Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Possibly one of the strangest sub-genres here at Pictorama are a clutch of photos of people posing on Spark Plug who in 1922 made his way into comics fame when he made his entrance into the Barney Google strip. The patched together equine captured the reader’s heart in that initial episode and he joined the ongoing cast of characters. His distinctive appearance made him a picture perfect photo foil and evidently photos posing with him proliferated in addition to sheet music, Halloween costumes, games, candy containers and toys ranging from wind-up’s to more cuddly soft versions.
Not in Pictorama Collection.This sheet music is widely available.
I stumbled on the first photo in a Hake’s catalogue years ago and bid on it. That photo went very high and much to my disappointment I didn’t acquire it. It stayed with me however as these things sometimes do and I started to look for them.
I manage to acquire my first one back in 2018 and it is similar to the one I lost at the Hake’s auction. (That post can be found here.) It is a pro photo, much along the same lines as the concept of people posing with Felix, although the Spark Plug photos are not postcards and are generally regular prints which are 5×7 or larger. If you read that post you will find an interesting exchange with the descendent of the fellow identified in the picture who found the post while doing genealogy research on his family.
Pricey Chien litho toy for sale at the time of writing.
The next photo didn’t show up until ’21 and it is a postcard where Spark Plug is an almost abstract design. Lodged as he was in the public consciousness however you merely had to make a nod to his appearance and label him and you were good to go. (That odd little gem can be found here.) This acquisition marks the third in the series.
Today’s entry into the archive is what appears to be a very competently homemade version of the pasted together pony. Junior, in comic splendor complete with glasses, nose and mustache all of a piece under his topper of a hat, must be concealing his legs under Spark Plug’s body and stubby faux limbs are astride the horse. Spark Plug’s identifying patch is evident on the side and, as is always helpful, he is clearly labeled on one side. His head, while a tad small for his body, is a credible reproduction.
Next to him is another kid, in blackface, with a faux banjo. Something about him reminds the viewer of the jockey statues that used to be in evidence as outdoor decor. Behind them are adults who do not appear to be in costume – the maid notwithstanding but after some consideration I have decided that she is just working in uniform, not in fancy dress. She is pushing a cart of something fluffy and like the other adults she is in somewhat soft focus. They form a distracting blur behind the costumed kids.
Another pricey item for sale as I write – interesting that a somewhat forgotten cartoon character still fetches thousands for toys today!
This photo is approximately 5×7 and printed on a super light paper which is curling with age. The back is entirely blank and there’s no evidence that it was in a photo album at any time, perhaps it was framed. While the pictorial quality is somewhat lacking this photo nevertheless is another interesting entry into the Pictorama archive.
Pam’s Pictorama Post: Yes, it appears to be a lamp post today! I have been on what might best be called a lamp acquisition binge. In part, it has been to fill a need for lighting in New Jersey at the house where we pretty much only had overhead lights and needed additional standing lamps and table lights. Here in New York we have an on-going need for lamps in the living room where we have two contemporary standing lamps which seem to both take very expensive bulbs and die after a few years.
As a result of the lamp death rate I have begun purchasing lamps, mostly old ones. They end up being rewired so I don’t really understand why they last better but they do. It started with a desk lamp for myself here in New York while working at home. After some frustration I bought an old one on Instagram which, while a bit tatty and odd looking, seems to be dedicated to staying on the job. It came from Washington State.
Odd little desk lamp from Washington State, among the detritus of wires and stuff on my home desk.
Before I go on I should add that I came from a family that seemed to be unable to pass up a good antique chair, lamp or clock. The lamps collected by my family have sadly mostly passed out of our hands, and those that remain are somewhat unsuited to my current needs although one graces Kim’s desk at the moment – Pictorama readers see it often in desk shots. (See below.) It may have started life as a vase, vaguely Asian in design and covered in flowers, which was converted into a lamp. Nonetheless, it did hatch forth from the Butler holdings many years ago, before Kim and Deitch Studio arrived on the scene.
