1930s Buck Rogers Board Game

Found at a recent toy show, this game board was one of three in a Buck Rogers multi-game boxed set made by Lutz and Sheinkman in 1934. The illustrations are classic vintage Buck, filled with fantastic spacecraft, dazzling futuristic cities, robots, ray guns, villians and heroines.

This game was titled "The Siege of Gigantica;" the other two boards, now missing, were "Cosmic Rocket Wars" and "Search for the Secrets of Atlantis." Finding any of the boards is difficult today, but finding the complete set is a rare feat. Maybe someday...

Toy Show space toy finds. 

1908 Steiff Teddy Bear

The 1908 Steiff teddy bear is a classic of its type. By this year, Steiff had fully refined its bear design, resulting in a teddy that was cuddlier and friendlier in appearance than its predecessors. The year before, the company exported and sold nearly a million bears, and 1908 saw the teddy bear craze reach a fever pitch.

From 1908 all the way to his appearance under our Christmas tree in 2013, this 10 inch Steiff has lost none of his original appeal.

His big feet and long arms are classic features of antique Steiff bears. 

Antique toys for Christmas, 2013.

Antique Miniature Doll House

This tiny dollhouse is the smallest antique example I've ever seen.  A mere 7 inches tall by 5 inches wide, it's a challenge to find furnishings and residents small enough for the single room inside.

The house opens from the front on hinges, and the top also lifts off to give access to the interior.

The exterior design is lithographed directly onto the wood, in a style consistent with dollhouses made by the Morton Converse company of Winchendon, Massachusetts, circa 1916. 

Antique toys for Christmas, 2013.

Antique Doll Kitchen

One of this year's most extravagant Christmas gifts, this unusual antique doll kitchen came with interesting provenance.

From the collection of Evelyn Ackerman, an authority on antique dollhouses (particularly those of the German firm, Gottschalk) it is pictured in one of the books she authored, The Genius of Moritz Gottschalk. 

It's lost a few bits since that photo was taken some years ago, but still has enough items for a doll to do her holiday cooking. Measuring 10.5 inches high by 14 inches wide, the wooden kitchen features lithographed paper in patterns of brick and tile, an opening stove door, a towel rack, a tin sink, lattice work trim, and its original pot and wash boiler.

Inscribed on the bottom of the kitchen is its model number and a message: "Janie from Uncle Charlie 1917." The play wear on this kitchen shows how much Janie enjoyed it, but it's also clear she treasured it carefully for many years. Uncle Charlie, wherever you are now, thank you for the doll kitchen: it's a beautiful toy!

Antique toys for Christmas, 2013.

Pumpkinmobile Postcard

Halloween is fast approaching, and so is the pumpkin headed driver of the automobile on this antique Halloween postcard. Circa the early 1900s.

Note the jack o' lantern headlights, a clever touch. 

Creepy Antique Halloween Squeaker

One of the creepiest antique Halloween items in my collection is this little noisemaker. Circa 1915, it was made in Germany of lithographed cardboard and fragile paper, and is just under 3 inches tall.

The ghoulish face has eyes that move and change when the bellows behind are squeezed. Originally, it would have made a squeaky sound as well, but that part of the noisemaker has long since ruptured.

This squeaker was one from a set of several different faces. Some, like this one, featured moving eyes, while others had tongues that stuck out when the bellows were squeezed.

These white faces represent mangelwurzals, large, beet-like root vegetables used in some parts of the world instead of pumpkins for making jack o' lanterns. There was a similar set printed on orange cardboard representing the more familiar pumpkins.

Some of the other pieces from this set, along with the pumpkin version, can be seen in the books  Halloween in America, by Stuart Schneider (page 27 of the 1995 edition) and More Halloween Collectibles: Anthropomorphic Vegetables and Fruits of Halloween, by Pamela E. Apkarian-Russell (page 95.)

Antique Halloween Paper Dolls

From a 1917 issue of Ladies' Home Journal, a child who was very good with scissors cut these wonderful Halloween paper dolls.

The dolls include three children in period clothing. The back side of the dolls reveals their magazine origins, with portions of articles visible.

The costumes are beautifully detailed, and include a witch, a clown, and a jester. There is also an outfit featuring a bushel of apples for one of the dolls to carry.

The jester holds a pumpkin topped with a tiny witch:

The clown carries a parade lantern. These antique tin jack o' lanterns are now some of the rarest, most valuable, and most highly sought Halloween collectibles. You can see some original patent drawings for these lanterns at http://www.spookshows.com/patents/patents.htm.

Antique Halloween Postcard: Apple Bobbing

Here's a favorite from my collection of antique Halloween postcards. Circa 1906, it features wonderfully expressive apple characters plunging themselves gleefully into a tub, ready to take part in the classic party game of bobbing for apples.

On closer inspection, the apples' expressions become clear: those waiting for their turn to jump in the water look expectantly happy, while those already in the water appear distraught, only now fully comprehending their plight. In the background, a sinister jack o' lantern urges the hapless apples on.

"Wheeee! We get to go swimming!"

"Oh no! What have we done?!"

Schoenhut Rolly Dollys

Intended to amuse toddlers back in the 1900s, these roly-poly toys are the stuff of nightmares today.

The Rolly Dollys were a line of simple toys made by the Schoenhut Company of Philadelphia. Founded in 1872 by Albert Schoenhut, a German born toymaker, the firm lasted into the 1930s and was a prominent creator of fine playthings and childrens musical instruments. It is famed today for its toy pianos, Humpty Dumpty Circus playsets, and wooden dollhouse furniture.

