T is for Two - Cake Guards!

Actually by the end of the post we'll have seen five lots from at least three sources, but we're concentrating on two recent additions to the pile, both from the 'plastic smalls' end of the spectrum, so we'll just give the PTSM a few moments to grind their chairs and leave the room . . . Hairband! Your satchel . . . Sell - I saw that . . . Stadinger - I heard that! Right, that's better; fancy not rating plastic smalls, they lose-out on so much!

These are quite early I think (like inter-war period maybe, or just after the 2nd? 3rd on the horizon; thanks Putin, if anyone could trump both 2020 AND 2021!), and are either a phenolic resin or an early unstable polystyrene, both losing colour and starting to faintly blister on the flat areas, but, still - how cool!

Sort of French Wellingtonian line-infantry - with the buttons up the seam of the trousers - and fitted for novelty/party candles to be placed in their hats.

Lemon Madeira cake I think? It was a while ago!

The other set are a tad smaller, and while I thought they might be copies of Airfix when I first saw them, and Britains Eyes-Right after they arrived, I actually think they are channeling the later, taller Charbens bandsmen, which should mean there's a trumpeter out there still to find, for a set-count of six?

Painted as a US marching band (they came from America) with white trousers, there may be a darker painted version for the UK market or Denmark (do the Danish have cake decorations - a very under-covered subject; cake decorations?), and I think they may be after, or the donors for, the bright-coloured set we looked at here, which would mean I'm looking for (or might be looking for) a standard bearer, rather than the extra brass instrumentalist?

Quite short spikes (or 'picks') on the earlier set and only the one design as far as I know . . . I only have the four? While it took me an hour or two to realise the pick for the second set (hard polystyrene) could be removed from the soft polyethylene figures.

Unfortunately the Frenchies went to storage before the other set were found, so they are missing from these comparisons, but you can judge them from the cork in the previous shot.

Here on the left we have various cake decoration ceremonials, from Gemodels, Wilton in the 'States (copies of Marx's sculpts from the Disney production Babes in Toyland) and the recent addition, which might also be Wilton, but could be someone else - Carousel, Grandmother Stovers, SSCO &/or-etc.

On the right the newer one compared with one of the standing cake Guards we saw here, the one in the shot arriving yesterday in a nice lot from Peter Evans, and triggering my getting this out of the long-queue and dusting it off for publishing!

It's a scone (rhymes with song) not a scone (rhyming with stone).

And don't forget the wooden set!

And the funnies!

The next day - I found another image while preparing today's post! I think it might be the seller's original shot, it's better than the others anyway! You can see the beginnings of the same distortions/decay some of those F&G clowns suffer from, which might even be a clue as to the origin?