Dotty Teddy Bears

Just got another bear made by Peng Peng, teddy artist extraordinaire: Domino, this little 4 1/2 inch panda wearing her fab polka-dotted dress. Here she is with her new friend, my 1950s British Merrythought teddy who is also into dotty fashions.
I love the Merrythought's big nose: 

it gives her such a comical look.

Here's Domino doing a little spring cleaning 

(she's overly optimistic: we just got 6 inches of snow yesterday...).

Mattel's Blaze Horse

It's been the month for finding horsies: first two antique wooden rocking horses, then the fab 1950s Harry the Hairless Horse ride-on, and now this: Blaze, the talking, galloping horse made by Mattel in the early 1960s. 

At first glance, Blaze looks like just another variety of the ubiquitous spring horse (the kind most of us children of the 70's remember for their tendency to flip over during exuberant riding and pinch our fingers in their springs), but he's got a few features that take him to a whole new pedigreed level.
First off: no springs! Blaze is mounted instead on an "untippable", according to Mattel, tubular steel frame. Secondly, as you ride Blaze up and down, his legs move independently in a quite realistic horsey gallop. As if this wasn't enough, Blaze also talked, courtesy of Mattel's patented pull-string technology. He said several phrases, including "How about some hay?" He also whinnied and neighed.
Naturally, the price for all this innovation was steep: $48 (that's a lot for a kid's toy now, let alone back in 1961!). Consequently, no one I knew as a child had Blaze, and I'd never seen one in the horseflesh until last week, when I found this one.

Mine no longer talks, as is typical of most Blazes found today, but he gallops great. We haven't tested the "untippable" claim, but if I crash, I'll let you know. I've installed my Blaze next to my dining room table. Guests can now pull up a chair, or a horse, as they prefer.

Blaze was heavily marketed on TV, and his original ad is now considered a classic. Click the link below to watch it, courtesy of  TV Days: it's fantastic:

Mattel's Blaze Commercial

And here's a print ad for Blaze, in which he apparently helps capture an evil fire hydrant:

Harry the Hairless Horse

I found this adorable little rocking pony at the same time I discovered the antique wooden horse in the previous post. I have a very small car (a tiny Chevy Aveo hatchback), and the horses more than filled the back seat. As I drove down the expressway, little horsie faces peered out of each side window. 

It was also the day I found a huge double gumball vending machine on its original stand, and that was propped in the front passenger seat, with a bit sticking out the window. Visibility, needless to say, wasn't great...on the drive home, I kept envisioning a policeman making out the accident report: "driver decapitated by gumball machine and/or rocking horse." Fortunately we made it home safely, and a hernia later were all ensconced in my increasingly crowded living room. 

 

Made in the 1950s by Moulded Plastics Inc. of Maple Plain, Minnesota, this little guy is called Harry the Hairless Horse. Odd name, odd-looking horse! Perhaps he was marketed to allergy sufferers. He measures 30 inches long by 22 high, and his body is fibreglass while his legs and rockers are wood. He's so cute and portly!

Here's a close-up of his label:

And here's an original ad I found for him and some other products,
all proclaimed "Harmless Fun For Young and Old".
Can you imagine getting shot with the "Air Fire Thunder Gun" that
"Shoots Standard Table Tennis Balls"?! Ouch. Perhaps you could make a quick getaway on Harry the Hairless Horse...

Folk Art Rocking Horse

Found another old rocking horse: a small stable is taking shape in my living room! This one is not quite as old as my other one. He's probably from around the 1920s, and is American-made. He measures 37 inches wide by 30 inches tall, has a "galloping" movement, and is quite the colorful pinto pony. I need to replace his mane and tail, but that could take awhile, and I couldn't wait to show him:

Antique American Teddy Bear

Found this guy at a toy show last weekend: an early American teddy bear made around 1908. He's in need of a good cleaning and a little restoration (proper ear reattachment, paw pad patching) but his enchanting expression makes him worth it!

People have a tendency to classify all "cute" early American teddies as made by Ideal, and that's exactly how the seller labelled this one, but this bear has 2 very distinctive traits that help identify it: a wooly coat, as opposed to mohair, and chopped cork stuffing as opposed to wood shavings, straw, or excelsior. These features are seen in only two manufacturers that I'm aware of: Hahn & Amberg and the Miller Manufacturing Company, who made what they referred to as a "Hygienic Bear".  They are both much rarer than Ideals, so it's good to be aware when you're "on the hunt." At first, I thought this one was a Hahn, which was the firm primarily known for the use of cork stuffing,  but after comparing him to my other, confirmed Hahn & Amberg and finding a bit more info. on Miller, I'm reclassifying him as the latter.