toy cat

A New Felix for Pam!

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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.

East London Toy Factory, Ltd.

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: This parade of multiple off-model Felix fellows advertises the East London Toy Factory at 45, Norman Road, E. 3. It is unused and undated. A quick look around and I found this out about the history of this factory on the site Grace’s Guide:

WWI. Sylvia Pankhurst opened a new toy factory as an answer to the dozens of tiny failing workshops where women were paid a pittance. Toys were no longer being imported from Germany, so Sylvia’s factory employed 59 women to fill the gap. It was a haven for them. First they turned out wooden toys and then dolls: black, white and yellow, followed by stuffed cats, dogs and bears. One day, Sylvia took a taxi full of her wares to Selfridges new store in Oxford Street and cajoled Gordon Selfridge himself to become a stockist. 

A further listing says that in 1922 East London Toy Factory was noted for exhibiting Soft Animals with Voice…and Riding Animals on Wheels. By 1947 they were listed with Animals with Electric Eyes. Hotsy totsy I say!  An undated ad on another site declares, East London Toy Factory, Ltd, high-class soft toys, artistic rag dolls, mascots, fancy toys and all kinds of novelties. Fancy toys and novelties indeed – let’s talk! I am not absolutely positive, but I think there is a very good chance that my Felix below is a East London Toy Factory fellow. As far as I can find out, they did not place a maker’s mark on them. The company was liquidated in 1952.

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Sylvia Pankhurst was a real pip. In addition to opening the East London Toy Factory, which as above, employed women and at a higher wage (not to mention supplying off-model Felix dolls to the masses) Sylvia Pankhurst was a suffragette, born of a family of reformers and left wing activists. She started life as a painter, illustrating the plight of poor women and families and then she became an activist and reformer with a vengeance. In addition to the toy factory, she opened food distribution centers, and a free clinic. Shown below, she is being arrested for protesting WW1.

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Subsequently, she moved to the countryside and lived with her Italian anarchist paramour where they opened a cafe and she wrote what one website calls subversive literature. (This seems to mean Communist.) She was against marriage and taking a man’s name and when she gave birth to a son when she was 45 – it is unclear if it was the child of the Italian lover of if she had moved on by then – her refusal to marry resulted in her mother never speaking to her again. (So much for being a liberal parent – I guess there were limits in 1927.) Later in life Pankhurst was a supporter of Ethiopian independence and moves there in 1956. Continuing in the same lifelong vein, she opens the first teaching hospital there and supports anti-imperialist causes. Sylvia Pankhurst dies in Ethiopia, where she is given a state funeral, in 1960 at the age of 78. Clearly I am not able to do her full justice here, but there are robust sites devoted to her that are well worth the read. Fascinating! I am very pleased that Felix took me down this particular road, and I offer it to you today as a slightly unusual Mother’s Day fare.

Cat Purse

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Pam’s Pictorama: This was very much an impulse buy on eBay a few months back. Perhaps because I had recently seen an exhibition of kimono at the Met with these fabulous fireman’s coats made with heavy woven fabric and this reminded me of them. (One is shown below – they had amazing designs on them. Images from this wonderful exhibition can still be found on the Met’s website at Kimono: A Modern History. Full disclosure for those who may not know – I work at the Met.) The cat image just made me laugh! It is the same image on both sides – the other side a bit faded.

Needless to say I would have loved this when I was a kid. I was trying to remember if I was especially enamored of a particular toy purse in childhood. There are a few vague memories that tug at the edges of my mind, but I don’t remember any special purses. I do remember that for a while I carried around a toy doctor’s bag. It was complete with fake pills (somehow I have trouble imagining that children today get fake pills in their doctor’s bags) and I am quite sure that the idea of being a doctor didn’t especially interest me, but carrying this case around did. I am not entirely sure what this says about me.

