early animation

A Surprising Tiny Felix

Posted by

5

tiny Felix

Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: In my collecting experience this little gem is about as weird as it gets. A Facebook friend, Chuck Sycamore, emailed the photo below as a response to an unrelated post, announcing that a friend of his had “found these in his house” and was selling them. Well, wow. Who could resist that?

tiny felix line-up

So, the friend (who lives in Chicago) was contacted and after a bit of to and fro I purchased one – the fellow on the far left end. My size ration dysmorphia (see yesterday’s post Surprise – It’s Felix Again) kicked in and I was stunned to find this guy no more than four inches high! The scooter is fully functional and the Felix is completely articulated. I have never seen these any place else for sale. The small articulated Felix dolls seem to be a size smaller or a size bigger than any version I know. The scooter seems loosely based on this toy I own (mine is a no-name, not Felix variation – I like it, but for some reason the one that is marked Felix sells for about ten times more) – or perhaps that is entirely in my own mind.

tin Felix on scooter

Whether these were somehow one of a kind pieces made in a small quantity, or for some reason have just eluded me in my years of Felix collecting I do not know. There is no maker’s mark and the execution is very thoughtful. If anyone knows more than I do on the subject please weigh in. I am very curious to know more! And a big shout out to Chuck for giving us the heads up. And what kind of whacky house did the friend move into anyway? What else was in that house?

Surprise – it’s Felix Again!

Posted by

1

Big new Felix

Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post:  I really wasn’t in the market for another Felix, especially not such a large one. Finding a spot for them in our tiny apartment is becoming difficult. Yet when this one failed to sell and was re-listed at a much lower purchase price, I could not ignore the opportunity to purchase it. At the time I was thinking that it was an upgrade for one in my collection, but when it showed up I realized that it is actually a different model. Just as well, I have not yet begun to see myself in the role of seller – I am still accumulating. I gather from the eBay seller that she bought it on a recent Morphy’s auction for considerably more (I do remember it being listed there) and she didn’t have room for it once it arrived!

In terms of size I admit to a certain dysmorphia on occasion when it comes to purchasing toys. It isn’t that I don’t pay attention to the sizes, virtually always listed nicely in inches, feet or centimeters. However, things frequently arrive much smaller than I envisioned. However, on occasion, at least one notable one, I completely misjudge a very large toy. There is a Dean’s Rag Company Mickey Mouse that was a store display which I won in a Hake’s auction several years back – Kim bought it for me as a Christmas gift. It arrived in what can only be described as a small refrigerator box! I was a bit overwhelmed. It took some doing but Mickey resides, hulking in a corner of the bedroom, at the foot of our bed, the size of a small child, watching over us as we sleep.

Below, new Felix with the one I thought he was the same as. Silly me! What was I thinking?

Two Felix Dolls

Dishing Felix

Posted by

2

Dishing Felix

Pam’s Pictorama: As we, somewhat regretfully, leave Halloween posts, we are embracing a series of Felix and other recent purchase posts. I have been VERY busy on eBay and will be sharing the cat-filled results.

I have had one or two similar pieces similar to this dish slip through my fingers in recent years and this time I decided it was my turn and I pushed hard to win this interesting – and somewhat strange – dish. There’s been some discussion in the house about the purpose this was meant to serve – children’s dish? Pet food? Ashtray? It is very shallow for a children’s dish and a bit large (let’s say 6 inches across) for an ashtray. Very elegant for pet food – a bit unkind to use Felix as an ashtray.

If you look carefully, you can see where the image of Felix was traced around the face. This was hand painted. The uneven line around the edges is also due to human foible it would seem, and a bit of smudging in the glazing process – fingerprints on the bottom right. There is absolutely no marking on this. I almost wonder if it wasn’t made from some sort of do-it-yourself kit or class – although the top glaze and firing seem professional. It is curious though. It hailed from Great Britain, at least that is where I purchased it from. That is not surprising – England seems to have be the El Dorado of early Felix merchandise.

