Pull along Russian cat

Here's something a little bit visually different from what we usually post, but too nice not to share. This gem of a find came from a recent trip to London, on a horrible wet and drizzly Sunday. We were not optimistic that anything would be on given the weather, but we stumbled upon a car boot near Elstree. Amongst an interesting hoard of house clearance items we unearthed this little treasure. The cat itself is wooden, but has a painted jesso surface. The base is roughly 6 X 4", and in total she stands 8.5" tall.

She sits on a wooden base, with wheels that roll along. On the base is a rather ornate gold label in Russian, but sadly Ive no knowledge of Russian and  can make no headway with what it says. Below is a close up of the label in case anyone can unravel the cats history.

Interestingly the stick (looks like a ice cream stick) on the base appears to move what looks like bellows, that sit under the base.  Whether the cat had some kind of musical movement at some point is  a mystery.

Sticking Plaster Elasoplast or band aid?

Call them what you will! Four fabulous adhesive bandage tins from the late Sixties/ early Seventies.

2012 CUP FINAL

Its the Cup Final tomorrow, and not only is it not the last game of the English football season, the FA have even moved kick off to 5.15. Is nothing sacrosanct anymore?

The fabulous little label is taken from The London Transport Museum archive, from the days when the Cup Final was still a central part of the British sporting calendar. You can search the London Transport archive via theme, and there are lots more football related posters if your interested!

Should you feel the urge for even more nostalgia, you can still download the 1975 FA Cup Final wallchart, that appeared in Tiger, that I posted back in 2009.

Going Metric tea towels

A couple of tea towels I missed out last week........Grrrrrrrr!

We come in peace!

Absolutely superb and really rather strange, 4.5" pink plastic female figure that Im lead to believe was made by Letraset, of rub down transfer fame. I'm still to be convinced.......

Apparently you were given sheets of colour that you rubbed down on to the figure (in this case her jumper). Unfortunately I cant find anymore to corroborate this story, but she does remind me of the rather awkward looking girl on the front of the Human League Being Boiled 7" cover, that I do know was taken from a Letraset catalogue.

Candy & Andy...... & Mr Bearanda

Apologies for the lack of recent posts, but back again with more plastic, this time in the shape of the rather unusual, Mr Bearanda.

Mr Bearanda was a Gerry Anderson creation that apparently, never really took off. Not surprising really given the very strange mix of dolls, animals and humans. Id not heard of the Candy & Andy series, until finding out who this little figure was. Like so many of Gerry Andersons TV shows, it appears he licensed the rights to Dinky, who created a diecast version of the car, Stripey (the magic mini) and a set of small plastic figures to go with it. Mr Bearanda is one of those Dinky figures.

I found out all about Candy & Andy at the very good Age of Uncertainty. Well worth a trawl. The comments on the post make interesting reading too.

Until next time...

1950s I-SPY books

Very excited to see I-spy People, over at between channels, last week. Its a real treat. It reminded me of my own collection of 1950s I spy books. Im sure there were more, but for the moment this will have to do.

The Maharajah- Air India's character trademark

In keeping with the recent aeronautical theme, here is The Maharajah. Created in 1946 by Bobby Kooka & Umesh Rao at J Walter Thompson, The Maharajah serves as a character trademark for Air India. Even with one hand missing, he cuts a fine figure. For the life of me, I cant remember where I found him, but possibly it was up at The Stanley Dock in Liverpool, in the late Eighties.

You can see The Maharajah at his splendid best, over at Demonstrate, where theres a nice collection of assorted  Air India posters. Below is the sticker on the base of the 4" figurine.

Belinda Lyon clothkit oxfam cut out doll

Last week my brother in law was clearing out his parents loft and he found this old doll. It looks remarkably like a figure I posted back in 2010. It turns out that she is designed by illustrator, Belinda Lyon who created a whole series of dolls for Oxfam, called cut out dolls. Sold as a pattern, and printed on a cotton tea towel, which you then, cut, stuffed and made up as the doll. It was a pretty impressive series, and so, of its time.

This doll is Malee, a Thai Temple dancer, you can see Nada, the Algerian girl from the series at h is for home, who have also set up a small flickr site celebrating Belinda Lyon.

Late Seventies Horror show

I just could not leave these frightening relics from the Seventies behind, at a car boot, last summer! The heady mix of 68% polyester and 42% acrylic was just all too consuming!

Now, while the urge to buy them may have been strong, there was never any intention to wear them! It should be noted that they fit a 3/4 year old, but there is no way Id put anyone I know through the shame of wearing them, even as a joke!

For anyone who's interested the labels are below.