Originally a Thomas Toys (USA) model, or - more accurately; 'set of toys', I
imagine they started to come here the same year or shortly after their debut in
the 'States, so no more than the following year? Over here they were carried
under the Poplar label.
Left - The best version; Santa and his
sleigh, with Rudolph doing sterling-work 'up-front' and a spare seat -
presumably for a bag of toys; sadly not included!
Inset top right - Rudolph's two components
and a comparison between the draw-bars for reindeer and dogs! The deer get a
pair of large rounded studs to locate in dimples in the shoulders of the
animal, while the dog's version has two pairs of sharp-pointed pimples to hold
the soft PVC hounds.
Inset bottom right - Both Santa Claus and
the draft animal are PVC, the sleigh and seats being styrene; the PVC used by
the Thomas-Poplar-Taffy group was a
stable mix which mercifully means they don't eat the polystyrene parts, as
cheaper/less stable PVC's would.
The Dachshund version in the upper shot, the
passengers are Thomas/Poplar but not original to the sleigh, just a couple I
grabbed for illustrative purposes, the slight should have two of the smaller
infants, the girl here is from the play-equipment twins, while the doll/baby is
a dolls-house accessory, I think.
Equally; I don't think it was ever issued
with the other dog, and almost certainly never with the cat! But it fits and
it's a bit of fun!
The full set of animals (to my knowledge)
with a Hong Kong copy of the . . . spaniel? It seems to be quite modern, even
current in that pink (?) and it's nice to see mouldings from the 1950's still
enjoying a life, albeit as a gum-ball machine's capsule-prize or Christmas
cracker's novelty clone!
Made in England is clearly marked on the
chair-backs (are they 'thrones' on a sleigh? They should be!), except - of
course - they were made in Wales!
Speaking of the chairs, they were also used
on the swing, which was the natural hang-out (pun intended!) of the little girl and her twin
brother.
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