A brief digression about clocks. The Butler clocks, mostly antique, are very much gone I’m afraid. As a kid I learned to sleep through a constant chiming throughout the day and night, although it was hard to readjust visiting as an adult. If there’s one I miss it is a ship’s clock with those bells. I am tempted to find one, but am afraid it could result in divorce. Dad was dedicated to winding those that needed winding every Sunday in his retirement. (There was also a cuckoo clock at my grandmother’s I loved as a child, but I knew we couldn’t absorb that into Deitch Studio when it became available. It was both large and noisy.) At one point my mom had one that made bird noises on the hour – that was a rare modern one – and it drove me nuts. However, I will say I saw a good antique wall clock for sale the other day and unbidden my father rose up in me and I twitched with the urge to buy it. Evidently it is in the blood.
Desk lamp purchased for my New Jerseydesk, but shown here in the eBay photo I purchased it from.
For New Jersey I acquired a lovely old standing lamp from a friend, rewired it and popped a shade on after some negotiation on the internet – who knew there would be so many variations of standard lamp shade sizes. I am tempted to buy another if I see it and am constantly prowling. A good number, strangely, seem to come in pairs which doesn’t really work for me – or appear at a time when figuring out shipping seems beyond me.
After the acquisition of the standing lamp I purchased a gooseneck desk lamp on eBay to replace a lamp on my desk in Fair Haven which has a tendency to randomly turn itself off. (Seems like a bad sign, right?) That lamp was never designed as a desk light anyway and I will either have it rewired and move it elsewhere or let it loose back into the world. Frankly it is not an especially compelling item.
Inexpensive blue and white lamp which I have hooked up to a smart plug to do my Alexa bidding.
I also purchased an inexpensive, pretty, new blue and white lamp for the living room there. More notably I installed an Alexa and set this living room lamp to light morning and evening. It took me and Alexa (I call her Miss A. when I don’t want her listening; she does listen) awhile to come to an agreement, but she seems able to fulfill her simple task. I find myself saying please and thank you to her which I can’t seem to discontinue. She, additionally, supplies me with NPR news while I make coffee and feed the cats in the morning and will also turn the light on if asked, as I pad through the room in the middle of the night in search of water in the kitchen or to investigate and moderate a cat disagreement. I may try the headlines of the New York Times next, but I usually switch to classical music after NPR. (I recently also purchased a Wink video doorbell and cameras and I’m sure more to come once I have that installed. I am slowly turning the Fair Haven house into a smart house – at least sorta smart.)
Our current status in NYC is one floor lamp down and has been for awhile. It ate one of its expensive bulbs aways back and we seem unable to make a decision to offer up another bulb or get rid of said light. I decided to work around that and while upstate for work in July (see a post about that weekend of work adventure here) I purchased a very pretty little lamp in an antique store. It is a variation on what is called slag glass, but instead of it being all about the glass design it has a wonderful lacy metal shade over it.
Lacy metal side table lamp which is waiting for a place to be plugged in! Pluto seems to like it…
I will take a moment to opine that many years ago there was someone doing wonderful reproduction lamps with painted scenes on glass shades. I didn’t have the cash to invest in one then and have always regretted it. I have never been able to find the really nice ones subsequently now that I have a chance to invest. Alas. I also have an appetite for a heat motion activated lamp – these lamps from the 1950’s have brightly colored scenes and the heat of the bulb activates them to slowly turn the scene. Unfortunately many of the scenes are sort of pedantic – a lot of fires and trains – but I am waiting for the right one to cross my path.
Lastly and truly in no way least, perhaps more best of all – on a true whim I purchased a painted metal Popeye lamp in an auction recently. I was leafing through I think a Milestone online catalogue and Popeye caught my eye. I put a nominal bid in on him almost without thinking and really did forget about it until an email showed up telling me I had purchased him. While his paint is in bad shape I do love him. I am currently deciding if he will reside here in New York or go to New Jersey which is easily still absorbing lighting fixtures.
Another shot of Popeye, but this time showing Kim’s lamp more or less in its full glory.
Meanwhile, I am trying to decide what kind of a shade goes on Popeye and how best to purchase it. I saw some online but the shade lamp calculus would be better in person. Another option might be a bare Edison bulb – any thoughts? I am taking all comers and suggestions on this.
Kim twitches with the desire to repaint him someday and I would say he could be a good candidate for it. Other more pressing projects await however. For now though, I say, let there be lots of light.
Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today’s post is the last piece of the advertising haul from Britain I started posting about a few weeks ago. (That post and some great ads can be found here.) Persil, the subject of today’s post, is a British detergent which is still quite extant today. This ad is from an unknown publication, but dated May 24, 1924.
