Rascals

Pam’s Pictorama Post: Just when you least expect it, a collecting opportunity appears which you have not considered previously appears. Pictorama readers probably know that just last week I was opining on my buying jags for everything from antique jewelry boxes to bowls. Somehow during that same time, these two bisque nodders crossed my path and here I am, let loose on another trail of things to look for.

These Our Gang figures came to me via my Midwest supplier of goodies, Miss Molly (@missmollystlantiques) on Instagram. She wasn’t even having a sale when she shared these and I asked about them on a whim. These weren’t keepers for Molly and so a deal was struck and here we are. As it happens, coincidence or synchronicity, Kim has been working on reproducing the Little Rascals on a page he is working on and as a result the opening tune has been playing in the apartment (always taking me back to weekend television of my childhood), and I have been treated to the glimpses of what he is working from and on – and now you are as below. (For a prior Our Gang post, a publicity still I got for a steal years ago, go here.)

*Detail from Kim’s unfinished page which includes the Our Gang kids.*

I acknowledge that the very law of averages to fill in around this entirely without a lot of repeats are slim, but we’ll see how I do over time. Not surprisingly there are a lot of variations on these out there and one of the things I need to be careful about is that I match the same set as these. There is at least one other period one that is fairly similar, but not nodders, and not the same. (The whole concept of nodders and their ongoing appeal is one for further Pictorama consideration I think. Weird, right?)

*A different, partial period set. Less finely done – not sure I would have been as tempted by these.*

Also not a shock to see how much merchandising there has been, evolving over the decades, but quite a rabbit hole to go down. An entire, decidedly less finely executed, set of china figures was done as late as the 1980’s. To look for information is to be immediately swept into a windfall of collectibles over many decades. Among the participatory options, is this Jean Darling sewing kit with bisque doll you sew an outfit for, shown below – back in a time when the expectation was that a child would be able to execute that simple level of sewing.

*Being sold on Etsy at the time of writing. Not in Pams-Pictorama.com collection, but oddly tempting.*

Mine are made by a German company called Hertwig. They produced well known bisque figure from 1864 to 1958. They were best known for their snow babies which were based on holiday confections of the same, but meant for decoration rather than consumption.

*I’m not sure how this would work as a comestible. Hertwig Snow Baby bisque.*

Hertwig was immersed in reproducing the popular culture world of the US in the 1920’s as well however. In addition to the Our Gang figures, Gaseoline Alley ones turn up as routinely as well as Little Orphan Annie.

In reading descriptions these are described as cold painted and I think the other set, shown above, may have been ones you painted yourself as a kit. Mine are too precisely executed, especially the faces, to have been done by amateurs.

I’m amazed actually at how nice these are. They are a tad smaller than I imagined they would be. There is some chipping to the cold paint process on these – the downside to this method I would think. Still, with the many decades of wear they have held up well.

As above, the name of each character is embossed on the back, Wheezer and Mary Ann Jackson in this case. It also says, Germany. The company name is not on them; I found that when I started to research them. They are hollow with holes in the bottom and their nodding heads are held on by bits of tied string. The figures appear for sale individually certainly, but seem to largely be sold in groupings. Pete is the most likely to be missing it seems and you have to wonder if those prized ones were just scooped up individually over time.

*Mel Brirnkrant’s (perfect!) full collection from his website. Roughly what I am shooting for.*

I’m eyeing a little cabinet I have in New Jersey for these as a finished group. (A post about that gift from Kim can be found here.) Meanwhile though, these will stay here in New York as we hopefully fill in the remaining four.

Puzzling Felix

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: Today’s toy has languished on a shelf for quite a while. It came in the big box of Felix purchased from an obscure auction last year which spewed out everything Felix related from a rare kerchief to a pile of annuals. (Tidbits and treasures from this box in previous posts can be found here and here. Some annuals remain as future posts!)

These hand puzzles are not exactly rare and I have seen some come and go on eBay over time and somehow it was a long time before I got into the game. I finally purchased the one shown here in 2019 and wrote about it here. I couldn’t resist it with its graphic image of an angry Felix with mice.

*Pams-Pictorama Collection from a prior post.*

Today’s is a joyful dancing Felix of dreadfully sloppy execution. Like the other, it was made in Germany and is marked as such. How these cardboard and cheap metal bits have lasted through a century of pockets and playing I cannot imagine. The cheap metal inside and out is pitted and rusty.

