Soaky was the name of a brand of bubble bath produced by Colgate-Palmolive. The product was referred to as “The Fun Bath” on its label and was targeted at young children.
Soaky’s major selling point was that the bottles could be reused as toy figures once the contents were used up. The brand’s mascot was a young boy named The Soaky Kid.
Soaky was the name of a brand of bubble bath produced by Colgate-Palmolive. The product was referred to as “The Fun Bath” on its label and was targeted at young children.
Soaky’s major selling point was that the bottles could be reused as toy figures once the contents were used up. The brand’s mascot was a young boy named The Soaky Kid.
The product’s popularity peaked in the 1950s and 60s, during which time Colgate-Palmolive was able to secure licenses to use popular Disney and Warner Bros. cartoon characters to sell Soaky. These included, but were not limited to, Bugs Bunny, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Bullwinkle J. Moose, and The Chipmunks.
Colgate-Palmolive even went as far as to release a special promotional greeting card featuring the Chipmunks that doubled as a playable record. The combination of the promotional methods led the product to take a large share of the children's bath products market.
Deluxe Reading was a toy manufacturer based in Elizabeth, New Jersey USA which produced toys under several brand names including Deluxe Topper, Deluxe Toy Creations, Deluxe Reading, Topper Corp., Topper Toy Group, and Topper Toys. The Topper Toys brand was most used in print advertisements and television commercials (children's TV). It was founded and run by Henry Orenstein, a holocaust survivor.
In a long list of “you’ll poke your eye out” toys, Sixfinger has to top the list. What kid wouldn’t want a sixth finger? Especially when that sixth finger shoots cap bombs, “secret bullets,” message missiles, and fragmentation bombs. It also acts as a ballpoint pen, which helps with filling out those emergency room admission forms. Plus, it looks a little... disturbing.
View-Master is the trademark name of a line of special-format stereoscopes and corresponding View-Master "reels," which are thin cardboard disks containing seven stereoscopic 3-D pairs of small transparent color photographs on film. It was originally manufactured and sold by Sawyer's.
The View-Master system was introduced in 1939, four years after the advent of Kodachrome color film made the use of small high-quality photographic color images practical. Tourist attraction and travel views predominated in View-Master's early lists of reels, most of which were meant to be interesting to users of all ages. Most current View-Master reels are intended for children.
Edwin Eugene Mayer worked as a pharmacist at Owl Drug store in downtown Portland, Oregon, after serving in the U.S. Army in World War I. He built up a photo-finishing business there and bought into Sawyer's Photo Finishing Service in 1919 with the help of his father August Mayer, his fiancée Eva McAnulty, and her sister Vi McAnulty.
Edwin described how he started the business in a letter dated April 1, 1954:
"Suffice to say that in 1919, what little it was, was purchased with borrowed ($3,500) money from Dad, aided by about $1,600 in insurance money Eva got when her father died and which was left in permanently, and $1,600 borrowed from Vi and repaid, along with Dad's notes, within a few years."
As the business grew, Ed Mayer incorporated in about 1926, taking on partners Harold and Beulth F. Graves, Thomas and Pauline Meyer, and Augusta and Raymond F. Kelly, renaming the business Sawyer Service, Inc. The company relocated to a large two-story building at 181 Ella St., near Morrison Street in Portland, Oregon.
The company was producing photographic postcards and album sets as souvenirs by 1926 when Harold Graves joined Sawyer's. Graves handled marketing for the products while Mayer ran the business. Later, photographic greeting cards were added to the Sawyer's product line, marketed to major department stores. Sawyer's was the nation's largest producer of scenic postcards in the 1920s and the future View-Master viewer eventually became an extension of the two-dimensional cards.
The company took the first steps towards developing the View-Master after Edwin Mayer and Graves met with William Gruber, an organ maker of German origin trained by Welte & Sons and an avid photographer living in Portland. Mayer and Gruber had both developed devices for viewing stereo images, but Gruber had made up a stereo imaging rig out of two Kodak Bantam Specials mounted together on a tripod. He designed a machine that mounted the tiny pieces of Kodachrome color transparency film into reels made from heavy paper stock. A special viewer was also designed and produced. He had the idea of updating the old-fashioned stereoscope by using the new Kodachrome 16-mm color film, which recently had become available.