It was founded in 1907 and according to an internet article Persil claims to be the first first self-acting detergent. Its revolutionary formula that released oxygen during washing made strenuous rubbing of the laundry superfluous. According to another site it mixed a high oxygen soap with salt into the detergent which caused a chemical reaction that cleaned clothes without damaging or scrubbing. This is of course something we take for granted today, but quite revolutionary indeed when you think about it.
A couple of these clocks appear to survive in Germany. They are wonderful! I guess to remind you that Persil would save you time?
Persil got its name from its original ingredients: Per from Perborate and Sil from Silicate. Originally the Persil powder had to be stirred into a paste before use. At the bottom of this ad it announces that you can write for a free booklet which tells how to use Persil. At first I wondered why you would need a booklet with instructions confused me at first, but after the outline above I realized it was perhaps a bit complicated.
A slightly earlier German advertisement with an even more Devilish mascot from 1914. The copy roughly translates to saves coal, labor, time and money!
The tie-in to Felix is a somewhat elliptical one – Time for the pictures on wash-day. Felix is perhaps a bit more off-model than usual, mouse dangling in hand and the writing on the film poster, beyond his name, is gibberish. The little girl looks at him joyfully while a well dressed (and well-heeled) mom pays for the tickets to someone who is barely part of a face behind the ticket counter. The jolly jacketed usher has his back to us.
The copy reads, Time for the pictures on wash-day – Of course there is. She wouldn’t miss Felix for worlds. So she hands over the washing to Persil. That means five minutes for getting things ready, and thirty minutes for Persil to do the work. Out come the clothes, clean, fresh, white and undamaged, and off she goes with a clear conscience and a clear day.
Detail of ad.
Persil’s mascot, the early ’20’s version, is down at the bottom, odd little fairy made of a box with wings – less sly than the Devil above. He’s barefoot and is all pointy ears, nose and hair. Oddly, and it may be my own inferior search skills, I cannot find any information on his history or why he was composed this way.
The advertising I have supplied here was the most notable I could find on the internet so Persil didn’t go in for a lot of premiums or campaigns, that survive anyway. The green box shown here held by the friendly Devil was their persistent look into the mid-twentieth century when they eventually morphed to a plastic jug and presumably stopped being a powder.
I assume that Felix picked up his paycheck for this and kept it moving. Lastly, for another real eyeball kick, check out my other Felix advertising post from a few weeks ago – a rare, entire short comic for Sportex shirts – which can be found here. Enjoy!
Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: It is another (dreadfully) rainy morning in a string of them this week here in New York, but I have just the thing to cheer us up or so I hope. This especially fun Felix card showed up here at Deitch Studio this week. I am always happiest when one of these turns up for acquisition into my burgeoning collection.
This time the photographer has cleverly set this large Felix up to pose for a stroll down the road with all comers and this tiny tot is just the right size for a companion, a full head shorter than this magnificent Felix. The kid has a nice hold on Felix’s crooked and proffered elbow and is attired in short pants, sun hat and beach shoes of the day.
I don’t recognize the location and don’t know what seaside town in Great Britain this was taken in, almost looks like more of a park. The scruffy vegetation and the stony wall do put me in mind of being near the ocean. However, the men walking behind Felix and child are in dark suits and hats – not exactly beach-y attire, perhaps an important gathering of corporate tycoons? A Davos of the day?
A card added to the collection earlier this year, February post. Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
Felix and the kid are looking right at the camera. Felix sports a wonderful flowing bow and somehow his cock-eyed legs create the allusion of movement; he’s marching down the path. They are right in the center of the picture which is a great composition.
This card was never sent and there are no notations on it for date or location. Part of me is curious to know if there is a whole series of pictures of people strolling down this path with Felix (wouldn’t it be fun if others turned up?) or if this was a single lucky shot. For now though I think there is a perfect horizontal empty spot, right under the calendar and across from where I am sitting, for it to join some other jaunty giant Felix souvenir cards.
Pam’s Pictorama Post: It’s a fully Felix post today with the first of a few advertising bits I bought as a lot a few months ago. They are fragile so I had to wait until I was settled back here at Deitch Studio HQ before I could share them. This following on the heels of last week’s wonderful advertising comic for Sportex shirts. That popular post can be found here if you missed it.