One of the reasons I like this is that it is an early looking, nicely blocky Felix – my favorite type from the very early cartoons. I like him pointy and toothy – just like this. I try to resist purchasing breakable items (see my post Fear of Celluloid) which are difficult to find a safe haven for in our small, Blackie and Cookie-crazed apartment, but one does have to make exceptions.

A New Felix for Pam!

Posted by

2

Pam’s Pictorama Post:  I don’t actually buy Felix dolls very often these days. There aren’t all that many that I do not have, and those I don’t own I frequently can’t quite afford on eBay – where the competition gets mighty hot. However, once in a while one shows up that wins for sheer quirky spirit, and this was one of those Felix-es. Something about the cock-eyed confidence of this little fellow caught my eye. Frankly, upon arrival he’s a bit more fragile than I would have bargained for, but these whacky toys all seem to have individual living expressions and I love his whacky appeal. On the face of it he doesn’t look like he comes from the East London Toy Factory, as featured in the previous post of that name. Still, he does belong to a category of Felix which appears singular and somewhat handmade.

His blue ribbon is most likely not original – I think some did bear a white bow at the time – but it is jaunty and I like it. It adds to his appeal. He maintains his whiskers, which frequently are among the first things to go. They are stiff and stand up on their own, curling a bit. His tail is designed to help him stand, but he barely does these days, and has a bit of help here. He will live on a high shelf because Cookie has already discovered him and decided that his smell is fascinating. Clearly she would enjoy making him a very expensive cat toy. Not on my watch, Cookie old girl.

Another Jaunty Felix at the Beach

Posted by

0

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post:  This was the second of two recent purchases. It took a long time to get to me, but it was well worth the wait. Felix strikes an especially good pose. It is as if he is saying, “Come on Jack, let’s blow out of here and find some real fun!” The man seems to be fully at ease – this despite the fact that he is wearing a suit at the beach. Looking further into the background we have lots of women in long cotton dresses and hats – it was a beach with a dress code I guess. A lovely looking beach resort, somewhere in Britain, roaring away in 1920’s full cry. Felix seems to have interrupted this man’s newspaper reading, but no mind – perhaps they are discussing the day’s racing results together.

This postcard is unused, undated and with no indication of location. I have found that these Felix photo postcards are rarely postally used, written on or dated. Clearly you had one taken and kept it for your own enjoyment. I saw my first version of these postcards in a book (the definitive book really) about Felix call Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World’s Most Famous Cat, by John Canemaker. That one, and the ones I was to subsequently find and purchase initially, were people posing with more or less human sized Felix-es. Some even made me wonder if there was a small person inside a Felix costume. In recent years I have found more photos of the sort shown here – larger than a large toy, but definitely not a midget in a Felix suit. Easier for an itinerant photographer to wander the beach with his tripod and camera equipment hawking a photo with Felix I suppose. You had to be set up in a stationary place to set up with the really big fellow.

Unsurprisingly, I have long searched for one of these giant Felix doll props. I came close years ago when someone I was conversing with on eBay said he had one in a storage locker – and then he disappeared! Oh the frustration! You know though that I plan to hunt one down one of these days – and if you stick around you’ll all know about it.

Spooning with Felix

Posted by

4

Pam’s Pictorama: I have been giving these Felix spoons the sideways look on eBay for years now. Suddenly there was this one and no one was bidding on it and the next thing I know…I  own it! I am surprised to find that there is very little information available about the maker, or anything much at all about it at all. It is marked nickel silver, but no maker that I can see, and the smiling, dashing Felix is silver and black enamel. Someone selling one on a website claims that these spoons were made by Charles Horner of Halifax who was an Art Deco designer of jewelry. At first glance Mr. Horner seems a bit higher end than our friend Felix appears. Still, he seems to have produced a broad line of products so perhaps it is possible. It is a nicely made spoon. Like I said in my post, Living the Felix Life, when my ship comes in I plan to use Felix china for our everyday dishes and now I will make sure all the spoons are Felix as well!