I also remember being pleased when it appeared that I had reached an age to carry a purse. Perhaps if you are a boy you have pockets in everything and therefore you don’t need a purse. However, it seemed very necessary to me – having a place to put the things I wanted to carry with me. In my twenties I graduated to very jolly vintage alligator bags that would sit on a table or bar like a proud little work of art. (Kim didn’t like them, felt bad for the alligators; I gave them up. He was right.) Shoulder injuries brought me to a world of lightweight bags recently – and last year’s foot surgery left me with a backpack in order to use a knee wheelie and then crutches – which I will need again in July, so I am hanging onto the backpack for now. Perhaps after I will find something a bit more interesting. Maybe I will just throw my phone and a credit card in this one!

Here is one of the fireman’s jackets from the Met’s exhibition, above:

From the exhibition,

From the exhibition, “Kimono: A Modern History” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Felix on a Leash?

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: This seems like an especially odd photographic set-up. It appears this little girl has been told to hold Felix’s leash. I wonder, does he have a tendency to run away? As Kim pointed out, from the look on his face, he would easily be off to the races if left to his own devices. The card is unmarked so no date to report.

She seems to be a very precise little girl. I like her nice girl-spats over her shoes. She is born to pose in that jolly outfit and hat. In contrast to Felix, she appears to be very composed.

The other night, walking home from the gym, I passed a photo studio that specializes in children’s photos. Very Upper Eastside Manhattan. They were advertising an Easter special – your child having their (very arty) photo taken with baby chicks. Now, I am enough my mother’s daughter to first and foremost be somewhat horrified – I can’t imagine the chicks enjoying it much. But, I had to admit, if the photographer moved fast they had the potential for some photos of awestruck children as they realize they are allowed to stroke these wonderfully soft and fluffy bits of baby bird which was probably dashing around.  (No leash for them.) And then what? Surely the children want to keep the chicks – or perhaps they realize that those darling fluffy things bear a distressing connection to the fried chicken bits on their plate? So part of me thinks it is a brilliant scheme for encouraging vegetarianism.

Another part of my brain thinks about this photo studio archetype: we’ll let you have something splendid for a short time while we take your photo and then we will take it away. It is always a bit sad when I think about it looking at photos. And in this case, Felix looks like he is ready to walk off on his own – leash or no leash!

On a Slow Train Thru’ Arkansas – with Felix

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Despite the lousy condition of this postcard I couldn’t resist it. As in previous posts, I wonder about the addition of Felix. In this case, a very low-rent prop indeed. Of course, part of the whole charm of this photo is the vaguely primitive look about the set.

This couple does not personify what I usually think of as capturing the joy of the moment. Barely cracking a smile, they do, nevertheless, have a gentle look of pleasure when you look at them closely. I cannot figure out what the woman has on her head – a paper hat that waitresses wore as part of their uniform is what comes to mind, although given the circumstances perhaps something purchased at the fair or boardwalk resort where they had the photo taken.

It is not used and there is nothing written on the back indicating where or when it hails from. The photographer was a sloppy sort, to say the least. Overexposed and perhaps a bit underdeveloped, with messy edges around the image to boot. However, saved through many decades, this couple clearly felt it was deserving of being saved, and so do I.

Felix Family Photo

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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

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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!

A Girl and Her Toys

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Another fine example of an item where Kim and I disagree! He’s never been fond of this triptych of toy photos, but I have always liked it since buying it many years ago on eBay. In recent years I have allowed it to be replaced on the wall by some images that we are more mutually fond of, but I stubbornly continue to champion it. My guess is that the small cat toy – barely visible here and in the lower right corner, is how it came to my attention. It really is all about this enormous, lovely teddy bear however. What a lucky little girl!

The background shifts a bit with each subsequent shot until we end up with that interesting bit of advertising featured behind her in the third shot. I will admit that these are somewhat inept from a technical point of view, going from slightly over exposed to too dark in the third shot. I am in love with the idea of a series like this though.

