Impressive Hakes Auction Results on String Holder Set

In the immortal words of Robin the boy-wonder..."Holy Crap Batman!"

Talk about impressive!  Hake's Americana just got $12,776.50 for a complete set as described in this series of posts.  Thank goodness I already have them!

Unknown Maker String Holder - Cheshire Cat #406

Last but not least, the Cheshire Cat, #406.  One of the very few vintage figures of the Cheshire Cat that I am aware of, and perhaps the only domestic figure of the Cheshire Cat to be released prior to the 1960s.

This concludes the set of string holders.  While I do not know who the maker was, I do have a copy of the original advertisement for this set.

Based on the ad, it looks as though they may have been sold as whiteware, to be painted at home.  The paint job on these is quite good (for the most part) and I have seen a second Mad Hatter that is virtually identical, so perhaps you could get them either way.

The set retails for $7.50, or $1.25 each, which in current dollars is equivalent to $10.50 each.  Not bad.

Here is a picture of the full set complete with string hanging from their mouths.  This one's for your Major ;-)

Unknown Maker String Holder - Tweedles #405

As with the Goebel figure here we have a bit of a cheat.  String holder #405 is both Tweedledee and Tweedledum.  It make sense, no one really want two heads on their wall this scary. 

Actually, this is one of the better modeled of the set, but still...

Unknown Maker String Holder - Queen of Hearts #404

Perhaps the scariest of the bunch is #404, the Queen of Hearts.

Only a strong stomach and an innate desire for complete sets made this desirable for me.  I love a complete set.

Unknown Maker String Holder - White Rabbit #403

Third in the series is the White Rabbit, #403.  I must say that this is the best rendered of the set, most on model, least scary, however you want to put it.

As with all the others, it bears the © WDP copyright along with its stock number incised into the body of the string holder itself.  Unusual, I would have thought it would have been on the back side rather than visible while hung up.

Unknown Maker String Holder - Mad Hatter #402

Next in the string holder set is #402, the Mad Hatter.  I can't say that these are attractive, but very cool in a kind of grotesque way.

I believe that these are licensed, as they all bear a © WDP, but I don't have a date on them.  I can only assume 1950s, mostly because they made a full set, and that usually only happened during or around the original release, and string holders slowly faded away after the 1950s.

Unknown Maker String Holder - Alice #401

Taking a break from the live action reference photos, we now begin a series on something I never knew existed until 2 weeks ago.  A series of string holders, apparently from the 1950s, made of what is typically called chalkware, but in reality is more of a bisque fired pottery or whiteware.

Alice here is first in the series, with her WDP copyright and item number 401.  I do not have a maker on these yet, I have not been able to find an appropriate maker in the TOMART index and these do not appear in either the campaign book or the CMD catalog.