A View-Master reel holds 14 film transparencies in seven pairs, making up the seven stereoscopic images. The components of each pair are viewed simultaneously, one by each eye, thus simulating binocular depth perception.
According to a 1960 court document, the Gruber-Sawyer partner venture began from that first meeting in 1938. Thereafter, Ed Mayer negotiated with Gruber while production methods and some marketing were developed. After three years, a formal agreement was entered into on February 24, 1942, between Gruber and Sawyer partners, doing business as Sawyer's.
Ed Mayer and people within the Sawyer's organization were uncertain what to call their new product, but they eventually came up with the name "View-Master". The View-Master brand name eventually came to be recognized by 65 percent of the world's population, but William Gruber disliked the name which Mayer gave it, thinking that it sounded too much like Toast-Master, Mix-Master, or some other kitchen appliance.
The View-Master was introduced at the 1939 New York World's Fair, marked "Patent Applied For". It was intended as an alternative to scenic postcards and was originally sold at photography shops, stationery stores, and scenic-attraction gift shops. The main subjects of View-Master reels were Carlsbad Caverns and the Grand Canyon.
The View-Master was marketed through Ed Mayer's photo-finishing, postcard, and greeting card company Sawyer's Service, Inc., known eventually as Sawyer's, Inc. The partnership led to the retail sales of View-Master viewers and reels. The patent on the viewing device was issued in 1940, on what came to be called the Model A viewer. Within a very short time, the View-Master took over the postcard business at Sawyer's.
1940s View-Master Reels.
Ed Mayer gave details of the company's expansion in a letter dated April 1, 1954:
In 1939, 20 years after starting the business, we had, by dint of hard work and long hours and frugal living, accumulated a business (Sawyer's) worth about $58,000.00 and Western Photo Supply Co. owning the buildings, worth about $30,000.00. The above figures were for the total business and buildings owned by the Kellys, Graves, Mayers, and Meyers. In 1946, we had already grown a lot from 1939, and Sawyer's made a lease with Western Photo Supply Co., to build and lease two new buildings to Sawyer's, in addition to the two we already had. At this point, Sawyer's also decided to change its structure from a partnership to a corporation, for various good reasons, one of which was to permit our children to participate in the stock ownership.
In the 1940s, the United States military recognized the potential for using View-Master products for personnel training, purchasing 100,000 viewers, and nearly six million reels from 1942 to the end of World War II in 1945.
After the development of the View-Master, Sawyer's, Inc. moved into a new building at 735 S.W. 20th Place in downtown Portland. The company also occupied a building next door at 740 S.W. 21st Avenue. Years later, Edwin Mayer and his Sawyer's partners purchased land in Washington County near Progress, Oregon, west of Beaverton, and built a large plant there in about 1951. The plant has since been removed and developed into a shopping center. After moving to the new plant, Mayer leased the old Sawyer's building on 20th Place to Oregon Television, Inc., KPTV, Channel 12.
In 1951, Sawyer's purchased Tru-Vue, the main competitor of View-Master. The takeover eliminated the main rival and also gained Tru-Vue's licensing rights to Walt Disney Studios. Sawyer's capitalized on the opportunity and produced numerous reels featuring Disney characters. The takeover paid off further in 1955 with reels of the newly opened Disneyland. Joe Liptak was the artist responsible for most of the Disney and the early Hanna-Barbera reels.
In 1952, Sawyers began its View-Master Personal line, which included the View-Master Personal Stereo Camera for users to make their own View-Master reels.
The View-Master Personal Stereo Camera was a 35mm film camera designed to take 3D stereo photos for viewing in a View-Master. First released in 1952, the camera took 69 pairs of photos on a 36-exposure roll 35mm film, taking one set while the film was unwound from the canister, and another set while it was rewound. Although the focus was fixed, the camera supported both variable aperture settings and shutter speeds.
It was successful at first, but the line was discontinued in ten years. This line spawned the Model D viewer, View-Master's highest-quality viewer, which was available until the early 1970s, and the Stereomatic 500, View-Master's only 3D projector. The other projectors were 2D and used only one of the images.
The Model E was introduced in 1955 with a more modern design, big ivory buttons on the picture changer levers, and a large "V" slot on top for easier reel insertion. It was released in brown and black in the United States and some other colors elsewhere. It was about 4 inches high, 5 inches wide, and 4 inches deep.
