Japan Victor Company Storyteller Album

Previously I have posted about a JVC record that featured Alice songs on one side and Cinderella songs on the other (see Japanese Victor Record - Title Song).  But, did you know there was an entire storyteller album as well?  Well, neither did I until a couple of years ago.  Let's take a look!

This (along with all other "original release" items) was produced in 1953, which was the year Alice came out in Japan.  As with the previously posted record, this is sung and told by Izumi Yukimura, who was a very popular singer in Japan.  Issued as a two-record set in 78 rpm in an illustrated sleeve, 

each disc has illustrated labels, just like on the previous record. I particularly love the labels on these, with art of Alice and the pansies from the garden of live flowers.

The set also comes with a 16-page booklet filled with text, lyrics and black & white illustrations, which I imagine is pretty rare to find intact with the set.  

  

Brazilian Sticker Album - Editôra Vecchi

Lotario Vecchi and his brother Arturo founded Editôra Vecchi in Rio de Janeiro in 1913 after relocating from Italy.  Lotario returned to Italy and later founded Edisioni Lampo in 1939, leaving Arturo to run Vecchi.  The company originally focused on women’s novels (one can assume this means romance novels) but in 1929 began publishing comic books, for which the company would become famous.  The range of titles was large, reprinting content from famous comics around the world including Tex from Italy, Mad Magazine from the US, Smurfs from Belgium, and numerous Gold Key, Fawcett, and Charlton comic books.  From the late 1940s through at least the 1970s the company also created a range of sticker books on a wide array of topics, including Disney.  The company suffered financial problems in the early 1980s, forcing the company to close in 1983.

Os Livros de Ouro da Juventude #16 - Alice no Pais das Maravilhas

Vecchi printed an Alice in Wonderland sticker book, essentially a Portuguese version of the Italian Lampo sticker book which had been published in 1952 (we'll see that one in a future post).  There were at least two printings of this Brazilian version, one in the late summer of 1958 (dated July, August, September), the other in the winter of 1959 (dated January, February, March).  The book has the same format as the Italian, including all art, with 32 pages holding 240 stickers, each page separated by a velum sheet.  The album itself could be purchased for Cr$5, with stickers sold for Cr$5 per 15, although they could be purchased in quantities of 15, 30, or 45 stickers at a time.

The art is pretty nice on this book, with the weird brown line art on the pages being only slightly bizarre.

Interstitial art in these stickers book, no matter which country, tend to be a little weird, likely because that art was done in-house, whereas the primary art on the cover and stickers was likely done by the studio or at least the officially sanctioned artists for that country or region.

The individual stickers have text on the back describing the scene and providing the number so they could be properly placed in the book.

Good-Win Paint Your Own Walt Disney Figures in Pottery

Good-Win (Strome & Co Ltd) of London, England was a manufacturer of games and puzzles in the early to mid-twentieth century.  While I have been unable to find much information on this company, they appear to have primarily made dominoes, jigsaw puzzles, and a few other games as well.  The parent company of Strome & Co. does appear in the catalog for the British Industries Fair from 1947 as a maker of a variety of toys and games.

To date only one Disney series has been identified from Good-Win, a series of three Paint Your Own Figures sets featuring ceramic pieces manufactured by Weetman.  These date from 1952 or earlier based on the characters available:  Mickey & Donald, Tweedle Dee & the Mad Hatter, and Flower & Thumper.  It is possible that other items exist since the box for this item pictures additional Disney characters from Cinderella, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Pluto, and the Three Little Pigs.

All items by Good-Win carry their logo of a boy crossing the finish line of a track race with the words Good-Win Reg Trade Mark.

The Paint Your Own Walt Disney Figures in Pottery set for Alice appears to have been made at the time of the film’s release in the UK, 1951 or 1952 at the latest.  A hand-written price on the label of 6/3 equates to about $0.88 in 1951, and $14.14 in today’s dollars.

The set for Alice contains figures for the Mad hatter and Tweedle Dee, as identified by the label on the bottom of the box.  The contents consist of one each of the small white ware figures manufactured by Weetman, with a paint brush, tray, and four tubes of paint.  An instruction sheet is also included, with some advice on how to glaze the figures with some sort of varnish when you are happy with your results - varnish not included of course.

Argentinian Coloring Book from 1959 - ¡Ven a Pintar! #4

From their series of Disney coloring books “¡Ven a Pintar!” this is the fourth in the series, featuring Alice.  Consisting of 16 large pages to color or paint, the line art is quite good and appears to be either copies of or redrawn from the Whitman Paint Book.

I've seen Alice depicted with the pink pinafore and stockings a few time from South American countries, but have never been able to figure out why.

Alice in Wonderland Comic Adaptation in Margriet Magazine from the Netherlands

Previously we've seen serialized adaptations of the Alice film in comic strips and magazine from the US, the UK, Turkey, and Belgium.  It turns out there is another, also based on the Belgian Mickey Magazine adaptation, that appeared in a weekly women's magazine in the Netherlands.