For some reason for me these toys always conjure up an image of a young newsboy taking a break and pulling it out of his pocket to play with circa sort of 1927 or so. Sometimes it is an errant night watchman killing time. I don’t know why – it is always men and boys I imagine in this role.

I find the two small metal mice quite cunning as are the metal traps I guess they are? I hadn’t actually thought of them quite that way, but am now as I really consider it. In addition there are two small balls and I would think the challenge is a ball and a mouse in each trap. I have attempted it and it is both engrossing and difficult. I discovered that the mice only go into the traps nose first, can’t back them in, or at least that is true of one which, incidentally, has a slight upward curl to his tail. Ha! Someone was thinking when they designed this.

*The cardboard back, worn from use and handling. Hard to believe it is around 100 years old!*

I know I had dexterity puzzles like this as a child although for the life of me I cannot remember the images on them or the tasks required; I suspect they were simpler. I have a dim memory of them mostly being rolling small balls into a face or something along that line. This would have seemed quite sophisticated to my then pint-sized mind.

I suspect that now that two of these have entered the Pictorama collection of course more may follow. We’ll just see about that.

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!

Rolling Along

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Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: Today may mark the end of the birthday post fiesta – I have dinner with my friend Eileen Monday night and that technically marks the ends the annual month of shared birthday festivities with my Aquarian brethren. There was a time when there were several other members of the fold, but sadly folks have moved or are gone now so the February birthday dinners are less numerous. (Incidentally, for anyone just in this post for the toy, skip down to the bottom! Books and birthday at the top.)

In addition to the February birthdays, there’s always a nice day spent with Kim roaming somewhere in the city. This year we ended up spending most of the day book shopping. We made a quick visit to Alabaster Books (on the ever mysterious 4th Avenue which exists as a stretch of street in that part of town around 13th Street) where we were intrigued, but the prices on the early juveniles volumes that appealed were too high for our blood, although I admit titles stayed with us and Kim later found another copy of The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come by John Fox, Jr. illustrated by N.C. Wyeth, shown below.

*Discovered at Alabaster Books in the East Village,but purchased elsewhere.*

I have only had a backseat to Kim’s subsequent reading of it which seemed to veer from thinking it was amazing to a distinct sense of it falling off a bit. I will mention that he was particularly impressed with the illustration below and the song (Sourwood Mountain which can be heard on Youtube here) that it illustrates.

*One of the N.C. Wyeth illustrations in the above volume. Link to the song being played above.*

I, on the other hand, was tempted by The Boy Showman and Entertainer which essentially gives instruction on how to put on a show. These instructions were meant for someone much more handy than me (think of a kid who eventually grows up to work for NASA), but fascinate me nonetheless. I have another book of this type, How to Put on a Circus which I am very fond of and have written about here. Maybe I will go back for it.

*Another almost purchase. Maybe eventually.*

Sad that we did not feel inclined and able to support this bookstore on this particular day (they used to have the very most charming calico cat I liked to visit) we moved around the corner to The Strand. Much to our surprise and delight The Strand has re-opened their Rare Book Room upstairs. We scored a few interesting ratty volumes on the first floor before making our way up.

*The Rare Book Room – welcome back old friend!*

However among the purchases on the first floor was this interesting illustrated volume, A Captured Santa Claus which is a children’s chapter book, evidently about the Civil War. It is by Thomas Nelson Page and illustrated by someone named W. L. Jacobs. Perhaps more to come when I read this volume.

*Purchsed downstairs at The Strand, merely old but not rare?*

We were pleased to find some additional volumes in the old but not quite rarified enough to be truly rare. My significant purchase was the second volume in a series of three about Pixie O’Shaughnessy by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey, aka More About Pixie. I was able to download volume one, simply Pixie O’Shaughnessy, and read it first. (Project Gutenberg and an illustrated version can be found here.) As Pictorama readers may know, I have a real soft spot for a certain kind of early 20th Century series book and this fits the bill gloriously. I think I owe Pixie and Mrs. de Horne Vaizey their own future post, but it all started here.

*I’m already into this volume and I am a fan.*

After a trip to the art supply store where Kim bought a new light board – a festive purchase; Kim loves this piece of equipment in his arsenal. Kim and I wandered over to The Smith where Kim treated me to a lovely lunch. I discovered a photobooth in the basement and we took the pics below – first photo strip in a long time.

*The Smith in the East Village – a nice lunch and photobooth in the basement!*

Meanwhile, I have buried the lead and toy folks are wondering when the heck I was going to get to this wonderful cat toy! I have lusted ongoing over toys on wheels and someday I will have (at least one) wonderful wheeled toy large enough for a small child to ride. There are wonderful elephant ones and many bears. We shall see about that!