Black Cat Virginia Cigarettes and Felix may hail from the shores of the United States, but this ad came from Britain and a newspaper there. Both are marked in pencil as 1924, the larger of the two is from November 5 and the one with the offer of pearls is a month later, December 10. They appear to have been published in The Daily Mirror. That paper was founded in 1903 and survives today. From what I can tell these were not clipped recently, but saved and dated a long time ago. Ah, a Felix fan from the past?
Black Cat cigarette ads are of course of ongoing interest to Pictorama. I have touched on them previously with some of their cigarette tins I purchased many years ago. That 2015 post can be found here. But far more glorious is the Black Cat match safe which I hunted for years and purchased later in 2015. That post can be found here. Hot damn! Those folks knew their advertising and premiums!
Hotsy-totsy! Pams-Pictorama.com.
In both ads Felix is drawn in the somewhat off-model style that the British in particular favored in the twenties. He is blocky and a bit doggy looking. Toothy and squared off.
I would have been somewhat torn between the camera offer and Felix, but I know I couldn’t have resisted a great big cuddly Felix. Oh bliss – what did he look like? Was he really a nice big one? BOTH OF THESE SPLENDID GIFTS FREE!
The ad urges the reader to consider using their Black Cat cigarette coupons for these items as Christmas gifts. The copy reads, Start saving now. Xmas will soon be here. Think of the joy these gifts will give you, your friends and the kiddies.(As it was already November some smoking had to be done to do this in time I think.) It goes on to say, Incidentally think of the house and hours of sweet contentment you get quietly smoking BLACK CAT Virginia Cigarettes, goodcigarettes, the fun of saving coupons and the joy of getting these two fine presents. Think of it and buy “BLACK CAT” right away. The ad was worth five coupons free.
Meanwhile, the camera appears to be a sturdy Kodak brownie (another American product export) of the sort that proliferated so widely that they are still quite available today. (Kim volunteers that he had one. I too have used them.) I would have found this offer irresistible and would have had to take up chain smoking immediately. When you sent in the coupon in addition to your five free coupons you would get a Free Gift Booklet. I can only imagine the wonders within.
Pearls! Pams-Pictorama.com.
By December the ad had moved onto featuring a string of pearls from the Boulevard des Capucines, Paris in a Silk Lined Case. That would cost you 100 coupons more than Felix who is still featured in the lower left corner. They don’t explain exactly what you are getting with Felix, rather than large and cuddly it merely says, “Felix” for the Children. Felix is still as popular as ever. Give the kiddies a treat this Season. There is no coupon to clip here, just encouragement to send for the booklet and five free coupons.
I guess it is possible that one of my own splendid Felix-es hails from this premium package of yore.
Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Today I write of another delightful addition in a long line of my real photo postcards of people posing with Felix. These were mostly taken in Great Britain (although Australia and New Zealand were in it too, although those appear to largely be of the tintype variety) and this one made the trip across the ocean to join the Pictorama archive.
Like virtually all of these cards this one is postally unused and nothing is written on the back. Although I am not in New York with my full collection at my disposal, I realized almost immediately that this Felix is likely the star in at least one if not more of my other photos.
First there was this most recent purchase, shown below (with a post that can be found here) and while it is possible, the ears are perkier in the prior post and possibly a big white tooth missing or not shown in the latest one. The window backgrounds are also very similar.
However, in an earlier post, this one is pretty much a cinch to be the identical fellow – missing or unshown tooth and all! In some ways it is surprising this doesn’t happen more often. After all there are only so many places taking these photos and presumably not that many Felix-es in play. (The post with the below photo can be found here.)
Images from Pams-Pictorama.com collection
While both these little girls are cute the older one with the hat steals the show – even from Felix. She is delighted to have a hold of Felix’s outsized and overly long arm (all the better for throwing around fellow subjects it seems) and she grins broadly. Her outfit is pitch perfect with that lovely straw hat, decorated with flowers, embroidered collar, short pleated skirt and right down to her white ankle socks and black Maryjanes. The younger sibling (we’ll assume) is in layers of pretty white cotton, complete with bonnet and matching Maryjanes, but she has just been place in front of Felix and shows no real interest.
Of course Kim, cats and I are spending a few weeks at the Jersey shore and having a true summer vacation experience. Tomorrow night we are slated to enjoy the local fireman’s fair (which I wrote about a long time ago here – it turns out that my childhood fireman’s fair is quite a well known one) which I have not attended in decades. While I am excited for some cotton candy or perhaps a candy apple and a ride or two, sadly it seems unlikely I will get to pose with Felix for a photo – the seaside not being what it used to be. More to come about that, perhaps, on Sunday however.