Published from 1938 through the current day, Margriet ran a serialized adaptation in Dutch from December 22, 1951 to April 19, 1952.  While almost exactly the same as their Belgian counterparts, the individual installments do have one unique feature: color scheme.  Each issue (at this time anyway) is two-tone, but the non-black color varies from issue to issue, being one of green, red, or yellow.

Luton Girls Choir Medley from Alice in Wonderland (with a friend)

As many of you know, I'm deep into the writing of the book, and part of that involves a LOT of scanning.  The past few weeks have been consumed with the scanning of seemingly endless records of various sizes, speeds, and countries.  Perhaps the most interesting re-discovery is this recording of the Luton Girls Choir singing a medley of songs from Alice, with I'm Late sung by "a friend," who has so far not been identified.  Give it a listen and if you know the singer let me know in the comments!

Mettoy Mad Hatter's Race Game

Here is a preview of the section on the Mettoy Mad Hatter's Race game from the forthcoming book.  Enjoy!

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Founded in 1933 by Jewish emigrants fleeing the Nazis, Mettoy (a contraction of METal TOY) made a metal, tin, and plastic toys over a span of fifty years.

Arthur Katz was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1908.  When his father died in 1920 he moved to Nuremberg with his mother since she was originally German.  After completing school he entered the toy business as an apprentice for a toy export company.  Once his apprenticeship was complete he began working for a tin toy company, Tipp & Co, which was owned by a cousin Philip Ullmann.

With the rise of the Nazis in 1933, he emigrated to England on his South African British passport.  Ullmann joined him shortly thereafter, and the two formed a new toy company, Mettoy, in a workshop owned by a model train maker, Basset-Lowke.  But within five years they has to switch from tin toys to war production as England entered World War II.  Interestingly their landlord Basset-Lowke had a vested interest in many Jewish-German suppliers for their business, and that company spent a large portion of their profits helping Jewish refugees escape Germany.  

The war and accompanying defense contracts were good to Mettoy, so much so that the company needed to expand into a larger manufacturing space, which was arranged by the British government.  The new factory was in Swansea, Wales in the town of Fforestfach.  When the war ended in 1945, toy production resumed.  By this time Mettoy had expanded into plastics given that rationing of metal was still in force, but by 1956 rationing had been lifted and they began making their most well known toy line of all:  Corgi die cast vehicles.  

Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s Mettoy continued to grow with Corgi sales increasing in their standard car line but especially so with their licensed cars for Batman, James Bond, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  However, the arrival of Mattel's Hot Wheels in the late 1960s, coupled with a devastating fire in at the factory in 1969, Mettoy's fortunes began to turn.  The 1970s and 1980s were a difficult time for Mettoy, and despite many efforts to turn the company around, including the creation of their very own personal computer product "The Dragon", the company went into receivership in 1983.  

The following years saw the company spin-off the Corgi brand, which eventually was purchased by Mattel.  The brand was sold several more times through the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, until it was purchased by Hornby in 2008 where the brand continues to be sold to this day.

The number of Disney toys made by Mettoy is not known to me, but I am aware of a few tin toys from the 1950s including a zoetrope called the Disneyland Moviedrome, a toy called the Disneyland Skating, and the Alice game below; as well as the plastic film viewer toy from the 1970s called the Walt Disney Movie Viewer.

The one known Alice toy, The Mad Hatter's Race, was likely released at the time of the original film's release in 1951 or perhaps 1952.  No historical pricing has been discovered.

This is one of the coolest toys ever made for Alice in Wonderland.  It is a game played on a tin race track, with the game piece being a windup toy of Alice on the Drink Me bottle from the Sea of Tears.  I have only ever seen one complete example with box - this one.  I've seen the tin board and the windup toy once or twice before.  Needless to say this is an exceptionally rare toy.

We Made Some Ink! Washingtonian Magazine July 2022

Being residents of the greater DMV (that's DC, Maryland, Virginia for those not in the know), the Washingtonian is our version of New York Magazine or Los Angeles Magazine, with features on local interest, published monthly.  And this month has a one-page feature on the Alice collection, only 6 years in the making!  Pictures below of the cover and our single page, and then an annotated page.