Anyway, this is a very early cat and he came to me via Brussels. I purchased him via an online sale on Facebook and Kim bought him for my birthday. He is the first wheeled fellow of this sort in my collection. He is missing one of his four wheels otherwise he is remarkably intact. The wheels are nicely made bits of wood with good hardware so I doubt that I can make or find much of a substitute, but luckily he will spend his days quietly.

*A glorious and sturdy device he sits upon, ready to take turns as needed.*

If you look at the front wheels you see that there is a nice bit where you could attach a lead of some sort to pull him around and the ability to turn the front and direct him that way. His ears are a bit less pert than they probably were in the day, but fully intact, as is his tail. He has a few tiger-y stripes and his stitched mouth and news were likely very red originally. He’s a solid citizen and is heavier and perhaps a tad larger than you might think he is.

There is evidence that at one time he had a bow around his neck which may have been red or pink, just a few faded orange threads. There’s something about his neck which made me wonder if his head moved at one time, but if so no longer.

Not surprisingly for a toy of this type there is no marking so I do not know if he was native to Brussels (a place which does oddly seem to cough up antique toys – one prior post to something I bought from a very sweet dealer there can be found here, Brussels may turn out to be an El Dorado of antique toys) or an import. I am looking at him and have decided he has a very sweet face. A beloved toy, probably from the earliest part of the 20th century which has made his way to me. My birthday may make me feel old, but I am a youngster compared to this fine fellow.

Another Fine Felix Photo

Posted by Pam's Pictorama

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,

Handy

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Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: If all goes according to plan, as you read this Kim, cats and I will be on our way back to New York City after our holiday sojourn in New Jersey. I start my new gig next week, January 17. Time has flown and our month in Jersey seems to have gone by in the wink of an eye.

Blackie made real gains in the house this time, making himself to home here. (He and Beau had a few tussles – wish I had gotten photos of them all puffed up like Halloween cats!) Cookie remained firmly installed behind the chair in the bedroom. (As I write at this very moment both have entirely disappeared due to a visit from the electrician earlier.) We are scheduled to embark early Saturday morning.

This sweet faced little puppet fellow showed up in the mail about a week after Christmas, a gift from a Jazz at Lincoln Center colleague and I could not have been more surprised or delighted. (Linsey is a dog person and she wrapped it in the best dog themed paper!)

As it happens, I did not own this Steiff puppet before. He, or she (there is a pink ribbon) is indeed Steiff, complete with a button in the ear, if no longer a tag. He has an intense look in his glass eyes, a pink stitched nose and mouth. The insides of his ears are a medium gray felt and he sports spritely whiskers. There’s a nice white tummy and dark gray and white stripes on his back. He has pink stitched toes on his paws.

This kitty reminds me of Mr. Roger’s cat puppet on his show, Henrietta Pussycat. In the incarnation I remember I think she was a close match for this puppet, although online I see some versions of her where she is all dark gray and I gather even a very early one (pre-PBS?) where she is black. I’d like to see that. Not surprisingly she was my favorite puppet on his show, which was a favorite.

It feels a bit old and crunchy inside where your fingers are placed in the head. I have some kissing cousins to this cat – a stuffed striped cat that is very similar and a Felix puppet (not Steiff) of similar design. Kim just plucked the stuffed cat off the shelf to add him to a drawing he was adding to the end of his most recent book.

I will report back on our progress tomorrow. Wish us luck getting these kitties settled back in!

Bear Back

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: First, thank you all for your lovely and thoughtful responses to yesterday’s post! Some came here, others via IG and some to me personally. It is a season for change for me and while hard I think it is a first step in forging the next great thing and will help build how Kim and I will be living in the coming years.

However, today is a real photo postcard that contains a toy and a cat – thereby combining several passions at one. It is a bit dark and I wonder if it has discolored and darkened with age.

It depicts a very good, fluffy kitty perched on the back of this very nice, most probably Steiff teddy bear. His tail seems to have been in motion behind him and is a bit of a blur, but otherwise kitty is is focused intently on something off camera.

Teddy is jointed and really was likely quite splendid if you could see him properly. I fancy I can actually see the Steiff tag hanging in the far ear. It is a dusty and ubiquitous looking flowered tablecloth that we can imagine doing much duty for the photographer.