Pams-Pictorama.comPost: If all goes as planned, while this is winging its way into your inbox I will be sweating profusely at an estate near Poughkeepsie with the denizens of a teen music camp affiliated with my work. Our summer academy is a wonderful competitive program and I have not visited since the summer of ’19. (We didn’t hold one in ’20 or ’21.) The kids perform at the Caramoor Festival near there on Saturday.
Held on a college campus, air conditioning is at a minimum so as I write this from East 86th Street I anticipate a hot few days up there. I will have been in residence since Friday, but I saw no reason for you all to do without your weekly Pictorama posts and penned today’s and yesterday’s in advance.
Spanish Courtyard at sunset, Caramoor Festival yesterday – gorgeous day for it.The kids did us proud.
Putting my work woes aside, let’s consider Felix as portrayed in these postcards. While I do not own many of this sizable series of postcards (the one I own, the especially jolly one below, and the post about it can be found here), these came along with the items in the mighty auction box I have been disgorging in recent weeks. (Thus far posts for the ones written thus far can be found here, here and here.)
Pams-Pictororama.com Collection.
These, like the other Felix finds featured thus far, are a product of the industrious Pathé Film Company which was tireless in its production of Felix premiums and memorabilia. At the top each of them reads, Felix The Film Cat, which appears exclusively in Pathé’s Eve-and Everybody’s Film Review. There aren’t dates on any of these cards.
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
These cards have all been used, sent by and to different people, although only one bears a postal mark. I have put them in a loose, possible story order, but one could probably put these in any (or no particular) order. Felix has loved and lost, crying a puddle, his orange striped kitty girlfriend walks off with a blue fellow who may be gesturing back at our friend Felix. Alas, poor Felix! Will he find love again? (And this one on the back is simply to Billy from Grandma.)
Verso of the card above.
In this card Felix, a nice squared off early Felix with pointy ears and blocky feet, meets come hither Miss White Kitty. In this incarnation she is rendered realistically – there is a bit of visual disconnect as a result. In later life she sometimes too has more of a comic book appearance. They each wear a nice bow, his purple and hers red.
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.Verso of the card above it.
It reads, you can give one to Winnie if you don’t want 2 when you get home. its a very nice song about Felix just now I wonder if you know it. I do wonder what song she is referring to – there are many options.
A more updated Miss White Kitty, from 1964.
Up last is Felix, looking out toward the viewer, with one of his mischievous looks. As above, she is his perennial girlfriend, a fickle feline although Felix does his share of coming and going as well, especially when a large bunch of kittens are concerned. They have a bumpy relationship.
Pams-Pictorama.com
This card is the only one that was mailed although the stamp has been torn off. It reads, Dear Biddy, I hope you will like this P.C. of Felix. I sent Jack & Rodney one, not quite like this & Raymond one too. I am so pleased to hear you are having such a nice time, lucky little girl. Lots of love & kisses…[illegible]. It was addressed as follows, Miss Biddy Pyle,Blackheath, Powderham, Nr. Execter, Devon.
Wish me luck on my humid quest this weekend (photos on IG and FB for those of you who follow) and more to come next week – hopefully from an air conditioned perch.
PS – Yes, the Airbnb was was nice and indeed air conditioned. Right on a fresh water pond as shown below.
View from our Airbnb in Livingston, NY. We’re aways from the campus, but a lovely place.
Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today is fourth in a line of posts happily reviewing the contents disgorged from auction box purchased in a British sale a few weeks ago. This handkerchief helped seal the deal as I have never seen the likes of it before. It is small, only a 9.5″ square – a pocket square of sorts. It has faded and grayed with time and is of a very inexpensive fabric. I have not attempted to further clean it.
There do not seem to be comparables of any kind online. In the 1990’s a line of nicely done Felix hankies and scarves were produced and those come up on a search. There are a wonderful line of embroidered ones and I featured one of those I was lucky enough to get in a post here.
