N is for Nanceing Nazi Nincompoops!

I've been very unwell the last 24-hours (food poisoning I think?) and have not managed to get anything ready for tomorrow (Wednesday) other than this, something else might appear later in the afternoon, but I've nothing ready for Thursday either and must do a show dates post, while the PW Review is sliding!

These are a real puzzle . . . shot on Adrian's stall at the Sandown Park before last (March), they are aluminium flats (or a similar Zamak/Mazac alloy?), clearly depicting German subjects from the Nazi period and your immediate thought upon seeing them for the first time is either WHW-KHW tokens or some sort of cigarette-pack premiums, however . . .

. . . they are more than faintly ridiculous in their posture, or at least; most of them are. Given the Nazi's views on the degenerate Berlin arts scene between the wars, one can't actually believe these are the product of that country, or certainly not that period?

To use the G-word in its old, non-PC form for a minute (without any intention of insulting anyone from the LGBTQI community, but because no better vocabulary exists), they are gay! They are gaily being gayer that gay people who have gone to university and had themselves elected heads of the gayness department!

The guy Sieg-Heil'ing and marching (far left) is doing so 'en point' for fucks sake! The next guy along is a pure caricature while the flag-man is so effete he's almost certainly called Quentin Quonfalon! He's also ridiculed further by having been reduced in stature, like the Hitler look-alike (second from the right), while the saluting officer is rocking on his heels in an undignified manor likely to bring the NSADP into disrepute!

While they are all anatomically caricatured to a comedic level with long bodies and short legs, except the two on the far right . . . yes . . . really; they are all from the Far Right!

While the majority of the castings have a flat- or matt-chromium finish, a few have had what I suspect was a chemical dip to dull them down and give them a bronzed appearance, although it's more of a oxidised blackening, showing as a bronze/brown from the under-silver reflecting through.

I think I may have some of these in storage, however that may be a false memory stemming from my handling these and looking at the imagery for a month or two? But it would make them less than rare if they'd turned-up twice.

What I am sure about is that I have a very similar rhinoceros (and possibly some later-found additional animals), which I always assumed was probably a cigarette-pack premium; it's a realistic sculpting though, not a cartoony thing, so there's more of this stuff around.

I can only suppose these are firstly; a post-war thing, and secondly, probably Soviet or Soviet-bloc influenced or originating pieces.

Although it's possible that as part of the Allies' denazification process they were issued as cigarette premiums to parody or ridicule the previous regimen, I suspect not, I think they are a more direct piss-take from further afield, but if such, could be not-that subtle propaganda, contemporary with the object of their comedic representation?

However, it's equally possible that they are just poorly executed, or maybe related to a comedy cartoon strip, perhaps in a newspaper?

Can anyone shed some further light on them?

I can see a movie in there somewhere; My Big Gay Nazi Best Friend's Wedding Parade! Naturally they (Fritz and Fritze - of course) will only be able to find a Rabbi to officiate, pageboys will be Jimmy Krankie and Bella Emberg; bridesmaids will be Fanny the Wonder Dog and R2D2 (painted pink for the day), the evening reception will be opened with a Berlin-Charlottenburg drag-act, and the first dance will kick-off of with Marlene Dietrich writhing semi-naked in a spotlight with two lesbian dwarves while Josephine Baker sings the movie's main theme; The Goosing Step!

Mel Brooks; eat your heart out . . . the rest of you guys could try and find out what you can about the figures, I've got a script to write!