On the back of the card it says, With fondest love & best wishes for a very happy New Year from Aunt Jessica. Love to Mother & Daddy. It was sent on December 31, 1910 from Liverpool. It is address to, Master W. Ledden, 24 [illegible) Street, London Road, Holyhead. On the half with the message there appears to be a further address which is pretty illegible too, 5-8 Clarence Grove, [Everlou?] The card has no maker’s mark or references.

Many of the postcards in the Pictorama collection are addressed to children and I always think of how much it must have pleased them to receive these cards in the mail, especially something a little jolly like this.

Perhaps my holiday vacation can be spent seeing which of the 7 indoor cats might become a photo model. (We are pretty sure we can just leave Hobo out of that experiment.) I think Beau and Blackie are the only real contenders – no one else seems to have the temperament in the least. Kim has always said he doesn’t think I should dress the cats up (yes, it has come up) so I don’t, but a future in posing with toys? I will let you all know if I have any success – but maybe I should stick to cookie baking!

Canine Cutey

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: In both life and in collecting I show a marked preference (purfference?) for cats over dogs. Having said that, it isn’t that I don’t like dogs and I think if I had more resources, including space, I might collect dogs too in greater or even equal shares. (To say nothing of additional pet ownership which cannot currently include canines.)

Last Christmas I wrote about a black and white toy dog I carried insistently everywhere as a child – Squeaky. (As it happens I still own Squeaky and that post can be read here.) I suppose it isn’t surprising that I was very involved with and possessive of my stuffed animals as a child, early signs of a collector. I was a bit linear in my affection – first it was Squeaky who was carried everywhere, followed by a Koala bear my father brought me from a work trip to Australia. The bear had no name, but he was carried until he was bald of fur (probably rabbit fur, sadly, in retrospect) in spots. I no longer have him unfortunately although I did find this type of toy and shared previously here. There were probably earlier denizens who I do not remember.

*Me and Squeaky. This is a Christmas morning shot, but I don’t think it was when I got him. Just professing my undying affection for him probably!*

My childhood was also filled with a series of real pooches, from our German Shephard Duchess to a rather maniacal mixed breed hound named Charlie Brown. I like dogs and generally they like me. Occasionally I find my enthusiasm gets the best of me and discover I have encouraged a very large dog to try sitting on my lap as a result. (When this happened with a friend’s German Shephard it did give me some pause. There was also an enormous Tibetan Mastiff who like the cut of my jib when he met me and just about knocked me over with love.)

*Has a little green tail! The only green bit on him.*

All that leads to today’s purchase, a gift from Kim who offered to grab him up for me! This new guy came via Instagram and our friends in Texas @Curiosities. There is something about him that reminds me of blankets of my childhood. Some of his color is fabric overlays (the red on his jowls) and other is painted on. His nose and mouth are sort of shaved into the surface “fur” or texture of his face. He has glass eyes and I think a friendly dependable expression. There is pink under his mouth which I think is a random addition but works with the color scheme overall.

I am told that the original seller said he was German, or at least that he came from Germany. He has no tags. His colors and design make me think of Pendleton blankets, a Canadian export embraced in my childhood as well. His red ribbon is worn and I assume is original – matches the red on his face perfectly. His ears (which are stiff with wire) have been carefully resewn in back. He’s about 12 inches high, including his ears.

He is much softer in person than I imagined and he is somewhat stained with years of love and handling. I think the orange stripe from his mouth and on his cheeks are especially interesting. He is made up of a fascinating bunch of colors. In sum, he is a handsome fellow who has been much loved.

So another dog sneaks into Deitch Studio and the Pictorama collection. May the kitties beware!

Musical Mickey’s

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: A few weeks back I wrote a bit about our anniversary which we celebrated with a trip to Cold Spring, which is where Kim and I spent our one-day honeymoon. (That post can be read here.) We found Cold Spring largely unchanged in the intervening decades, although a tourist ferry landed at lunchtime while we were there, crowding the town with people who were leaf watching and enjoying the first nippy days of October. Some of the antique stores had folded or morphed together. One that had always featured vintage Halloween items either melted down into something else or is gone entirely, I could not tell.

However, one of my purchases that day was this trio, two Mickeys and a Minnie. Some quick research shows a similar, larger band composed only of Mickeys. However, Worthpoint sold these three pieces together, in lesser condition. Each piece is etched with Mickey or Minnie Mouse. And on the back of each, it is noted that they were Made in Japan. (These figures are very similar to a single Bimbo figure I came across and wrote about here. If not the same manufacturer, very much of a piece. It would appear he too had his own band.)

