Old Minnie Mouse Figurine

Beneath all this wear is a 1930s Minnie Mouse lead figurine, just 2 1/2 inches tall. She's clearly been through a lot, but is still smiling.

Carnival Chalkware Prize

This carnival chalkware prize is Bimbo, Betty Boop's doggie boyfriend. Bimbo starred in his own cartoons, with the first appearing in 1930. As Betty's star surpassed his own, he was relegated to boyfriend/sidekick status before disappearing altogether, allegedly due to concerns about the interspecies nature of their relationship...

7 inches tall, circa the 1950s.

Antique Show Find: Mentor Game

Found this far out game at a summer antique show: Mentor, the Electronic Wizard, made by Hasbro in 1960. The giant bronze plastic head is Mentor. He looks like something out of Metropolis, an Art Deco robot with a mind of his own. To play, you select one of the cardboard game tracks, and insert it into the board. You and Mentor then take turns moving the pawn (a giant finger) along the track. Mentor tells you how many spaces he wants to move by flashing the lightbulbs on the base. First one to the finish wins, and it's usually Mentor.

Mentor, in a characteristically thoughtful mood.

Mentor game boards.

 The moving finger, wired up to Mentor.

Antique Show Find: Mr. Potato Head Knock Off

Mr. Potato Head and I have a longstanding love affair, but occasionally I succumb to the charms of one his imitators. This "Funny Face Kit" was made in Hong Kong in the early 1960s, a low grade knock-off of the original. The whole set is just 5 1/4 inches tall, made of cheap plastic attached to a thin card. Potato Head experts have discovered these originally came in cellophane bags, and were distributed via dime stores or as carnival prizes. Visit mrpotatohead.net, source of my arcane knowledge, to see more fun fakes.

Tiny Treasures: Vintage Gumball Machine Prizes

As a kid, I adored the gumball machines full of tiny toys in the entrance of the grocery store. I would save my change for weeks and then, like a casino slots addict, feed coin after coin after coin into my favored machine, never giving up my belief that if I put in just one more dime, I'd finally get whatever must-have item had obsessed me.

Once I grew up, I was delighted to discover that private citizens can buy their own gumball machines, and I now have 5 vintage venders full of fantastic treasures in my dining room. Still, I'm always on the lookout for cool gumball prizes when I'm antiquing (and actually, still at the grocery store too.) I found this lot at a show this summer, and it had some really great pieces, mostly from the 1960s-70s.

This may look like a pile of cheap plastic, and it is, 

but it's also full of tiny treasures.

My favorite piece was this little pink guy with a really big nose.

The oldest item was this Barney Google charm: 











Monster charms are always a good find; these are from the '60s.

Oh joy of joys: a bunch of Funny Froot rings! I lusted after these as a child, but sadly, only ever got the Avocado Man (second from right).

Keeping with the anthropomorphic theme: a smiling radish guy pin:











An itty bitty parachute toy, barely an inch long, and never opened:

And last but not least: tiny fish and clamshell charms. I can remember seeing these as a kid, too, and being profoundly disappointed when, several dollars worth of dimes later, all I had gotten were lame stickers.