Man, oh man!

Anyone who has followed this blog knows that one bathing beauty (or should I say beach beau?) I have been searching for is the male version of the Galluba and Hofmann bather, pictured in this catalog page on the second from the top row at the far left edge. 

The elusive gentleman has finally deigned to join my collection, much to the joy of my bevy of bisque beauties. Here he is in all his male glory (well, not exactly all, as, shall we say, he is in no need of a fig leaf).  Of excellent bisque, he is 4 inches high and 4.5 inches long. He is superbly sculpted, with detailed musculature. Unlike Galluba's bathing belles, who are literally the fairest of the fair, his complexion is a golden tan.

He has strong, handsome male features. With those sultry dark eyes and sleek raven locks, he could pass for a matinee idol of the silent silver screen.

In fact, I think he gives off a bit of a Rudolph Valentino vibe. . . 

A dash of dark shadowing emphasizes his cheekbones.

Under his left thigh he is incised with "80423 P.P." This is the same model number that appears on the catalog page. 

As seen on the catalog page, and in this example from the Toy and Miniature Museum of Kansas City, originally he wore a black knit tank suit. However, I don't think that I am going to redress him. It seems such a shame of cover up those perfect pecs and amazing abs. . . .

not to mention that bodacious bum!

Speaking of pussyfooting. . .

An update to my maneki neko page features two examples of another unusual variation of the Japanese lucky cat, the "neko ni tako" (cat and octopus). 

Not Pussyfooting Around

Pussyfooting can mean to act cautiously or timidly. Certainly, no one could accuse the Five Barrison Sisters of pussyfooting around in their naughty, bawdy vaudeville acts, although they did show off their pussies--real live pussycats. The five buxom blond siblings in the 1890s entertained Europe and the United States music hall audiences with double-entendres and sexual suggestiveness. In their most famous act, first performed at the Wintergarten in Berlin in 1896, the sisters, clad in long frilly dresses and babyish bonnets, sang about "Mein Klein Katz" (My Little Cat) as they slowly and slyly lifted up their skirts, revealing ten black stocking-clad legs. At the end of the song, the sisters flipped up their skirts, exposing their "pussies," as a rather bewildered-looking live kitten peeked out from the crotch of each of their bloomers. 

This beautiful antique chromolithograph die cut was certainly based on the above publicity photograph of the sisters exposing their pussies. The artist exercised a little license in brightly coloring their costumes, but was otherwise faithful to the photograph. Roughly 7.5 inches tall and wide, there is no mark other than "2000" stamped on the lower right corner. I wonder whether this was a promotional piece for the Barrisons or just another example of a company being "inspired" by the self-proclaimed "wickedest girls in the world," but not enough to actually pay them any royalties.

For the (Water) Birds

My newest article for the online Museum of Aquarium and Pet History.

Judging a Book by Its Cover. . . .

This hand-painted suede book cover was a souvenir of Atlantic City, New Jersey. These suede souvenirs were apparently quite a fad for a time, because I have come across examples commemorating other vacation destinations, all having the same basic construction, but different painted decorations suitable to the tourist site, as well as photo and postcard albums. This book cover is 8.5 inches by 5.5 inches and considering its wonderful condition, apparently did not spend too much time in the sand and sun at the shore. The owner's initials are gracefully stamped on the upper corner.

It is not only the book inside that may beguile, because the cover features a lithe and lovely bathing beauty seated by the sea and shaded by her big green parasol.

Inside is an attached bookmark, with a rather fortune-cookie motto and the date "1928."

Take my hand. . .

I'm a stranger in Paradise

All lost in a wonderland

A stranger in paradise

If I stand starry eyed,

That's a danger in Paradise

For mortals who stand beside

An angel like you

Kismet, 1953

The way these two starry-eyed, if under-clad, lovers look into each others' eyes, they are clearly in Paradise. This very scarce double half-doll is from the German company of Fasold and Stauch. This piece is 3.5 inches tall and wide and is incised "10217" on the back of the base. The fingers on the lovely lady's right hand have been repaired (the long graceful hands and slender fingers on Fasold's half-dolls and bathing beauties are unfortunately very susceptible to damage), but this piece is so rare and unusual (plus extraordinarily beautiful) that I chose to overlook the repairs. After all, with Hunky McStudmuffin there, who is looking at fingertips?