Bisque attracts dirt and is easily chipped and mine are in better shape than the ones auctioned previously on Worthpoint. However, ultimately I did find a set in the original box, below, sold on Heritage. (Note to self, Heritage sells something other than original art and comics? Huh.) There were originally four pieces and the missing piece appears to be an accordion playing Mickey. Part of my brain wonders at the Mickey to Minnie ratio – was it somehow okay to multiple Mickeys, but Minnie was singular? You have to look a bit to see the Minnie-ness; I missed it at first. This set was evidently produced in the 1930’s.

That day in the same store I purchased a nice Steiff duck which I wrote about in the post mentioned at the top, here. Perhaps the very best thing about that store was an internet radio station they were listening to, Radio Dismuke. This station, based on a singular collection which continues to be programmed by its founder, plays music from the early decades of the 20th century. I have been happily listening to it on a regular basis since discovering it. The station, which runs 24 hours a day, can be found here and do check it out if early jazz and dance band music is of interest to you. (For my remembrances of the great Rich Conaty, radio DJ who largely introduced me to this music, read the post here.)

*Kim and I meet Rich at Sophia’s in 2010, Maureen Solomon on my left*.

Kim has said that Radio Dismuke is a bit like you bought an old radio at a flea market and turned it on to find it playing the tunes of its day. He’s hit it spot on. There is no DJ, but the occasional period commercial is inserted, as is the periodic station identification. They are a non-profit and I assure you they are getting my support this season.

I do own another Mickey Mouse band, very small and made of china, purchased on a work trip in Lyon, France. Sadly one of the pieces has broken subsequently so I don’t feel I have been a good steward of it. (A post about it can be found here.) However, it is maybe notable that a proliferation of multiple Mickeys making music seems to have been so popular in his youth, and these radio tunes are the perfect partner.

Quack

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Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: A few weeks ago I mentioned that Kim and I were off to Cold Spring for our anniversary and of course I did manage to find a few toy treats while we were there. That post was devoted to Kim’s anniversary gift to me which was a large Oswald Rabbit issued in a limited edition by Steiff. (That post can be found here.)

Interestingly, today’s post is also a Steiff fellow. I don’t buy too much Steiff. While they are certainly quality toys the prices often seem inflated to me and their selection of cats is limited. (Some other bits of Steiff in my collection can be found here and here.) Early Steiff teddies can be compelling and have almost human expression and look in their eye. Those are largely of course the ones that will set you back a mint however. (Upon some reflection though, quite a few have sneaked into Deitch Studio however!)

For all of that, on occasion, a vintage Steiff toy crosses my path. As I sit here writing about this new fellow, there is a rooster that can be wound up to hop around, right next to me as well. Clearly their birds have attitude that appeals.

I was a bit surprised that this fellow called to me, but I left the store and went back for him. (I purchased a few other bits including some random pieces of Bakelite silverware and some Mickey musicians for a future post.) I think he reminded me of my mom who rescued and rehabbed water fowl. She was especially devoted to swans, but some geese and ducks also did time in the Butler yard.

I remember that she had a pair of what she called puddle ducks, mallards. This little quacking couple stayed close to the house and did splash about in puddles and the small water garden mom had out there. The mom had ducklings she showed off. My mom was quite convinced, probably correctly, that they would have happily marched into the house to hang with us. They were quite fond of sitting in the driveway as I remember.

*From our trip to Cold Spring in October – a perfect fall day there!*

Of course what helps make this fellow jolly is his one wing raised as if in greeting. I find his oversized ducky paddle feet very endearing as well. For those who care he has both his tag and his button which is on the back of said wing. There is something especially endearing about the little indication of a feathered tail on his bottom and the detail on his beak, painted in.

*Duck butt! Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.*

I had a moment of wonder if he was a signet (baby swan) rather than a duck, looking at his longish neck. However a quick bit of research and I confirmed his duckling identity. It turns out that Steiff did make both geese and swans in addition to ducks – not surprisingly. The early felt swans are wonderful and the one on wheels would be irresistible – although I think it would live in New Jersey in tribute to mom. Meanwhile, given what they go for, it is perhaps an unlikely addition to Pictorama in the near future.

Pam's Pictorama

All Pam, all the time

toy collection

Rascals

Puzzling Felix

Aspirational

Rolling Along

Another Fine Felix Photo

Handy

Bear Back

Canine Cutey

Musical Mickey’s

Quack