I recognized the graphics on this small tin metal basket when I came across it in the basement of an estate sale this summer. I already had the matching can where I keep my smaller Halloween cake decorations.
I knew it was a newer piece made in China, but marked at 75 cents, I thought I might as well get it as my Halloween cake decoration collection keeps growing. When I picked it up, I heard something rattle around inside of it. Opening it up, I found these.
These were made by Fun World in the 1970's and are clickers.
On the back, there's a plastic tab with a metal plate sandwiched between it.
Pushing on it makes a clicking sound. Unfortunately, only 2 of the clickers actually click.
I've had a couple examples of these in the past, but they were a ghost and a scarecrow, so these are new to me. In that previous post, I wrote how clickers were used to help paratroopers identify themselves among their allies during D-Day.
I particularly like the devil clicker for his maniacal expression. The cat face is a classic Halloween design used on many die cuts. The owl reminded me of a cartoon character and I couldn't put my finger on who. I finally decided it had to be reminding me of the Tootsie Pop owl, but I'm still not positive that's it.** On the Jack O' Lantern, I assume those are cracks running down from under his hat and not just unkempt hair.
If you're done here, head on over to The Countdown to Halloween and check out more blogs. They're only a click away!
**Thanks to Top Cat James, I know who the owl reminds me of. Charlie from The New Zoo Revue:
Hey, I just watched the show for "Emmy Jo". I swear.
The owl is a dead ringer for Charlie from New Zoo Revue. He's even wearing the mortarboard. .
ReplyDeleteIf they really wanted something scary, they should have used that little creep, Freddy the Frog.
YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!! THAT'S IT! Top Cat for the win!
DeleteThe owl kind of reminds me of the ones from the Warner Brothers cartoon " I Love to Singa."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj1FifK3bbg
That would be Owl Jolson.
Deletethat's a nice cannister, and i love the clickers! i think they were safety devices (of a sort) because you could at least hear kids with them.
ReplyDeleteside note: did you see this family in Illinois who put up a great floating Max in their yard for their Stranger Things themed halloween setup this year? how did they do this??
https://www.tiktok.com/@horrorprops/video/7143770853447077162?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1
Wow, that is cool. I have to imagine there's fish line running to some sort of support off camera. But still really cool looking.
Deletei was thinking fishing line too, but it's hard to see where it could go in two directions to hold her up that high. anyway, fun idea. i assume you are in full decorating mode right now, haha.
DeleteI generally don't decorate until a couple weeks before Halloween because we inevitably get high winds around mid-October here in the midwest.
DeleteThe Tootsie Pop Owl came to mind immediately. I love the tin. What a bargain.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the graphics are classic.
Delete.75 cents for all that treasure? Damn, you did well, sir!
ReplyDeleteFinds like this reignite my garage sale passion, Joe.
DeleteWow amazing finds. I really need to step up my garage sale game. I am a sucker for old Halloween cake decorations. My mother used to make Halloween cakes every year when I was a kid in 80’s. Brings back a ton of wonderful memories
ReplyDeleteThanks, mlw33! I love those old Halloween cake decorations too. I have a few posts on Wilton decorating books and decorations here you might like: https://garagesalin.blogspot.com/search?q=wilton. Thanks for stopping by!
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