1934? Walt Disney Silly Symphony: The Tortoise and the Hare. Ten minutes? No sound. Gift of an anonymous donor. One extra copy at the same time.
The version Disney offers here is the one familiar from his early print publications of this fable. Toby Tortoise and Max Hare appear first at their training camps. Much of the cartoon centers on Miss Cottontail's boarding school. Here Max beats his own arrow to the target, hits his own pitch and then catches it, and plays tennis with himself. The cartoon ends with a celebration of the tortoise and does not go further, as does one of the early print presentations of this film.
1946? Walt Disney Jigsaw Puzzle: The Grasshopper and the Ants. Series No. 3. NY: Jayman Specialty Company. $15 at a Milwaukee antique dealer, June, '18.
"300 pieces and a 14" x 22" Picture!" proclaims the cover, which is slit in one place and bowed, as the picture shows. I have not yet tried the puzzle, whose picture on the cover is true to the Disney cartoon of GA. The series contains TH as well as "The Ugly Duckling" and "Pinnochio." Characters from other Disney favorites, like "Snow White," as well as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck grace the cover outside the picture of the puzzle.
1946? Walt Disney Character Jaymar Heavy Board Jigsaw Puzzle for Tiny Tots. TH. "Large Pieces Little Fingers Can Handle." NY: Jaymar. $9.99 from Mary Duque, Cashmere, WA, through Ebay, August, '01.
The scene is the finish line, with the tortoise stretching out his head—in fact past the corner of the box! The finished puzzle is 19" x 14" and includes about 54 pieces, all of which I can attest are present. It was fun doing this puzzle! Except for some buckling of the individual pieces, it is in very good condition. Some pieces represent objects like cars and shoes and a dog.
1950? Aesop's Fable Wallpaper. Pink and white. Four rolls 22" wide. $60 from Charles Luther, Mohawk, NY, through Ebay, April, '00.
I never would have suspected that there is Aesopic wallpaper! The paper here features a repetition of two scenes from FS. In each of the scenes, one antagonist enjoys the food while the other looks on.
2023? Wall hanging: The Bayeux Tapestry. 40" x 50". 100% polyester. $50 from Judaicaman: Joshua Jacobovitz, Shilo, Israel, Dec., '24.
Though the Bayeux Tapestry is fascinating and a good source for fable illustrations, this copy is disappointing. One would have to look very hard to find those fables and then to recognize them as fables. The advertisement says "Great to snuggle in or hang up in your den."
1930? Colored postcard presenting GA. Artist's mark is "Wal." "Vous chantiez! J'en suis fort aise./Eh bien! dansez maintenant." €10 from Jacky Mabilat, Boutigny sur Essonne, at the Paris Post Card Exhibition, Jan., '05.
I have a strong sense that I have seen Wal's work before. Here the ant seems to live in a hollowed tree. The scene is dominated by snow. Simple verso with no writing but one stain.
1930? One pinback 15/16" in diameter, labelled "Aesop's Fables - Waffles - 22." $2 from Connie Amos, Flushing, OH, through Ebay, March, '00.
Against a white background we find "Aesop's Fables" at the top," Waffles" at the bottom, and "22" on the right side. In the center is a dancing animal. Printed around the rim of the back: "Western Theater Premium Co., 1956 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, Cal." I presume these pinbacks were theater give-aways. Again, I got lucky on the price!
1970? Waddington's Junior Circular Jig-Saw: Aesop's Fables. Vari-piece. Circular. Stock No. 533. Diameter 12". 170 pieces. CLC 2020.0151.1. £3.99 from Richard Rayfield, Kent, UK, through Ebay, July, '05.
This is a difficult puzzle! Some of the difficult factors include the circular frame, the many images involved, and particularly the lightness of the pieces, which easily become dislodged after being correctly placed. The attractiveness of fables for picture puzzles is one of the many surprises for this collector! And this puzzle was a worthy challenge!
1880? 8 cards (from a set of 12?) fable-illustrated stock trade cards lithographed in pink and green by (Charles) Wemple and (Martin) Kronheim of NY. Each card is signed "Wemple & Kronheim" and advertises Jones & Davis, Druggists & Pharmacists, 44 Central Street, in Central Falls, RI. $30 from Paul at Rummage-O-Rama, West Allis, Feb., '98.
The cards come off as garish because of the color! See references nearby to other Wemple & Kronheim cards in this series, though not with these colors! Did the printer really want them to come out this way? I think it may be rare to find so many from one old advertising source. Each card has some remains of an old scrapbook on its otherwise blank back. The eight fables here are:
1880? 8 cards from a set of 12 fable-illustrated stock trade cards lithographed by Charles Wemple and Martin Kronheim of NY. Each card is signed "Wemple & Kronheim" and marked either "Series No 52" or "Series 52." 2½" x 4". $30 for 6 from Robert and Gloria Mascarelli of Accent East Gallery, E. Patchogue, NY, somewhere, sometime in 1996-97. Two more for $6 each from Virginia Makis, Springfield, MA, through Ebay, Feb., '00. One card as a gift from Tom Beckman, May, '94.
The eight scenes are TH, LM, FM, WL, "The Dog and His Master's Lunch," "The Heron," "The Eagle, the Lamb, and the Crow," and "The Rat and the Frog." Tom Beckman has written about finding the set of twelve, in his case distributed by the L.G. Williams shoe store in Malden, MA. The cards are characterized by an unusual combination of green ink and tan background. Some have fable texts--but no more--on the back. The Beckman FS card, imprinted by J. A. Parker Job Printing, is unusual in that it was overprinted by the very company that intended to use it. The Makis card of the "The Rat and the Frog" has an unusual stamp advertising "Only genuine hand-picked peanuts sold for 5 cts, Charlie Goodwin." WL is stamped on the picture-side by "O.B. Deane, Taxidermist & Bird Dealer" in Springfield, MA. "The Dog with His Master's Dinner" departs significantly from the illustration offered in the WMF series above. I include an illustration of the one extra copy of FM to show the difference in color of printing even within one design.
1880? Full set of 12 fable-illustrated stock trade cards lithographed by Charles Wemple and Martin Kronheim of NY. Each card is signed "Wemple & Kronheim" and marked "Series No 52." 2½" x 4". $29.99 from Alice Kozlowski, Holyoke, MA, through eBay, Jan., '06.
After struggling to find eight individual cards, often including some advertising, I was delighted to have the presumably full set of twelve fall into my lap on eBay. This set has no advertising on either side. The scenes I had found are TH, LM, FM, FS, WL, "The Dog and His Master's Lunch," "The Heron," "The Eagle, the Lamb, and the Crow," and "The Rat and the Frog." New are FC, "The Hare and the Frogs," "Two Goats," and "The Dogs, the River, and the Hide." The versos are all blank. The cards are characterized by an unusual combination of green ink and tan background. "The Dog with His Master's Dinner" departs significantly from the illustration offered in the WMF series above.