The Rolly Dollys first appeared in 1902 and were produced through the 1920s in over 70 different styles. Some were based on advertising or cartoon characters like Buster Brown and Foxy Grandpa, while others represented children, clowns, police officers, and more.

Made of a composition or papier mache type material, the Rolly Dollys are weighted at the bottom so that they spring back upright and then bob comically (or terrifyingly, depending on your point of view) when pushed over. Some have chimes inside as well, producing a delicate tinkling sound (all the better to alert you to their approach.)

This assortment includes a couple of creepy clowns, 5 inches tall, along with a 10 inch comic character,  Happy Hooligan, and an unknown terror.

Here's Happy Hooligan, a newspaper cartoon character who first appeared in 1900. In print, he was a cheerful hobo wearing a tin can for a hat, but his Rolly Dolly representation is rather more disquieting. See the original Hooligan and learn his story by clicking here.

This unknown character, also 10 inches tall, sports a pointy hairdo and hypno-eyes, and his hands rest on his distended belly. He has a satisfied smile, as if he's just completed a large meal of small children.

This is really not something you'd want watching you while you sleep. 

The 5 inch clowns are of the Billiken type. Even with their small size, there's still something vaguely menacing about them, isn't there? Perhaps they should team up with Crandall's Acrobats and put on a spooky sideshow act.

Coming in October...

Yay: it's October! Time for scary toys, creepy dolls, and antique Halloween. Spooky stuff coming soon!

1905 Steiff Blank Button Bear

My birthday was last week, and I got bears! Several antique teddy bears were among the presents, and one of them was something I thought I would never find: a Steiff teddy bear from waaaay back in 1905, still with its rare blank button-in-ear.

12 inch white Steiff bear, 1905.

This is a special bear with a very important place in teddy bear history:

Steiff of Germany designed the first plush jointed bear in 1902, and it debuted to the public in 1903. That bear wasn't yet called a "teddy," just a "bear." It was modeled upon, and looked like, its real life counterpart: large and fierce. In 1905, Steiff redesigned the bear, making it smaller and lighter and giving it a friendlier face, more of a "bear doll" than a toy bear. This model is the one that first had the "teddy bear" look so familiar to us today, and it inspired toy makers all over the world to design their own variations.

For the first year of this model's release in 1905, it came with a blank button-in-ear as a Steiff trademark, which was changed to a button with the company's name on it in subsequent years.

My bear is 12 inches tall, of white mohair, and came wearing a pair of blue overalls that suit him nicely. He has a whimsical, crooked smile. The wear to his nose appears to be damage from kissing, so I don't mind too much.

In profile, the features of early Steiff bears are clearly visible: long arms with curved, spoon-shaped paws, big feet, and a hump.

This bear was so popular, orders skyrocketed, and the Steiff factory sold nearly a million bears in 1907!

1930s Playskool Pullman

Two years ago, I finally found one of my most longed for toys: the Playskool Pullman, made for a very brief period in the early 1930s. You can read the original post about it here. Recently I found another one, in much better condition, with many of the accessories and details that were missing from my first find.

The pressed steel Pullman playset measures 11 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches, and was designed to resemble both a Pullman train car and a little suitcase. The leather handle made it easy to carry on a real train trip.

Two clear windows allow the little passengers to look outside, while a third window is covered with a decal printed to give the look of frosted glass.

The Pullman opens from the back, revealing  a compartment tucked behind green curtains.

Behind the curtains, a cozy compartment is unveiled, complete with benches and a fold away table. I've fitted it out with a tablecloth and some refreshments for the miniature French doll and Steiff bear travelling inside.

Above the passengers' heads, the sleeping berth is tucked away, ready to be pulled down in the evening.

Here's the berth pulled down, complete with sheets, pillows, and blankets.

To the left of the compartment is a small closet holding a porcelain sink, perfect for freshening up after a long journey.

I also found some old dollhouse sized luggage, perfectly scaled for the Pullman playset. The largest is a cardboard candy container, made in Germany in the early 1900s. The tiny red hat box is also German, while the black tin trunk was made by the Marx company.




All aboard the Playskool Pullman!

Antique Dollhouse Candy Store

After years of collecting, I've learned that the best toys sometimes come in the plainest of boxes. The simple cardboard container below gives no hint of the beautiful antique toy within. It measures 5 inches tall by 9 1/2 inches wide.

When the lid is lifted back, the front panel drops, revealing Pets Candy Store, a miniature shop made in England circa the 1890s.

To set up the shop, a pink candy counter slides out of the base. Then the counter can be set with its accessories, including tin candy and biscuit containers; glass bottles of faux candies; a tin scale, scoop, and dish; and cardboard coins.

All the accessories are original to the store. The doll was added later but suits it perfectly, a close match to the little girl depicted on the shop's lithographed sign in the box lid.

Some of the containers originally held real candies and biscuits, fossilized remnants of which were still intact when I opened them. The tiny Peek Frean & Company biscuit tins are two inches tall.

The Pets Candy tins are a bit bigger at 3 1/2 inches tall, and feature colorfully lithographed labels.

A little glass bottle holds faux candies made of gilded wood.

Completing the set are tiny tin accessories including a scale, molded dish, and scoop, along with cardboard coins.

The shop is the perfect size for miniature teddy bears in search of sweets.