Nice Kicks

Throughout Europe, shoes have long been a symbol of prosperity, luck, and fertility. With the expansion of the porcelain industry, and the Victorian's love of knick-knacks, miniature shoes of china and porcelain, often with elaborate adornments, became a popular collectible and gift. This fanciful footwear is by the German firm of Galluba and Hofmann, demonstrating that this company produced products other its famed bathing beauties and fashion ladies, often featured on this blog.

The shoes are lavishly decorated with applied flowers and gilt (I wonder why I have never seen on of their lovely ladies so bedecked?). The pink shoes are trimmed with blue forget-me-not flowers, a popular decoration on china ornaments of the period, which were often given as gifts. Both pieces are 4 inches long and the boot is 3.5 inches high.

Each is stamped on the sole with Galluba's crowned shield mark. 

 

Mystery Miss

The maker of this lovely lady is so far unknown. Similar luscious lasses have appeared on this blog, and while they share a family resemblance, all are unmarked. They are all of fine bisque with exceptionally delicate and graceful hands and wear pink painted slippers with molded, but in some cases undecorated, single straps. Although I have seen femmes by this mystery firm advertised in various antiques venues as by Galluba and Hofmann, these figures have much more realistically proportioned bodies than Galluba's idealized ladies and the facial painting is far less detailed, lacking Galluba's trademark intaglio blue eyes with deep pupils highlighted with a dot of white, typically outlined in black, with red upper lid lines. She is 3.25 inches high. 

 

Turkish Delight!

I recently acquired yet another creation by the Zaiden Toy Company. At 13 inches tall, she wears her colorful, if rather revealing, exotic outfit.  Zaiden advertised its dolls as being made from the "famous Zaiden Wood Fiber Compound, with high celluloid enamel finish." Although the finish retains its bright skin tones, it also has a tendency to crack over the decades as the underlying wood fiber contracts and expands due to heat, cold, and humidity, as demonstrated on this adorable odalisque.

This Zaiden maiden came in the remains of her original box, which includes the label with the faint stamp indicating that she is "Turkish." I could not find any information about Overland Products Corporation, other than it is listed as the assignee of Zaiden's patents. 

When wound via the key in her back, this harem honey shimmies her upper torso as her hips appear to slowly undulate. Zaiden applied for a patent for a mechanical dancing doll in 1922, stating, "This invention relates, generally, to improvements in. dolls; and the same has reference, more particularly, to a novel construction of mechanically operated dancing doll adapted to perform rhythmic movements in simulation of Eastern and South Sea Island dances, and dances of a similar character." This Turkish delight certainly simulates the "rhythmic movements" of the East!

 

The Color Purple

Purple is my favorite color, but very few bathing beauties come garbed in this royal hue. So I was pleased to find this powder box featuring a beach belle in a deep purple luster bathing suit. The base is molded to look like an oversized ottoman, airbrushed in lilac. Of china and 4.75 inches tall, underneath the box is incised with the faint crown mark of the Sitzendorf Porcelain Factory. 

 

The Sensation of the Doll World

This little scamp is "The Vamp" . . . 

. . . according to the label on the bottom of her base. The label further declares that she was manufactured by the Blue Bird Doll Company and patents for her design and "Ear Ring" (sic) were pending. 

This advertisement by the Blue Bird Doll Company from the February 1920 edition of "Toys and Novelties," a publication for the toy and carnival trade, introduces "The Vamp" as "the sensation of the doll world" who is currently "vamping the buyers," but in the "Near Future" will be "vamping the public." Buyers were urged to place their orders early because of "limited production." The ad described the figure as being 13 inches tall and shows two versions of the vivacious Vamp, one with a wig and the other with a molded bathing cap, although both are clad in a form-fitting painted bathing suit and sport hoop earrings.

This June 1920 ad from the same publication assures potential buyers that Vamp is selling like "Hot Cakes," and describes the "up-to-the-hour" doll as being made of "unbreakable wood-fibre composition" and 13 inches high.

