1947 Lone Ranger Six Gun Ring Premium

One of the most famous toy ring premiums of all time, this is the Lone Ranger Six Gun Ring, offered by Kix cereal in 1947. It's an absolutely amazing little thing: the metal gun holds a flint that actually produces sparks.

My friend Ron, who was 11 the year this item came out, remembers anxiously waiting for his Six Gun Ring's arrival, and how he only wore it for a few minutes before he put it away, frustrated at the way it got hung up on everything (it's a very tall ring).

c.1950 Straight Arrow Golden Nugget Cave Ring Premium

I have a small collection of vintage premium rings and badges from old radio shows and serials, and they are some of my most treasured items. This is my very favorite: the Straight Arrow Golden Nugget Cave Ring (with secret picture) from around 1950.

 front of ring

back of ring

A bit of background: Straight Arrow was a radio show that began airing in 1948. A western hero similar to the Lone Ranger, Straight Arrow was a Comanche orphan raised by whites, who had a "secret identity" as Steve Adams, ranch owner. When trouble arose, he would race to his secret gold mine, where his Palomino horse, Fury, and his Comanche attire and weapons awaited him. Straight Arrow and Fury would then ride out to combat whatever problems had occurred, be they cattle rustlers or citizens endangered by rising flood waters. The show was sponsored by Nabisco's Shredded Wheat.

This ring represents Straight Arrow's gold mine hideaway, and it has a secret of its own. By peering into the tiny peephole "cave entrance" on the front of the ring, the viewer can see magically magnified images of Straight Arrow and Fury, and, if he sent in a photo of himself via the ad below, his own image as well, sandwiched between the two. (There's no way to show you how this appears, but if you look closely at the second picture above, of the ring's back, you should be able to spot the applied photo of the little boy who sent away for it.)

All of my old premiums give me a sense of connection to the past, as do my antique and vintage toys in general. But this one is special, with an even stronger feeling of connection than usual. As I look at the image of the little boy who once owned this ring, I'm struck with wonder: wondering what became of him, where he is now, and how his treasured toy ended up where it is today. (And also: how the heck did they do that magnifying image thing?!)

Vintage Big Little Books

Last week I acquired a box full of old Big Little Books, most of which are from the 1930s. They're in rough shape, clearly having been well-read and loved, but I still think they're a fantastic find. They present a sort of time capsule of children's interests from the '30s and '40s: space travel, cowboys, adventure, planes, cops & robbers, secret agents, superheroes.

As I browsed through the titles, I was surprised to see how much they still appeal, some 70 years after their publication dates. Escapism never grows old, I guess, and the opening paragraphs of each book were carefully crafted to catch and hold the reader's attention.

The excerpts below feature samples of some of the most evocative passages. Read on, and find yourself rocketing towards Mongo with Flash Gordon, riding along a creek bed with the Lone Ranger, piloting a plane through a fog bank above the Pacific Coast mountains, confonting an evil spy ringmaster in a dark castle, and taking down criminals with Detective Higgins of the Racket Squad...

The Flash Gordon books were my favorites out of the lot. Their condition reveals they were also the favorites of their original child owner, who actually wrote notes in the back of each book, reminding himself which pages featured his favorite gadgets and machines. The flyleaf below left reads: "130 armored car, 16 spacephone, 212 electrode guns, 366 RKT (rocket) sub, 390 RKT sub, 392 RSH (rocket sub) fleet." On the right you can see one of the beloved "rocket subs."

 Excerpt from Flash Gordon in the Water World of Mongo, Chapter One: The Sea of Mystery:
"High in the gaseous envelope which encloses the planet Mongo, a giant rocket ship sped through a murky fog. Within the craft were three strangers to Mongo -- three wayfarers from the distant planet known as Earth."

There were lots of westerns in the box. Here are two of the best-looking ones.

