being torn down with great fireplace tiles and he got permission to go and take them out. They are at the Met Museum now.)

Felix appears to be going somewhere and pointing in that direction, and he has an umbrella which seriously makes me wonder about what the other ones in a series might have looked like. Were they all weather related? Felix in the sun and snow? There are a few minor imperfections in the tile, a small chip or two where the glaze bubbled. It is a very good likeness of the cat though, I must say.

In all my years of looking at vast amounts of Felix items I have never seen another. I have, in my years of collecting, seen an odd thing where sometimes you find something you never saw before and then you start seeing a few more. That happened with the these Felix holiday cards below which I wrote about here.

One other cartoon tile was being sold and I am sorry I didn’t try to snatch it up, but I got so confused by this one being pulled off I lost my focus. It is below and sold for about the same price. This one (is it Betty Boop’s sidekick Bimbo?) was identified as being from Mission Art Tile California. I can’t really find tracks on that either however. It appears to be in similar mint condition.

*Not in the Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.*

I grew up in a house with two massive brick fireplaces. My parents purchased old bricks before that was popular in building and they also bought an enormous beam from a barn which was halved and used as mantels for both. The ancient wood fascinated me, full of worm holes!

We used the downstairs fireplace constantly in the winter months and I do really love sitting by an open fire. My mom later converted it to gas which was somewhat disappointing, but we still used it a lot. The house she left me in NJ has a small brick fireplace, but to reline the chimney (it seems they would pour a ceramic liner into it?) and make it truly safe would cost a bundle so I doubt we will have fires there. I have purchased and set a small fire pit in the backyard to make up for this loss and I hope to be able to engage in using it in the coming warming months.

It makes me happy to imagine a world where fireplaces might have been decorated with jolly cartoon characters. Now that I know about these I will look for more – you never know, I might be able to remodel mine one day!

Aspirational

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: It’s a rare, I don’t own ’em but wish I did post here at Pictorama today. To the extent that I have set ground rules here, one general one is that if I feature it I own it. (Some readers will remember that I broke it recently to bring you a wonderful cat chair photo. It was a family photo which a reader shared with me and the post can be found here.)

However, to some degree rules exist to be broken and this image came to me both via Mel Birnkrant (his endlessly fascinating FB page can be found here – it is a rabbit hole to go down and possibly never emerge from) and some folks sent it to me via both the Old London FB page and also via X (that we used to call Twitter). The caption reads, Felix the Cat dolls leaving their Acton factory, 100 years ago.

Allow me to start by saying this image just floors me altogether. Admittedly, Felix lust immediately filled my soul! Oh the riches of the past! Truckloads of precious, giant Felix dolls making their way from Acton, out into the 1924 world of of extremely fortunate children and itinerant photographers.

It is also of interest to me to learn that at least one factory making these dolls was in Acton. Unlike the bit of history I uncovered previously (in a post from 2015 I very much favor and can be found here) which indicated that unemployed women were given jobs making smaller ones in a factory on the East End of London. Acton is a suburban area to the west so now I know Felix was being made all over London.

These are truly splendid huge Felix toys. Are they large enough to be the ones people posed with? Could be, but hard to say. If for kids, very luxe indeed. I certainly have photos of people posing with this size Felix although it isn’t the very largest size which I judge to be about the size of a midget. However, over time my collection has come to include period photos from British beach resorts with Felix dolls smaller than these. (A post on the one above can be found here.) None of the dolls in my collection (yet!) reach these size of the ones in the truck. Hope springs eternal however.

*An admittedly soft grab off the film, but a nice close up of the Felixes.*

While chatting with Mel and researching this earlier today, I realized that this is actually a British Pathé newsreel short. It can be seen in its entirety here. (I was unable to place the video here – I am experiencing mechanical stupidity today.) Note the unruly little fellow who looks like he wants to make a break for it by falling off the cart.

Of interest that most of these Felix toys were sensibly wrapped in brown paper, precious little parcels being piled up. However, someone must have realized that some should fill the back unpacked in order to get this wonderful image.

I think what I have here is actually a frame grab rather than a still, although hopefully stills do exist so I have a chance at one some day in the future.

*Bookplate not in Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.*

While we are having a posting moment focused on things shared but not owned, I am adding this Felix-y bookplate which came to me via J. J. Sedelmaier a few weeks ago. It would appear that Mr. Lowell and our cartoon friend shared a moniker. I assume he had these made – very pro job though. A nicely squared off, early looking Felix here. Something sort of smart about how his hand rests on the edge of the “shelf” and the lettering. Oh for the days of book ownership pride which would result in special bookplates like this!

Back to stuff I own next week!

Riding the Pink Elephant

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: It’s the great Valentine reveal. It’s a post-Valentine’s Day bounty today with this glorious page Kim made for me! For any new readers who aren’t familiar with our ritual, every year since we first started dating, Kim has made me a Valentine which is a sort of combined birthday and Valentine’s Day gift. (Some prior year posts can be found here, here and here.) These have grown in complexity over time.

This year is a bit different and really is like a full page story. I love that the way we are celebrating 30 years together is to ride a magic pink elephant! Yes! It has really been exactly like this.

*My 2017 Valentine! Pams-Pictorama.com collection.*

I’m pleased that Waldo even makes a rare Valentine’s appearance. I won’t say he hasn’t shown up before, but spending Valentine’s Day with us isn’t his usual beat. Of course he’s evidently responsible for inciting the elephant to charge while we cling to our perch – which is secured by a belt of hearts. Despite the gravity of our situation hearts bubble up all around as well – perhaps a dream? No way – I assure you, this is life at Deitch Studio.