A View-Master Model E of the 1950s
The Model F was introduced in 1958. It used C-cell batteries to power an internal lighting source. Industrial designer Charles "Chuck" Harrison led the team designing the Model F View-Master. Fifty years later in 2008, Harrison won the Cooper-Hewitt Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 1962, the Bakelite[1] models were replaced with lighter plastic versions, the first of which was the Model G. This change was driven by Sawyer's new president, Bob Brost, who took over in 1959. The View-Master had been constructed originally from Kodak Tenite plastic and then Bakelite, a hard, sturdy, somewhat heavy plastic. The lightweight thermoplastic became the material of choice under Brost.
A model G View-Master viewer from the last years of the Sawyer era.
In 1966, Sawyer's was acquired by the General Aniline & Film (GAF) Corporation and became a wholly-owned subsidiary. Under GAF's ownership, View-Master reels began to feature fewer scenic and more child-friendly subjects, such as toys and cartoons. Television series was featured on View-Master reels, such as Doctor Who, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Star Trek, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Family Affair, Here's Lucy, and The Beverly Hillbillies. Actor Henry Fonda appeared in a series of TV commercials for the GAF View-Master.
From 1970 to around 1997, there were versions of "Talking View-Masters," which included audio technology with the reels with three major designs with increasing sophistication. In the early 1970s, GAF introduced the View-Master Rear Screen projector, a table-top projector that displayed images from picture wheels.
First Generation Model Talking Viewmaster, 1970.
In 1980, View-Master released the Show Beam Projector, a toy that combined the company’s stereoscopic images and flashlight technology to produce a portable hand-held projector. The Show Beam used small film cartridges that were plugged into the side of the toy. Each cartridge contained 30 full-color 2D images.
In 1981, GAF sold View-Master to a group of investors headed by Arnold Thaler, and the company was reconstituted as the View-Master International Group.
VMI acquired the Ideal Toy Company in 1984 and became known as the View-Master Ideal Group; V-M Ideal in turn was purchased by Tyco Toys in 1989.
Tyco, including the View-Master Ideal Group, merged with Mattel Inc. in 1997. V-M was placed organizationally in Mattel's pre-school division and is now marketed under the Fisher-Price imprint, who continues an emphasis on juvenile content.
In 1998, during the purchase of the Tyco Toys-owned plant by Mattel, EPA investigations began on View-Master factory supply well for the toxic chemical trichloroethylene (TCE). The plant was shut down in 2001.
In March 2009, the Fisher-Price division of toymaker Mattel announced that they had stopped production in December 2008 of the scenic reels depicting tourist attractions. These reels of picturesque scenes and landscape scenery were descendants of the first View-Master reels sold in 1939. Fisher-Price announced they would continue to produce reels of animated characters. In late 2009, Alpha-cine announced it would take up scenic reel production under an agreement with Fisher-Price.
There have been some 25 viewer models, thousands of titles, and 1.5 billion copies of reels. The basic design remained intact for reels and internal mechanisms, despite its long history and many changes in models and materials, ensuring that every reel will work in every model.
View-Master is part of the National Toy Hall of Fame of the United States.
Reels have been produced for Disneyland, many TV shows (such as The Flying Nun, Lost in Space, and The Munsters), blockbuster movies (such as The Poseidon Adventure, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park), and the U.S. military (for airplane and ship identification and range estimation).
David L. Bassett, an expert on anatomy and dissection, collaborated with Gruber to create a 25-volume atlas of human anatomy using the View-Master system.
View-Master produced custom reels for commercial customers to show 3-D images of products and services to potential clients. For example, in the early 1990s, Canadian restaurant chain East Side Mario's used a View-Master reel and viewers for their dessert menu.
Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.
[1] Bakelite or Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride was the first plastic made from synthetic components and was patented on December 7, 1909. The creation of a synthetic plastic was revolutionary for its electrical nonconductivity and heat-resistant properties in electrical insulators, radio and telephone casings, and such diverse products as kitchenware, jewelry, pipe stems, children's toys, and firearm parts.
Frederik and Gerrit Braun, brothers, set out to build the largest model railway system in the world. They established the "Miniatur Wunderland" in 2000.