Dated June 26, 1920, this ad from "The Billboard," a publication for the carnival and concession trade,  is not by Blue Bird, but Rudolph Toy and Novelty Company, which billed itself as the sole distributors for Blue Bird. The Vamp in the bathing cap was $12.50 a dozen, while the one with a wig was $16.50 a dozen. She has now grown to 13.5 inches (my model is just very slightly taller than 13 inches, so "13.5 inches" is literally and figuratively a stretch). 

A March 19, 2021, ad from "The Billboard," shows Ms. Vamp wearing earrings with round pendants similar to the ones adorning my model. She is advertised as coming in "three (3) different colors, assorted colored earrings and wigs." No price was given, but a sample assortment of five dolls could be requested for $5.50.  Vamp's reign as the sensation of the doll world was apparently a short one, as this is the last ad I was able to locate. Although the ad also declares Ms. Vamp to be "patented," I was unable to locate the actual patent applications through various patent search engines. 

Although my Vamp has retained what appears to be her original mohair wig, she has been extensively repainted. If the thick cracking and yellowed paint on the bottom of her base is an example of her original finish, restoration may have been justified. I will say that the restorer did a very nice job, although I suspect that the painting is a lot more detailed than the original work. She still flaunts her original earrings, although only one retains is original pink pendant.

The modeling is simple, but evocative of a rather well-rounded Vamp flirting her way down the beach or boardwalk.

 

Mystery Maiden

This large and lovely languorous lass harks back to a time when voluptuous curves were in vogue, and not filled with silicone or saline solution. I have come across several similar nubile nudes, but have never been able to attribute them to a particular company. They all exhibit the same excellent bisque with an odd slightly porous feel and are modeled with ample curves and molded tresses.

The faces tend to be rounded with pointed chins and the painted blue eyes have mauve shading. The rounded limbs are generally molded away from the body and the hands are small, delicate, and plump. Although the quality is surely one any company would be proud to claim, they are unmarked. They also tend to be on the larger size, as this luscious lady is 6.5 inches long.

 

Trapped in Amber. . .

. . . which is certainly what any man might be if he gazed into smoky golden eyes such as these. This sultry siren is a half doll attributed to the German firm of Fasold and Stauch. A number of their luscious ladies have been featured on this blog in various forms, including nudes, bathing beauties, and half dolls. The elongated almond amber eyes shadowed by smoky grey shading and slender, gracefully gesturing hands are signatures of Fasold. Of excellent china and beautifully molded and decorated, this wholly beautiful half doll is 4 inches tall and incised with an obscured number on the back of her base.  

Gorgeous Goebel

This large and lovely bathing beauty is an unusual example from the German firm of William Goebel. Her excellent china was made with precolored pink slip and her orange-red tank suit is cold-painted. 

Her exquisite face is framed by her glossy black bobbed hair and her slender hands gesture gracefully.

Underneath she is incised with Goebel's crowned intertwined "G" and "W," as well as "F.N. 757." This use of capital letters is also typical of Goebel. This big beautiful bathing belle is 6.5 inches long and 3 inches high.

 

William Goebel's Wonderful Water-Folk

I have an article on the online Museum of Aquarium and Pet History discussing the lovely loreleis and whimsical water creatures created by the German firm of William Goebel.

Impudent Imposter

This flirtatious and flamboyant flapper is from chalkware and was probably originally a carnival prize. Unmarked, she is 6.5 inches tall. At first glance, she appears to be a knock-off of Genevieve Pfeffer's Splashme dolls, but there are subtle differences, as the Splashme character has her folded hands tucked under their chin and has molded slippers (this seated bright-eyed bathing belle's bare toes are visible under her painted slippers). 

The position of her hands, the bare feet, and the small molded, but unpainted, wings behind her shoulders instead indicate that the underlying figurine is a direct copy of Rose O'Neill's pensive Kewpie or "The Thinker." The picture below is from my July 2008 article in "Antique Doll Collector" entitled "Genevieve Pfeffer and Her Alluring Girlies," which sets out the history of the Splashme bathing beauty dolls. The photograph contrasts O'Neill's thoughtful Kewp with Pfeffer's flirty girlie. So this round-eyed sea siren is apparently the illegitimate offspring of both the Kewpie and Splashme, with the Kewpie's form and the Splashme's face and ensemble.

