Antique Show Report: Tons of Tiny Treasures

The first antique show of the season arrived this past weekend with the stormy spring weather. I gathered up my pocket change and went to see what treasures I could find. My budget was very limited this time, due to an upcoming vacation, so I tried to look only at very small things. Fortunately, there were a lot of very small things! I found:

Some antique dollhouse "tobacco felt" rugs. These 5 inch rugs were given away as premiums with cigarettes and cigars in the early 1900s. In the same booth, I also got a nice old dollhouse plate rack, complete with its plates.

Next, I got a bunch of dollhouse grocery items, all made of wood with paper labels. The largest can is 1 1/4 inches tall, and they all date from the 1920s-30s.

Pigs in Clover, an absolutely impossible hand-held dexterity puzzle from the 1950s, was next:

And my favorite find of all was a little vintage 1960s troll, 3 1/2 inches high, wearing his original outfit and shoes, with very unusual rooted, variegated hair:

Hi!

Vintage Dexterity Puzzles

I saw literally hundreds and hundreds of vintage dexterity puzzles at a toy show last weekend. Several dealers had entire display cases full of them, and I spent what seemed like hours (oh: my long-suffering toy shopping companion just told me it was hours...) picking through them. In the end, I selected these three.

A fortune teller "Jiggle" puzzle from 1957:

A tiny Cracker Jack prize puzzle just 1 3/4 inches tall, from the late 1960s-early 1970s, made of paper and fragile plastic, with a fantastic character design:

And a wonderful space-themed, dome-shaped puzzle, from the 1950s, with great mid-century space race graphics:

Dexterity Puzzles from Outer Space

I love vintage hand-held dexterity puzzles. These three space themed versions are some of my favorites. Made in 1957 by Comon Tatar of New York, they feature some fantastic mid-century space-age illustrations.

"Stop the Martians!" has a classic 1950s flying saucer 

menacing a cityscape.

"Trip to the Moon" sports a sleek rocket 

and a smiling man-in-the-moon.

And "Space Gallery" offers you the chance to unapologetically 

blast away at alien invaders.

Dig the Flash Gordon style space helmet and ray gun!

Losing Our Heads Dexterity Puzzles

Here are a few of my latest dexterity puzzle games. From Japan circa the 1930s, they're tiny (only about 2 inches tall) and fragile (made of cardboard with a thin plastic covering). They're also a bit ghoulish: each of the three rather comical characters have literally lost their heads, and it's up to the player to shake them back into place. 

Decapitated.

Un-decapitated.

1950s Space Themed Dexterity Puzzles

Here's a fun trio of games from my collection, all dating from 1957 and made by Comon Tatar, Inc. The first one is called "Stop the Martians!" and features a classic flying saucer buzzing a city. The second is "Trip to the Moon", and the last is my favorite: "Space Gallery," with fantastic graphics of a spaceman, ray gun, Sputnik-style satellite, and a monstrous, many-tentacled alien.

Old Black Cat Dexterity Puzzle Game

Here's a Halloween themed dexterity puzzle from my collection (click on the "dexterity puzzle" label at the bottom of this post to see some more). You have to ring the black cat's tail in the order specified to win. I can attest that it's really, really hard!

Vintage Dexterity Puzzles

Vintage dexterity puzzles are some of my favorite toys to collect. The little worlds behind their windows are so inviting, their lithography is lovely, and they're just fun to play. Here are some of the highlights of my collection. These were all made in England by R. Journet & Co., I'm guessing in the 1940s.



























Besides the games on the front side, each of these puzzles features this tongue-twister on the back. See how quickly you can say it!

Vintage Dexterity Puzzle Games

I'm somewhat obsessed with collecting old dexterity games. They're like fascinating little worlds behind their glass or plastic windows, they often feature beautiful lithography, and they're just fun to play, too. Here's a small portion of my collection.