Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, it's true, I am a Halloween baby. Go ahead, just try to come up with a joke that I haven't heard in 45 years (yikes, I'm 45!?).

Since I was too lazy to dig out vintage Halloween costumes this year, I'm settling for a birthday card for today's post.

I think this is from the 1970s, it is a Hallmark card, stock number 50B 71-4. It has a 'Productions' copyright, so can't be any later than 1986. Cool thing about this card is that it is a popup. The tea party table pops out at you when you open the card. How cool is that?

Sorry for my lack of posts this past week, it has been review time at work, and I hate writing reviews. But I have some posts already planned for next week, and I bought myself a large format scanner (finally!), so stay tuned for some cool items that wouldn't fit on my regular scanner!

Tweedle Metal Pin - Unknown Maker

When I got this pin, I thought it might be from the same series as this Alice pin. But, there are no maker's marks on the back, it is not sterling but some sort of pot metal, and the quality is nowhere near that of the Alice pin. Still, it is a cool pin, and I love the fact that he has his little flag on his hat.

Alice in the Movies - Lewis Carroll Society Fall Meeting Tomorrow

I'll be in Fort Lee, NJ on Saturday October 17th for the annual Fall meeting of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America (LCSNA). Fort Lee has an interesting place in Alice history, the very first sound film adaptation was filmed in Fort Lee, and it will be screened at the meeting. The meeting is free and open to the public, so if you are going to be in the NYC area, drop by. Details of the entire agenda are located here.

Coro White Rabbit with Watch Plastic Pin

At first glance this looks like the regular White Rabbit with watch pin, just with the chain broken off. But it isn't. There is no attachment on this pin for the chain, it is smooth and unblemished. Also, even though it is gold in color, this is very light, and the clasp on the back matches those of the Alice and Tweedle plastic pins. This could be the missing 8063. Who knows?

Coro Tweedle Plastic Pin

Although not listed in the CMD catalog, I'm quite certain this is also by Coro. The plastic Tweedle pin shares many of the same qualities as the plastic Alice pin. Perhaps this fills the hole in the numbering and is item #8068. The world may never know...

Coro Alice Plastic Pin - Item #8069

In addition to the wide variety of metal costume jewelry, Coro also made pieces in plastic. Of course I didn't know that until I got my copy of the Character Merchandise Catalog.

These plastic pieces are really, really hard to find. Plastic from the 1950s was exceptionally flimsy, hard to believe any of these survived at all. This is the only example of any of the Alice jewelry that I've found on the original card.

And that brings us to the end of the pieces as described in the CMD catalog. But there's more to come...

Coro Tweedle Pin - Item #8067

The last of the pin pairs features a nameless Tweedle (pick your favorite).

Coro White Rabbit Pin - Item #8066

Second of the pin pairs features this White Rabbit pin, much smaller than his watch toting cousin. This pin is probably the rarest of the pins, at least in my experience.

Coro King of Hearts Pin - Item #8065

The first of the pin pairs features Alice and this little guy, the King of Hearts. I've always had a special place in my heart for this guy, he was my mascot at my wedding, and I wore this very pin on my lapel.

This pin is very tiny, and the most fragile of the pins, his heart scepter has a tendency to break off.

Ah, so much hair, so few chins (to quote Alton Brown).

Coro Alice Pin - Items #8065, 8066, 8067

This Alice pin was apparently part of several pairs of pins according to the Character Merchandise Catalog.

Alice was paired with the King of Hearts, White Rabbit and a Tweedle. Could she also have been paired with a Mad Hatter?




This also marks my 300th post, go me!

Coro White Rabbit with Watch Pin - Item #8064

The White Rabbit with watch pin is the only (metal) item from this line that is unique, meaning it does not appear as part of the necklace or bracelet.

It is much larger than all the other pins at about 1 1/2 inches. It does have a smaller cousin however...

Coro Alice Heart Pin - Item #8062

The Alice Heart pin, item 8062, was the very first item I found from this line. At the time, I did not know whether or not it was truly a Disney item, it seemed a little odd with the heart. It wasn't until I found a regular Alice pin that I realized it was truly from the same set.

The Alice figure on this pin is the same as on the necklace, bracelet, and standard pin, with the added heart device.

Coro Alice in Wonderland Character Bracelet - Item #8061

Next is item 8061, the bracelet. Essentially the same as the necklace in yesterday's post, just on a shorter chain.

Coro Alice in Wonderland Character Necklace - Item #8060

First in the jewelry line is item 8060, the necklace. It consists of 5 character charms: Alice, the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, the King of Hearts and a Tweedle.

Note that the Mad Hatter character is the only charm on this necklace that does not have a corresponding pin (see yesterday's post). It is possible that a Mad Hatter / Alice set could fill the missing number (8063 or 8068).

Also note that these charms - and their corresponding pins - are tiny, between 3/4 and 7/8 of an inch.