P is for Poplar's Popular Plastic Present Person and Pooches Pulling

Well into the Crimbo-spirit here at SSW, although I think I have a Highlander post still to come! I also think we looked at this briefly in a post ages ago, but I can't find it, and it would have been the one kept here, while this post is also drawing on the stored examples and wider oeuvre.

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.