Ironically, Pfeffer herself was once accused of copying the pensive Kewpie for her Splashme dolls. The defendants in a 1920 patent infringement suit brought by Pfeffer against Western Doll Manufacturing Company had argued that Pfeffer based her Splashme on the pensive Kewpie. In fact, the 1917 patent is for an "ornamental design for a doll" submitted by Pfeffer shows the original doll with the position of her hands and bare feet matching those of the Kewpie. In that case, the federal district court ruled Pfeffer's patent was invalid, finding that she had merely painted "baby doll" eyes, a flapper bob, and a one-piece bathing suit on a plaster copy of a Kewpie figurine and had not created anything new or novel. However, Pfeffer appealed and in 1922, the United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals overruled the lower court and held that Pfeffer's patent was valid. The Splashme's eyes with their star-burst of long lashes, full red lips parted to expose white teeth, bobbed hair, and colorful swimwear would prevent any causal consumer from mistaking the sultry Splashme for O'Neill's innocent imp. 

 

 

And This Little Piggy. . .

 . . . hit the beach. This glamorous gilt is another example of a pink pig fairing, popular from the late 1800s through the turn of the last century. She is part of an entire genre of bisque and china figurines  featuring pink pigs engaged in typically human activities, often with a comical or satirical theme. This pulchritudinous porker has decided to bake her hams at the seaside, daintily descending from a bathing machine in her pink bathing suit bedecked with bows. Of excellent sharp bisque, this piece is five inches high and incised "4673" on the back. The top of the bathing machine is open to serve as a vase. 

Who Made These Mermaids?

On November 3, 2023, my article tracing the makers of certain mermaid and related aquarium adornments appeared on the online Museum of Aquarium and Pet History. The article includes pictures of mermaids from my collection, as well as images from catalogs of Weiss, Kühnert, and Company and Hertwig and Company.

Casting a Wide Net

This laughing lass has her net at ready, perhaps hoping to bag herself some handsome beach beau. She is actually made to perch on the edge of an aquarium, a variation on the fish bowl fancies with fishing poles. Although by the 1920s the form-fitting wool knit swimsuit was becoming popular, many women still wore bathing suits like this one, consisting of a long shift-like tunic top over shorts. 

 

Although unmarked, I attribute her to the German firm of Hertwig and Company. Not only are her sharp realistic modeling and lively expression similar to this company's bathing beauties and lithe lady figurines, there is a hole on the bottom that would have accommodated a metal loop to clip the piece to the rim of an aquarium. Hertwig used such clips for its fishing figures, but these metal clips are often missing, having fallen out or rusted away over the decades. This lass is 6 inches tall, quite large for this sort of aquarium ornament.

Pleased as Punch!

This bathing beauty lamp has appeared previously on this blog. A similar lamp had once been offered as a prize on a punch board, a picture of which appeared in that post.

I have finally found an original of that punch board (sometimes referred to as punchboard) to add to my collection. Early punch boards were a homemade affair, a tavern owner or innkeeper drilling multiple holes in a wooden board, inserting a small roll of paper with a number written on it in each hole, then sealing the holes. Patrons could purchase a chance to punch out one or more holes and if they drew out a winning number, won cash or some other prize. In 1905, the first cardboard version of this game was patented. These inexpensive mass-produced games became popular in bars, drugstores, barbershops, and other venues as a trade stimulator and they were produced in a wide variety of sizes, colors, and themes (such as sports or pin-up girls). For a low price, typically anywhere from a nickel to a quarter, the patron was given a metal stylus (or, as in this example, simply used a pencil) and allowed punch out one or more holes to reveal a number. If the number matched the winning number on the punchboard (here secured behind the gold foil seal), the lucky patron won cash or another prize. Punch boards were popular games through WWII, but states began cracking down on them as illegal gambling devices. Criminal gangs also controlled much of the punch board trade. One common scam was for the maker of the punch board to create a key or map of the winning holes, allowing a confederate or the venue owner to make off with the top prizes. 

On this card, each punch is labeled with a female name. There are some wonderful "old-fashioned" monikers rarely heard today.

The back of the card includes a table with the same list of names. In some punch boards, there was a slip of paper behind the hole which the patron pulled out to reveal his or her number. I suspect that with this game, the table served as a key, with a number written down next to each name.