Worn Old Bear

In my antique teddy bear collection live several bears who are in minty condition, which is remarkable considering their 100+ year ages.
And while it's always a thrill to find such teddies, there's something touching about rescuing a spectacularly love-worn bear. The character present in the face of a ted who's been hugged almost to pieces, patched and re-patched, and yet carefully preserved, is really a priceless quality.

My latest such find is this 18 inch 1920s British bear who suffered from chronic Nose Kissing, which has resulted in the appearance below. He's very sensitive about it; the other bears and I try not to stare. But I feel it's given him a certain charm, and he looks like he's full of stories about the things he's seen over his long life. I call him "Nosey Parker."

Vintage Twinkie the Kid & Wonder Bread Premium Rings

These two Hostess items are late entries into the premium ring category, dating to my own childhood in the 1970s. I can remember spotting the Wonder bread rings inside the packages, and eagerly squeezing our forearms down into the bags, trying to get them out. Wonder bread squishes very easily, we found. After a few smushed loaves, the adults started putting the bread up out of our reach, and dispensed the rings themselves.

1950s Quaker Crazy Rings Premium Set

One of the greatest toy ring premiums of the 1950s was the Crazy Ring Set sponsored by the Quaker Oats Company. For only 25 cents, the lucky recipient received a total of 10 crazy rings, one for each finger, including a siren ring, pencil sharpener ring, 2 dexterity puzzle rings, squirt ring, ship in-a-bottle ring, whistle ring, hand-shaking friendship ring, jingle bell ring, and, amazingly, a meteor ring that the ad attested "contains an actual meteor piece from outer space" (mine is missing the stone, so I can't evaluate that claim).

Here's the original ad for the Crazy Ring Set:

And here are the rings:

Some closeups:

The hand shaking friendship ring, open and closed.

The jingle bell ring.

The pencil sharpener ring.

The ship-in-a-bottle ring.

The dexterity puzzle rings.

The whistle ring.

The squirt ring.

The siren ring.

1951 Cowboy Boot Ring Premium

Children's toy premium rings from the 1930s-1950s fascinate me. It's amazing how much stuff the designers managed to pack into these tiny items, and this one, a 1951 premium from Popsicle and Bazooka Joe, is a great example.

The cowboy boot opens to reveal a not-so "secret compartment", a magnifying glass, a compass, and even a tiny printed sheet of "cowboy code". With this ring, you could imagine yourself to be a cowboy, an explorer, a secret agent, or some combination thereof. Fantastic!

1966 Batman Rings

Some of my favorite vintage toy rings are these, made in 1966 to promote the Batman TV show starring Adam West. There were three different styles, and they seem to have been available in a variety of ways, including as gumball machine prizes and dime store toys.

 (Incidentally, I have several lots of these, so if anyone would like one, or a set, send me a Batmail...)