As the child of a man with a masters in film and a news cameraman (his entire career spanning more than thirty years spent at ABC News) you would think I would have been subjected to projects such as this. He did labor over his photos and I have memories of what seemed like endless adjustments of the light meter at a variety of family landmark moments while we stood impatiently. However, such a formal approach never appealed to him. I offer a Christmas snapshot of me as a tiny sprout with my favorite dog toy, dubbed Squeaky, one Christmas morning, who incidentally I still own. I think we can see early signs of a nascent toy collector in this one!

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Felix for a Cause

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Let us return once again to Felix, one of my favorite subjects. These two outstandingly unusual and interesting photo postcards capitalized on Felix’s appeal to attract an audience for their respective hospital fundraisers (Something in my role as a professional fundraiser I can really get behind.) One can only imagine they did brilliantly – after all, who could resist Felix?

The top card, and the first I acquired, was postally used, but has lost its stamp and postmark. The following (some writing faded or rubbed away) was written on the back in pencil, addressed to Mrs. J. W. Stoodley, Folly Farm, Crewkerne, Som (which appears to be short for Somerset):

Dear Mother, ….. am glad it is much cooler now but our place is cooler inside than out. The children had their carnival yesterday, but this is the one. Will

One can’t help but wonder if you got to ride with Felix in that nifty sidecar motorcycle if you attended?  I cannot answer that question, but much to my great surprise, I found a few minutes of footage of this very Carnival in June of 1925 to support Coventry Hospital and I offer it here:

 

While it is minus Felix, if you watched you did see that motorcycles seem to play an interesting role. The other pressing question – is that an enormous stuffed Felix (like someday I might find for sale on eBay and mortgage my house to purchase?) or a rather excellent Felix costume? (Which I would, of course, also be willing to go into hock to acquire.)

Then, just when I thought I would never see another postcard that was comparable, the second one showed up on eBay. While it is hard to see, if you look carefully you find out that each Felix is a tiny photo of a stuffed Felix toy, collaged on. I have supplied a photo of one of my beloved Felixes of the same type, an early addition to my collection, below. I adore this particular style of Felix and much to my surprise I came across someone with an entire basket of them at the Atlantic City antique toy show. That person told me that they were prizes at fairs in the twenties and thirties. They seem too well made for that, and I remain curious but have never heard anything more on the subject.

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I cannot find any reference to this event – no idea what the ladder is about or what the 250 (bps) refers to – a prize of some sort.  This one is unused postally and there is nothing to indicate a date. The person I bought it from said he had no idea what it referred to nor had he ever seen anything like it. (He was entertained by the image of the other one I emailed him however.) All this to say, call in Felix when you want to attract a crowd.

 

 

Me and My Felix

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post:  It doesn’t surprise me that, if you had a wonderful Felix the Cat doll, you would want your photo taken with it. As many of you already know, my collection in this area is fairly deep.  (Some of it was already immortalized and shared in an early posts, Felix Makes the Picture Better and more so in Ugly Children Good Toys.)  Shown here is a little girl dressed in her finest, holding a delightfully large Felix doll and looking mighty pleased with herself.  It is a photo postcard and nothing has been written on the back. Her Felix is a more pristine example of one I own – I am sparing you a photograph of me holding it!

The other card has a small holiday riff and I will use it as a tip of the cap to the newly launched 2014 holiday season. It is hard to see, but the tinfoil greetings has an impression of holly around it.  This little fellow had to pose in his winter clothes (and hat) in front of a very soft focus bit of outdoor scenery.  Note those snappy buttons on his trousers though! He’s dressed up too.  His Felix on the other hand is an absolutely whacky pop-eyed fellow.  Love those ears standing straight up – part bunny! This also unused and perfectly preserved.

I have wondered if these toys were just props at the photo studio. For some reason the little girl has always struck me as the owner of that Felix, the little boy perhaps not. Maybe because it is a bit less clear that the girl is in a photo studio – the portrait could have been made at home.

Those of you on Facebook know that I can’t resist posting a photo of me with new toy acquisitions. A natural impulse I think – representing a long tradition of proud ownership. On the other hand, who wouldn’t smile in a photo studio if they handed you a huge Felix doll?  I would!