Take a look at what 20 years of non-stop design and construction work accomplished in the videos below.
Official Miniatur Wunderland Video. [04:54]
Miniatur Wunderland World’s Largest Model Railway. [04:07]
Arminius Monument - The monument was constructed between 1838 and 1875 to commemorate the Cherusci War Chief Arminius (Hermann, in German) and his victory over Rome at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD.
I.C.E. High-Speed Train - The maximum speed reaches 175mph.
Open Air Theater - Complex wheelwork, made of leverages, winches, and small engines, creates the most harmonious movement of tiny men and women on stage.
UFO - Reports of an Unidentified Flying Object in Central Germany. The UFO, obviously navigated by aliens beings, is said to hover over a field of sunflowers every now and then.
Early American colonists used English, Spanish, and French money under English rule. However, in 1775, when the Revolutionary War became inevitable, the Continental Congress authorized the issuance of currency to finance the conflict.
1775 Continental Currency
Paul Revere made the first plates for this "Continental Currency." Those notes were redeemable in Spanish Milled Dollars, and the depreciation of this currency gave rise to the phrase "not worth a Continental."
Series 1886 Martha Washington One Dollar Certificate - Martha Washington is the first and only woman to grace the primary portrait of U.S. paper currency.
After the U.S. Constitution was ratified, Congress passed the "Mint Act" of April 2, 1792, which established the coinage system of the United States and the dollar as the principal currency unit. By this Act, the U.S. became the first country in the world to adopt the decimal system for currency. The first U.S. coins were struck in 1793 at the Philadelphia Mint and presented to Martha Washington.
The Government did not issue paper money until 1861. In the interim years, however, the Government did issue "Treasury notes" intermittently during periods of financial stress, such as the War of 1812, the Mexican War of 1846, and the Panic of 1857.
During this same period (1793 - 1861), approximately 1,600 private banks were permitted to print and circulate their own paper currency under state charters. Eventually, 7,000 varieties of these "state banknotes" were put in circulation, each carrying a different design!
With the onset of the Civil War, the Government - desperate for money to finance the war - passed the Act of July 17, 1861, permitting the Treasury Department to print and circulate paper money. The first paper money issued by the Government was "demand notes," commonly referred to as "GREENBACKS." In 1862, Congress retired the demand notes and began issuing United States notes, also called legal tender notes.
Series 1889 One Dollar Silver Certificate
Under the Congressional Acts of 1878 and 1886, five different issues of "silver certificates" were produced, ranging from $1 to $1,000 notes. The Treasury exchanged silver certificates for silver dollars because the size and weight of the silver coins made them unpopular. The last series of silver certificates were issued in 1923. However, the previous series of modern silver certificates produced was the 1957B/1935H $1 notes, series 1953C $5 notes, the 1953B $10 notes.
From 1863 to 1929, the Government again permitted thousands of banks to issue their own notes under the National Banks Acts of 1863 and 1864. These were called "national banknotes," but unlike the earlier "state banknotes," they were produced on paper authorized by the U.S. government and carried the same basic design.
In 1913, Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act, establishing this nation's Federal Reserve System. This Act authorized the Federal Reserve Banks to issue Federal Reserve Banknotes. In 1914, the Federal Reserve Banks began issuing Federal Reserve notes - the only currency still manufactured today is by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
"YOU CAN HAVE ANY COLOR AS LONG AS IT'S BLACK." — HENRY FORD
Henry Ford (1863-1947) documented that he made the "any color so long as it is black" comment during a meeting in 1909. This famous quote by Henry Ford led to many people believing that the Ford Model T was available only in black. This is, however, wrong.
The first production Model T was built on August 12, 1908 ($850 retail - $24,500 today) and left the factory on September 27, 1908, at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit, Michigan. Also known as "Tin Lizzie," the Ford Model T was the first affordable mass-production car.
Or, to be precise, the first affordable horseless carriage. Henry Ford aimed to make a car "large enough for the family but small enough for the individual to run and care for." Price was also kept low so that anyone who made a decent living could afford one.