Excerpt from The Lone Ranger and the Black Shirt Highwayman:
"It was practically impossible for the two horsemen to see more than a couple of feet ahead in the intense darkness of an impending storm. They rode silently along the bank of Powder River; the only sound above the steady clump of horses' hoofs was the occasional rumble of thunder. The jagged flashes of lightning gave brief glimpses of the trail they followed."

Here's one of the oddest titles in the box: Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, all about "the girl who possesses the power to transform herself into an invisible being by merely pressing a strange nerve in her left wrist." (Wouldn't that be a great power to have?!)

 The box held lots of adventure books, including several about pilots. These featured some of the most gripping opening chapters, including this excerpt, from Brad Turner in Transatlantic Flight:
" ' Ceiling zero. Visibility zero. Barometer twenty-eight point four two. Wind...' Ten thousand feet above the peaks of the Pacific Coast Range, a silver shape roared through the endlessly swirling wall of fog. Twin motors hammered their song of might, a faraway drone to the two men inside the great airplane's control cabin."

Some of the most intriguing covers were these, on a couple of spy/secret agent titles. Even the back covers are illustrated:

Excerpt from International Spy: Doctor Doom Faces Death at Dawn:
" ' Doctor Doom! So, he matches wits with us again, eh?' In the gloomy and forbidding chamber, Count Arnheim, the war minister of Merovia, sat hunched over his massive desk and pointed his stubby finger at the tall, cloaked figure before him. His beady eyes smouldered with rage."

 There were lots of crime related titles in the box, with illustrated backs as well.

Excerpt from Detective Higgins of the Racket Squad:
"Detective Higgins swung his two hundred pounds of muscle and bone into action. His arms, working like trip-hammers, pounded down the once sneering face of Tuffy Haynes...he sagged down like a pricked balloon before the merciless fists of Detective Sergeant Higgins, of the Racket Squad."

That's all for now; Flash just rescued the queen of Mongo's underwater city, and I have to see what happens next:

Antique Dollhouse Dining Room Set

Here's my most recent find, not yet arrived, but I couldn't wait to post it. It's an almost complete set of dollhouse dining room furniture made in America circa 1910 by the Star Novelty Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.

The set includes 3 chairs (there should be one more, but it's gone missing), table, buffet, and china cabinet. The chairs have leatherette seats, and the whole lot is made of oak. It's in a large scale (the tallest piece measures 8 inches tall) almost sized more for small dolls rather than dollhouses. Can't you just picture this little one sitting here? With a little tea set on the table, and dishes in the cabinet....oh, I can't wait for it to come so I can play with it!

Antique American Teddy Bear with Provenance

I've been collecting antique teddy bears for about 15 years, and I've just finally managed to acquire something I've longed for all that time: a bear with provenance. The greatest associated item one can hope for with an antique bear is a photo of the original owner holding said bear. The next best: a photo of the original owner, period. This find falls into a category of its own, as it includes a picture of the original owner, family photos, a handwritten geneaology, and a children's book, also from the original owner and inscribed with his name.

The bear is a 10 inch American ted, with a definitive date of 1917, given to his original owner when he was born. The bear has an inset fabric nose and glass bead eyes, and sports one of the greatest smiles I've ever seen on an antique teddy.

He was originally purchased for Daniel Munn Richmond, Junior, of Grundy Center, Iowa. Below is a school picture of Daniel, aged 6. Isn't he a cutie? And, if you look closely, you'll see an illustration of the Three Bears on the wall behind him...

Here's the inscription on the photo's back. It reads: "Daniel Munn Richmond, Junior  Age 6 years  May 1924   Grundy Center   Grundy Co.  Iowa"

A whole sheaf of genealogical treasures came with Daniel's bear, including photos of his family (that's mom and dad below), a handwritten family tree dating back to the 1770s, and a letter from his family members who sold the bear to my dealer (the same dealer who provided my Victorian doll trunks full of toys: she's really good at finding stuff like this):

The final item in the lot was this 1919 children's book, Doctor Rabbit and Grumpy Bear, inscribed with Daniel's name.

Daniel died in 1968 at the relatively young age of 51, but I hope he would be comforted to know his bear is being well-looked after.