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
Like the tiny enamel pins (that post can be found here) this is credited to the Pathé Film Company in the lower left corner and appears to be some sort of premium. (I do wonder – you got to go to the theater and see Felix cartoons and they gave you nifty premiums? Pins and hankies!) It is hard to see, but it seems to be a special Felix logo with a pointy Felix with Pathé written across him. Around it appears to read, Pathe Presents in Full Everybody’s Film Review. Below that there is REG* which I assume is like a copyright notice.
These Felix-es are a wonderful morph between the blockiest or squarest way he was drawn and an early rounded version. He romps and torments an outsized mouse in each quarter of the hanky. (The way proportions between cat and mouse are made to work in cartoons has always fascinated me. By necessity the mouse has to be quite large and we generally just accept it as a visual trope.)
After some study, it could starting in the lower left corner where this Felix who I thought was sporting a nice bow (but maybe that is something else?) smiles mischievously – oh Felix! What are you planning? In the next quarter he has tied the oversized Mouse onto a string – Mouse looks mildly accepting and Felix has his slightly hunched over walk in a squared-off design profile.
Felix one and Mouse make eye contact! (I have always found it fascinating that the trope of the utterly huge mouse, necessary when animating cat and mouse, is one that our mind’s eye has come to accept.) Mouse seems mildly accepting. He appears to wear a tiny mouse harness which is not evident in the other images of him.
The upper left has Felix holding a kite – weirdly I thought it was a paddle toy at first with the mouse as the ball – do you remember those from being a kid? I finally realized that there was a tail on the kite. In part, I figured this out because Felix in the top right is holding kite string. Is the thing over his shoulder a bow like the Felix on the bottom? Mouse is looking a bit less entertained! However, Mouse does romp in the middle as well, first with a ball and then dancing with a horn so at the end of the day we will assume all’s well that end’s well here.
Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today’s plaster figure is the second entry about and part of the recent auction haul from Britain. This is the second little statue of this kind to enter the Pictorama collection. (I wrote about it and my love of auctions in a post that can be found here.) Today’s is a little beat up and seems a little fragile for the relative rough and tumult of Deitch Studio, home to Kim, Pam and cats. As I penned last week, a box of Felix related items was purchased and expelled all sorts of bits and pieces and while I am not disappointed that this was among them, but I may not have otherwise sought it out.
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.The design of this Felix was enough to convince me to add it to my collection a few years ago.
Felix lovers know his famous walk, hands clasped behind back pose quite well, although it is usually accompanied by a furrowed brow instead of this genial smile. He is not the most squared-off earliest model of Felix, but is an early rendering nonetheless. I do like his somewhat blocky body, a good version of the Felix design. He is a tad grimy and some of his white bits are chipped, but his expression is there and he sports a big black button of a nose. He is about five inches high and bears no markings at all.
Variations on these early statuettes are abundant which makes me wonder if there was a time in Great Britain in the late twenties when you could barely see a desk without one or another, or perhaps an ashtray. Maybe he will join me at the office. The Felix representation is fairly low there these days.
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
In considering Felix’s contemplative walk, somehow he, an early animated cartoon of course, was always in motion and that even seems to bleed into the early toys, which walk, toddle, jump or use variations on this pose. Or maybe that is just true of all toys and I am over thinking it.
As for me, I do like to work things through in my mind while walking, not to mention running which is especially good for it. There is something about being in motion which helps my brain untangle its knotty thinking. I used to set aside time at the office, not quite weekly, to spend a half hour or so just thinking which I generally did sitting in my chair contemplating the ceiling or the view, always a bit nominal, out the window. It was always good to take myself out of the weeds some and just try to adjust to the broader picture and be strategic. I have fallen out of the practice but maybe it is just the thing for returning to the office this fall.
Pam’s Pictorama Post: Yesterday, the first day of my vacation, started quite poorly with a migraine. I am an occasional sufferer and although certain food (good-bye red wine!) will trigger them unfailingly, otherwise they arrive largely unannounced several times a year. For a period of time they manifested as vertigo which was really nasty business. I don’t take anything for them although I try to remember one doc’s advice that they would dog me during times when I wasn’t eating and sleeping sufficiently.
If I had to guess, yesterday’s migraine fiesta can be attributed to a long winter and spring of stress with mom’s illness and work. Regardless of cause, yesterday saw not one but a rare two rounds with it. Bright lights in one eye which melt into sort of fascinating, undulating psychedelic patterns. (Think caterpillars examined on acid.) Interesting though, in tandem is the feeling that someone has poured crushed glass behind your eyes, followed by a dullness and a sort of well, sore head. I gave in after round two and slept through the afternoon.