Despite the fact that I spend the whole page wearing a nightgown, I am here as in life, the more practical of the two of us. Although Kim does maintain extraordinary calm in times of duress as illustrated – Don’t worry he always gets away.

*2020 was a very Felix-y year for my Valentine! Pams-Pictorama.com collection.*

Sort of funny that he has depicted me with my eyeglasses on in bed and even when we kiss in profile at the bottom. (I generally only wear them in bed to watch tv as I am a no eyeglass book reader person, at least for now. Talk to me again in a few years.) The page culminates at the bottom with us in bed reflecting on the adventure.

*This box Kim decorated for me many years ago (and I posted about in 2015) inspired this year’s color scheme.*

The word always plays throughout the page. It starts at the top with Kim, then I say it – and Kim does again and the whole page culminates with it in red. It brings us to the tune of the Irving Berlin hit Always. In 1925 Berlin wrote it for his wife (and gave her the royalties which certainly did not turn out to be insignificant) as a wedding gift. The lyrics are:

Everything went wrong,
And the whole day long
I'd feel so blue.
For the longest while
I'd forget to smile,
Then I met you.
Now that my blue days have passed,
Now that I've found you at last -

I'll be loving you Always
With a love that's true Always.
When the things you've planned
Need a helping hand,
I will understand
Always.
Always.

Days may not be fair Always,
That's when I'll be there Always.
Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But Always.


Or if you prefer, the Bing Crosby version can be found below.

Or a less brisk version by Deanna Durbin can be found here.

Cookie and Blackie make an appearance having zoomies through the bottom – perhaps racing for the best spot at the foot of the bed, or more likely getting out of the way of our gooey human kissing as cats will.

Life here at Deitch Studio is a wild ride, but always my only very favorite place to be. Thank you sweetheart and here’s to the next 30!

Another Fine Felix Photo

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: While I always find a Felix photo postcard day a rare treat here at Pictorama, I am never sure you all quite share my enthusiasm! Today’s addition to my ever growing collection of these cards is the result of a tip by one of my Instagram pals, Baileigh Faucz Hermann (@baileighfaucz.h) who I have purchased photos from in the past (a few of the posts about those photos can be found here and here) and I couldn’t be more grateful.

As is usually the case with these, this card was never mailed and there is nothing written on the back.

*Pams-Pictorama.com collection – an addition to the collection back in ’22.*

While it appears that this postcard could have benefitted from less tired developer back in the day, it is still a prize for this roving eyed Felix who exhibits a sort of overbite and who stands quite chummy with this small child who is only barely contained in his chair. It probably isn’t an utter reach to say that the child is in swim shoes and perhaps a beach costume of sorts.

Behind the kids and Felix is a wooden table with an attractive pot, some stairs. The grounds seems to be sandy so likely a beachside resort. The child’s chair is just his size an Felix is the right size for him too.

****

As I write this, I am on a NJ transit train on a Friday night, heading to Fair Haven after a long week at work. This is the first time I am going to New Jersey since the time we were all here over the holidays and since I started at the new job. So much has happened it seems like more than a few weeks!

*Geraniums which have died back and now are getting ready to go back out in the spring!*

The new job is starting to take root. I am finding my way around better – although yesterday I went in an out door and I must remember that hospitals are like restaurants that way! Still, people are getting used to me and I am getting used to them too. I don’t yet have a place to pick up breakfast, but I have laid in supplies for lunches for the week via Trader Joe’s down the street.

Meanwhile, the train is crowded and it is already dark out as it is early in winter, although it seems the official word of the groundhog this morning is that spring is on the way,

Feline Greetings from Fair Haven

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today is the annual Christmas card reveal. clearly this year we celebrate the whole Butler crew, all eight kitties, including Hobo.

We are ensconced here at Oxford Avenue for the holiday duration this year. I have inaugurated the holidays by acquiring a violent stomach virus so this may be a bit brief. It’s an odd year, my first without my mom and I am feeling it even more keenly than I thought I would. I am usually pro-Christmas and manage holiday cheer even under duress. This year is tough, although I am curled up here in New Jersey with Kim and all the kitties which helps. Drinking fluids! No baking while this is going on.

*Last year’s card – Blackie and Cookie solo in front of our apartment window.*

The card has a double meaning this year as I leave Jazz at Lincoln Center for the very different world of fundraising for the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center. Animal lover and rescuer of animals as she was, all of us think Mom would find that an appropriate switch; she was always concerned that my job at Jazz was too exhausting for the long haul, with its travel and many nights.

AMC will be unlike anything I have done before and I don’t dismiss the difference and the adjustment – all fundraising is not the same. Still, my brain itches to engage with new challenges and I think building a full fundraising operation for them is the next best chapter.

Blackie is stalking around the New Jersey house; Cookie has returned to her safe spot under a chair in the bedroom. Beau and Blackie had a hissy hello last night. I think the other New Jersey cats remain largely unaware. There is always an adjustment period.

Kim has taken over my office for the duration and, after a few false starts for a new dip pen holder and something for his ink, he is inking away upstairs.

*The original Pam Butler pencil drawing.*

This year’s card was conceived of and drawn by me as a tribute to my new cat family and job – I include my original pencil for the first time. Kim inked it and added the logo which is properly Deitchien. Each cat gets a proper portrait. Kim added a little maniacal twist to Cookie who is chasing her tail (as she still does almost daily at 10 years of age) and Beau and Blackie are facing off a bit.

So our best wishes for the holidays and the New Year from us at Deitch Studio and Pictorama. Hope you enjoy it!