In the photo below, the numbered its are:

1. Regal Mad Hatter Teapot
2. Gund Queen of Hearts Vinylite Stuffed Toy
3. Regal White Rabbit Creamer
4. Zaccagnini (Italy) Cheshire Cat Figure
5. Disneyland White Rabbit Press/VIP Gift from 1984 Attraction Re-Opening
6. Neevel Doll Wardrobe Case
7. Lars (Italy) Bill the Lizard Stuffed Toy
8. 1970s Disneyland Child's Sunglasses
9. National Leather Mfg Co Schoolbag
10. Madame Alexander Doll
11. Larceram (France) Lamp
12. Chad Valley (England) Nursery Play-Toy Tin Stacking Blocks
13. Unknown Tweedledee/dum String Holder (likely unlicensed)
14. Enesco Head Vase
15. Sni-Dor (Canada) Record Player
16. Goebel (Germany) Dodo Smoker Ashtray
17. Unknown (England) Meal Time Dish Set
18. Hassenfeld Bros (Hasbro) Nurse Kit
19. Linemar Mad Hatter's Sky-View Taxi Tin Friction Toy
20. US Time Watch in Teacup Box

Original Release Australian Press Book

Otherwise known in the US as campaign book, this press book contains lots of sample articles, ad mats, posters, and merchandise specific to the Australian market.  Super cool.  

The cover is based on the two-page ad that appeared in Look magazine here in the US, which was also issued as a promotional poster.  The same is true for this cover on the press book, it too was issued as a promotional poster.  

Both the press book cover and poster have slightly colors from the US, not sure if it is the printing method, or just similar fading over time, but they are decidedly more pink than the US versions.

One interesting this about this press book, and most Australian press books, is they way they are constructed.  It is multiple tabloid size sheets stapled together at the right edge, and folded in the center to look like a book or magazine - but since it is stapled at the edge, you have to unfold it before you can open it.

Perhaps the coolest part of the press book is the merchandise.  Many items are pictured, some of which have been posted about in years past here on the blog, but several I have never seen before nor even heard about.  Tea set anyone?  Yes please, I'll take ten!  And that boxed notepaper, to die for.  And not one, but two paint books!  Also mentioned but not pictured are an Alice doll and White Rabbit doll exclusive to the Australian market.  Wow.

And let us not forget the move posters, four of which are pictured.  Well, three posters and a glass slide.  We have all heard of the Australian daybill of course, posted about here, but I've never even heard of a 1-sheeter or 3-sheeter (presumably very similar to an american one-sheet and three-sheet).  And the glass slide was discovered not too long ago and posted here.

Zaccagnini Auction Result!

Today an amazing collection of Zaccagnini figures was auction, including a King of Hearts!  The result of the auction were mixed, but the king did especially well, realizing 6x his original high estimate.  Congratulations to the winner, he is indeed exceptionally rare.

RKO Program from Japan 1953

Japan is one of the few countries to release Alice several years after its premiere, 1953 to be exact.  But that doesn't mean they did not have RKO promotional material.  This is one such item, an eight-page program - and one that I had never seen before until recently.

Original release items from Japan are quite difficult to come by, so I was thrilled to acquire this piece.  And I was surprised at how large it is, fully 8 1/2" x 12", which corresponds (most closely) with the standard size kiku 4.

The cover features some art we've seen before, that of the "Up to the Minute News" sheet of legal-sized paper I wrote about here, with an inset of Alice and the Broom Dog from the Tulgey Wood.  Even in 1953 the Japanese were ahead of their time highlighting unusual characters.

The remainder of the program (90% in Japanese) features character blurbs with photos of the actors, and a synopsis of the story with song lyrics to boot.  All in all a fabulous piece.

Ringing in the New Year!

 It's a new year and changes are a happenin' here in the Tulgey Wood.  We are finally getting back to flood recovery, and have now successfully made our first pass at the contents of all the storage bins.  Next phase is to rebuild all the displays - no mean feat, especially with a nationwide lumber shortage!  But fear not, I will continue to post things as I find time, and give updates on the progress with the book.  Which I'm happy to say is continuing.  I'm well into the second chapter "Toys, Games, & Puzzles" and have uncovered a few interesting bits related to them.

So let's start off with something newly acquired this year:  This super cool set of kokeshi dolls from Japan, probably 1960s or early 1970s.  Not quite within my usual time period, but I have a very soft spot for kokeshi dolls.

Alice and the White Rabbit have the traditional wobbly heads, but the cards are static.  According to the person I got them from, they are by a company called Senshukai, which is still in business today!  Their first kokeshi dolls were made in 1954, but I'm not sure when they acquired a Disney license.

70th Anniversary of the World Premiere in London

 I would be very remiss indeed if I let today go by without a post, it's not everyday one turns 70 after all!  Today we have a copy of the UK Photoplay magazine from August 1951, with a cover of Esther Williams looking quite fetching.  But the real gold is inside.

A four-page full color illustrated article on the film.  And while the illustrations are just frames from the film, the design is amazing!

Telling the story via this series of stills as if they were taken directly from the 35mm film is quite charming indeed.

And this was apparently a popular article.  It is the two centerfold wraps of the magazine, and this issue is often found with these four page missing.  People had good taste!

Zaccagnini First Draft Complete

 I just completed the first draft of one of the most difficult sections in the ceramics chapter, that for Zaccagnini.  Not counting the years it has taken me to acquire all the various information and references, I've spent hours just to create 2000 words.  Gotta pick up speed...