When I informed Kim I had purchased the Felix spoon and showed it to him, he told me of his memory of owning an Ollie spoon as a child – part of a Kukla Fran and Ollie set of ice cream spoons with distinctly designed squared off shovel-like bowls at the end. Of course I immediately went to eBay and found a Kukla spoon – no Ollie spoon, except for one that had been made into a ring. It did make an attractive, if somewhat bizarre, ring and I briefly considered buying it – but really, where could I wear it?

Spoons are a surprisingly affordable collectible. The excellent design on some was a bit of a revelation – I saw a rather remarkably well designed W.C. Fields spoon for example – and the actual existence of others being the revelation, such as the Charlie McCarthy spoon or the Dionne quintuplets.  I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if there are some future spoon entries heading your way, dear reader, a future edition of Blame It on the Blog.

Felix and His Early TV Turn

Posted by

0

XX#1

unnamed-19

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Today I share a composite of composition Felix statues. One is a variation on a common shot of Felix on his turn table famously posing for the tv camera to focus on. This photo comes to me courtesy of the very generous Tom Conroy. Thank you again Tom! (You may remember that Tom recently supplied the photo for my post Felix and Betty Boop Affair.)

The back of this photo describes this as the scanning-disk pickup of equipment of NBC’s experimental TV station W2XBS in New York in 1930. The internet weighs in with several sites identifying that this first broadcast, with Felix, occurred in 1928. In addition, one site states that Felix was used ongoing, nightly, to focus the cameras and as a sort of test pattern. I especially like this version – a longer shot than you usually see. It is fun to see all the equipment too. Imagine – most of that probably fits on a computer chip of one kind or another today – one that fits in your phone.

As one site devoted to the history of Felix points out – Felix was willing to work cheap and was extremely patient under the bright, hot lights which he was required to remain under as part of this assignment. Needless to say, he was much more cheerful and welcome than most other test patterns. (Late night test patterns! Television stations that went off the air late at night – and the little white dot that remained after you turned the tv off, until it faded away. Ah, childhood.)

The composition Felix in the tv photo is the same ubiquitous one in the Christmas photo I just purchased. (Kim would like to go on the record as not caring for this photo. It evidently does not live up to his standards.) It is a snap shot, nothing on the back and no date – it measures about 3.5″ x 4.5″. This jolly little homey scene of a Christmas long past features the very same standard issue Felix. Hard to say if he was a gift or part of the decorations. I like the small but heavily decorated and be-tinseled table-tree, familiar to those of us who live in apartments. Failing a fireplace the stockings are placed carefully over a chair and tempting packages are stacked up under around Felix and an elephant toy beside him.

I don’t own one of these composition Felix statues, although I wouldn’t mind scooping one up if the right opportunity came along. I always imagined that they were prizes at fairs, although it seems like you must have been able to purchase them as well. To my, admittedly limited, knowledge they seem to have remained consistent in size and appearance over a long period of several decades – a good design lasts.

Felix Family Photo

Posted by

2

XX5

Pam’s Pictorama Photo: I have devoted several posts to stars of film and stage wishing to enhance their appeal by posing with Felix, (see my posts Mistinguett – Felix Goes to the Dogs and Felix Makes the Picture Better among others) however Felix most frequently joined family gatherings in the late twenties and early thirties as shown here. The small photo is a new purchase, from Great Britain. (It is quite small, about 2.25″x3.25″ with nothing on the back.) The beach postcard scene is also from Great Britain I purchased a number of years ago.

So, when I look at the small photo I ask myself – was the family taking a photo that was a knock off of those you paid for at beaches and resorts? Or was Felix just such a part of the family that they spontaneously included him? Their Felix is decidedly smaller than the one in the beach photo. He is a ‘home model’ if you will. Not unlike one (or two) I own. (A frequent fantasy of mine is finding one of these enormous Felix dolls like the ones in the beach photos – some the size of a small person! – and purchasing it. I thought I was on the trail of one once but alas, the trail went cold.) I like the cheeky looking girl in the plaid dress, standing above Felix. Makes you wonder if including him was her idea. And what’s with the kid on the fence a bit further down? Is he part of the family or did he just happen to be on the fence when they took the photo?