This 1908 Ford Model T Touring (Tin Lizzy) is the earliest restored (in its original color) Model T known to exist, bearing serial number 90. One of the first 800 Model Ts made is a so-called "two lever car," meaning it has two levers on the left floorboard, two pedals on the floor, and two levers (for spark and throttle) in the steering column. Cars built after unit 800 were reconfigured with Flivver's famous three-pedal/one-lever layout. It sold at auction for $121,000 in 2015.
On December 1, 1913, Henry Ford installed the first moving assembly line to mass production of an entire automobile. His innovation reduced the time it took to build a car from more than 12 hours to 2½ hours.
Henry Ford with the Ford Model T.
So what about the notion that Ford Model T cars came only in black?
During the early stages of the Model T production, the car was available in almost any color except black. In fact, the very first model came in red. Later models of the Ford Model T came with various colors such as green, bright red, dark blue, maroon, brown, grey, and, of course, black.
But from 1914 to 1925, the Model T came only in black. There are many theories as to why Henry Ford chose only black back then. Ford Model T models were painted using a technique called japanning (known today as baked enamel). The coating was used for decorative items in the 1800s. Japanning gave a piano black finish and was also proved to be durable and rugged. Black was the only pigment it worked in.
Another theory is that black color dried faster than any color, which helped boost production. Also, in 1914, Henry Ford introduced assembly line car manufacturing, something every vehicle manufacturer follows today. Assembly line production was really efficient for Ford, and black paint was cheaper than color. Black could also be easily applied by almost anyone as it didn't require much detailing and precision like other paint colors.
This period also saw high demand for the Ford Model T, and Ford Motor Company had to meet the increased demand with enough supply. The variety of colors vanished temporarily because of the need for assembly speed. Using only Black paint meant more Model T cars rolled off the assembly line, and Ford's cost per car dropped. Most buyers weren't complaining either because the Model T looked really good in black.
But in the late 1920s, competitors of the Model T were offered in different colors. Eventually, Ford was forced to produce the Model T in colors other than black to maintain sales.
The production of the Ford Model T ended on May 25, 1927 ($300 retail - $4,500 today), an 82% reduction from the original 1909 retail cost due to assembly-line production. In almost 18 years, 15 million cars were produced.
The fifteen millionth milestone Ford Model T was green in color.
Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (1925–2015) was an American professional baseball catcher, who later took on the roles of manager and coach. He played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (1946–1963, 1965), all but the last for the Mets in 1965, for the New York Yankees. He was an 18-time All-Star and won 10 World Series championships as a player—more than any other player in MLB history. Berra had a career batting average of .285 while hitting 358 home runs and 1,430 runs batted in. He is one of only six players to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award three times. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in baseball history and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972. The Yankees retired his uniform number 8 in 1972.
Type I - A first-generation photograph, developed from
negative, during the period (within approximately two years of
when the picture was taken).
Original 8" x 10" Photograph by the New York Yankees, 1946. "Rookie. This photo was taken in Spring Training of 1946. Note that Berra is wearing a 1945 Yankees pinstripe uniform.
Berra quit school after the eighth grade. He was known for his malapropisms[1] as well as pithy and paradoxical statements, such as "It ain't over 'til it's over," while speaking to reporters. He once simultaneously denied and confirmed his reputation by stating, "I really didn't say everything I said."
[1] A malapropism is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is a statement by baseball player Yogi Berra, "Texas has a lot of electrical votes", rather than "electoral votes." Malapropisms often occur as errors in natural speech and are sometimes the subject of media attention, especially when made by politicians or other prominent individuals.
46 YOGI BERRA QUOTES
"A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore."
"All pitchers are liars or crybabies."
"Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical."
"Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken."
"Even Napoleon had his Watergate."
"Half the lies they tell about me aren't true."
"He hits from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious."
"How can you think and hit at the same time?"
"I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."
"I didn't say the things I said."
"I never blame myself when I'm not hitting. I just blame the bat and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn't my fault that I'm not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?"
"I never said most of the things I said."
"I think Little League is wonderful. It keeps the kids out of the house."
"I wish I had an answer to that because I'm tired of answering that question."
"If people don't want to come out to the ballpark, nobody's gonna stop 'em."
"If the world was perfect, it wouldn't be."
"If you ask me anything I don't know, I'm not going to answer."
"If you come to a fork in the road, take it."
"If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else."
"I'm a lucky guy and I'm happy to be with the Yankees. And I want to thank everyone for making this night necessary."