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
When I woke later in the day, generally revived, I had a rare and unusual treat awaiting me. An entire box of Felix items had arrived from an auction in England! As a general rule, I do not purchase blocks of items as my limited space does not invite duplicating items, nor storing them against future resale. (Although now that I own a house too, watch out I say!) However, this is the second auction where I did purchase a lot and I have been quite pleased both times. The first time was a few months back and it was in order to purchase this rare Felix bottle, shown below. (The full post can be read here.) It was paired with a pencil sharpener. All in all, a satisfying experience.
This time I went a bit further out on a limb for a multi-faceted package and those of you who are willing and interested can be along for the ride as I examine this odd lot of booty. I will start with some of the small items which I did not buy the box for, but are in their own way, a wealth of stuff.
Back of pin with information as below.
Starting with some of the smallest items, I offer two pins which came my way. The one is is very poor shape, however I am not sure I have ever seen this exact version before and in its day he was a jolly little bar pin. (A prior Pin Post of Felix specimens can be found here.) A barely visible Felix shrugs his shoulders in a familiar pose with a sad face. While well beyond wearing, I think it is fair that he should come to rest in the Pictorama collection.
Pins from Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
The other is one in a series of pins that are somewhat available and my examples were among some of my earliest Felix purchases in a London flea market many years ago. I own two others in the series, but this third is the first time I am seeing one on the original card.
Some (most?) of these are marked with some variation on the back along the lines of, Pathe Presents Felix The Cat In Eve & Everybody’s Film Review. (I have grabbed that off an old Hake’s listing for this pin so I don’t have to take it off it’s aged card. Under any circumstances, it is a lot of text for the back of a pin which is only about 1.5″ long.) These are generally also marked sterling, which is additionally a bit surprising although silver was much more commonly used for costume pieces back at the beginning of the 20th century. Some were also produced on brass, copper or some other non-ferris metal.
Not in Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
Having said all of that, I have seen this mold, pattern or whatever, used in a vast array and variety of pins. I was only able to grab one other design off the internet, but over the years I have seen many variations on the pins, as necklace charms and otherwise utilized in a variety of ways. They are fairly available and one in good condition seems to run about $50 these days.
Bracelet by Charles Horner which I have seen for sale and occasionally been tempted to buy.
One interesting clue I ran into while researching these today is that they were designed by a man named Charles Horner who is best known for his Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau pin designs. Horner’s company, Charles Horner of Halifax, (23 Northgate Halifax), was founded on a design for a new and improved thimble. The Dorcas thimble sported a reinforced top to reduce needle pricking. (In my mind this does raise the question of what the heck good were they before that.) It was patented in 1884 and remained in production until the 1940’s.
Horner Mickey Mouse pin, sterling, sold by Liberty of London according to one source. A bit more rarified than the Felix pins, these will cost you a bit more.
Mr. Horner did a similar turn for Mickey Mouse in a series of pins, but I don’t know if they were also a premium tie-out or if Felix proved so remunerative he struck a deal with Disney. (From what I can find there is only a Disney copyright and the Horner hallmark on the back of these.) One of Charles Horner’s hat pins is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art according to their online catalogue – it does not bear Felix’s image. After his death in the 1890’s his sons took over the company and expanded to watches and tableware and continued production until the 1980’s.
A reel of Pathe Felix film.
What I cannot find is specifically how Pathe films distributed these pins, although I assume that it was they who were the origin of them, and that Horner just kept using the designs in the other pins and bits of jewelry that one finds which do not all appear to tie out to the Pathe name. Pathe did not limit themselves to pins as premiums and they also produced an odd line of largely useless pieces of decorative china – ashtrays, pin trays and the like. I wonder if the premiums were give aways in theaters or with the purchase of their line of home movies, a Baby Pathe Felix film is shown below. To my knowledge (which is limited) these premiums seem to have been entirely the purvey of the alternate universe that was Felix the Cat promotion in Great Britain.
Another Pathe premium, not in Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.The odd marking on the bottom of one of the china premium pieces.
And this folks, is merely the tip of the iceberg for the wonders that wandered into the house yesterday. Stay tuned Felix friends! It promises to be a very Felix summer ahead for Pictorama.
Pam's Pictorama 