The family in the beach photo is more prosperous looking. It is a much larger gathering and everyone is beautifully turned out, despite being at the beach. They have made that lovely sandcastle and I like the way they have tucked Felix in as part of the family (he almost looks like he’s holding the baby!) so it takes a moment or two to even see him at first. There is nothing written on the back of the postcard, but clearly it was a treasured photo of a large family gathering. Who wouldn’t want to join that party? Frankly, I can’t say we ever had family gatherings in my New Jersey childhood that lived up to that. It does set the bar high however.

Felix Plays a Prime Prop

Posted by

1

 

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: This gem comes to me courtesy of my terrific husband, as a birthday gift. We were both very entertained by the photo – as well as the appearance of Felix and friends in it.  Sadly, there is no identification – someone has written German film? on the back in pencil. Otherwise, just the reprint credit information from something called, Culver Services.

Kim suspects that the actor is Dwight Frye. This gave way to another iPad internet search in bed one night and a lively discussion of whether or not we could figure out what movie this might be from his bio. I have failed to tie this out – the woman is not familiar to either of us and I invited anyone who knows about it to speak up. We are curious! Here are a few photos of Dwight from what must be more or less the same time. As you can see, the photo is identified as being from Universal, which is rubbed over in red for some reason.

dwight-frye  dracula-1

6164-9576

Meanwhile, the babe, surrounded by rather excellent stuffed toys, is letting all hang out in would could be a pre-Code or very European way. Dwight looks unconcerned by her state of undress and urges her to look at these plans or whatever those sheets of paper are. The maid just wishes to get on with serving tea it would seem.

Oh, but let’s talk about the toys! There is the glorious big Felix which is what caught my attention to begin with – oh, lucky woman! He’s a pip! Behind her head is a black cat pillow I would acquire instantly given half the chance. Then there are two of these somewhat mysterious stuffed dogs. As far as I can tell they are made by Dean’s Rag Co. of Britain (for some of my posts of praise for these fine toy makers check out my post Pluto) and here is an example of a similar dog that was recently for sale on eBay – didn’t sell if you are interested!

$_57

And then below, my own acquisition of a similar odd duck dog in Paris a few years ago. He does not have a maker mark however. I do not know if the one above does or not.

unnamed-19

Felix is also probably a Dean’s Rag or perhaps a Chad Valley version. I can’t help but wonder where they all came from and who had the excellent eye for set design. Too much to hope that they were part of the plot – if we cannot figure out what film it is I will probably never know for sure either way!

Felix and Betty Boop Affair

Posted by

1

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: This photo found its way to us via Tom Conroy – a friend of Kim’s who has generously sent us many wonderful photos from his collection. Thank you Tom!

Many variations of this photo session abound on eBay and can be found on the internet. Interestingly, this exact image does not appear on the Google photo file. (Although I guess it will now.)  The actress is generally identified as Helen Kane, but Kim was thinking May Questel which lead to an active Google search and discussion in bed with the iPad the other night. Kim leans seriously toward May Questel. I include period photos of May and Helen and I would say it is a tough call indeed!

6401-7  imgres

The question of why Betty Boop is posing with Felix is another one. Clearly there was Betty/Felix empathy – as shown in my post, The Strangeness of French Betty and Felix. Speculation is that at some point the properties were owned by the same company and this low level promotion occurred. Still, as you know, it has long been my philosophy that Felix improves anyone’s status – and we know that Betty had a long-standing affection for dogs, so why not a clever cat?

As a point of strange symmetry (and because you can never have too much Felix) I offer this early photo postcard of a man posing with a Felix cut-out. This has a place of honor with my collection of photos of people posing with large stuffed Felix dolls. I have always guessed that this photographer could not afford a proper stuffed Felix to pose with and did his best.

P#4