"I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did."
"In baseball, you don't know nothing."
"It ain't over till it's over."
"It ain't the heat, it's the humility."
"It gets late early out there."
"It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."
"It's like deja vu all over again"
"It's never happened in the World Series competition, and it still hasn't."
"It's pretty far, but it doesn't seem like it."
"Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets."
"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."
"Slump? I ain't in no slump... I just ain't hitting."
"So I'm ugly. So what? I never saw anyone hit with his face."
"The future ain't what it used to be."
"The only color I don't have is navy brown."
"The other teams could make trouble for us if they win."
"The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase."
"There are some people who, if they don't already know, you can't tell 'em."
"We have deep depth."
"We made too many wrong mistakes."
"When you arrive at a fork in the road, take it."
Yogi ordered a pizza. The waitress asked, "How many slices would you like your pizza cut into?" Yogi responded "Four. I don't think I could eat eight."
"You can observe a lot by just watching."
"You should always go to other people's funerals, otherwise, they won't come to yours."
"You wouldn't have won if we'd beaten you."
"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."
Lincoln Logs may have been named after the nation’s 16th president, but they were invented by John Lloyd Wright, the son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Lincoln Logs, first made out of notched redwood in 1916. Records show that the J. L. Wright Company of Chicago, Illinois, obtained US Patent №1,351,086, for the design on August 31, 1920 and had the Lincoln Logs name registered on August 28, 1923. They were marketed along with other sturdy, functional wood toys under the Red Square Toy Company name.
Red Square Toy Company was purchased in 1943 by Playskool Corporation for $800, another toy giant with roots in Chicago, still markets Lincoln Logs. Lincoln Logs were among the first toys to be promoted on television, 1953’s Pioneer Playhouse. The ads targeted affluent parents, who were most likely to own a television set and to buy educational toys.
More than 100 million sets have been sold worldwide, reaching their peak of success during the Davy Crockett craze of the 1950s. Both the toy and inventor were entered into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1999.
Beginning in the early 1950s, the Louis Marx and Company (1919-1980) embarked on an ambitious semi-educational series, the Presidents of the United States. The idea for this line may have evolved from Louis Marx's friendship with then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
1953 MARX Presidents of the United States.
Marx was already producing detailed plastic representations of notable individuals of both current and past historical importance. These included the great Generals of World War II series, the Queen Elizabeth Coronation set, the Great Canadians, Jesus & the Apostles, and others. Louis Marx even made a figure of himself, which he liked to give to friends and business associates.
The Marx Presidents of the United States series was produced from the Eisenhower administration up to the 1968 Presidential election. During the 1968 election, Marx made figures of not only the major party candidates (Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey) but some of the leading contenders, such as Nelson Rockefeller (then-governor of New York), Robert F. Kennedy (NYS Senator) and Ronald Reagan (then-governor of California). Prior to election day, Marx created President-series figures of both Richard M. Nixon and Hubert H. Humphrey, hedging his bets over the winner of the election. Nowadays the Humphrey figures still frequently turn up mint in a bag on eBay (as well as do most of the Presidential figures), whereas the other 1968 candidates such as Ronald Reagan, Robert F. Kennedy, and Nelson Rockefeller are somewhat harder to find (and more expensive).
What makes all these figures notable today is their excellent sculpting and their uncanny likenesses to their models (in most cases). They were also considered educational toys that taught children about U.S. history and current events. The Presidents, like the Jesus & the Apostles figures, were sold initially in hard white plastic and later were available in handpainted versions.
Like many Marx items, the Presidents were produced in numerous versions. There are four: white unpainted 2¾" versions, handpainted 2¾" versions (with gold bases), miniature-sized white figures, and miniature handpainted figures.
The Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon figures were added to the line in the 1960s. There was even a Jackie Kennedy figure available in white plastic only.
The figures were given out as a premium at Jewel Food stores in the Chicago area were 2¾" tall and were hand-painted, unartistically, which was the charm of these collectibles.
A different figure would be given out every week when you spent a certain amount or more. The styrofoam rotunda with columns was sold separately.
I personally had all the Jewel Presidents and the rotunda. But as it happed to most kids, parents tossed out stuff they thought was no longer wanted... but, I still have #16, Abraham Lincoln!
