F is for Fairykins - 6 of 6

So to the last layer of the windows in this overview of the Fairykin's book/figure set, annd we have five Nursery Rhyme 'minor characters', along with Hansel and Gretel, who are another fairy-tale given a quick prose-poem by Marx to fit their story on the box!

I think Goosy Goosy Gander and Mistress Mary are the new additions to my previous loose sample here, possibly the clock, but I have a feeling I did have one, but maybe I sorted it into the Disneykins as a suspected Disney widow-box accessory, rather than leaving it with the Fairykins?

Ah, yes; gratuitous ultra-violence visited upon forgetful elders by wandering poultry!

Goosey goosey gander,
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man
Who would not say his prayers,
I took him by his left leg
And threw him down the stairs.

One of the well out-of scale pieces in this set, the goose is closer to 54mm compatibility, and reasonable sculpt, but like most of these 'Painted by hand by artists' figurines, actually in the same stab-and-hope style as the rest of them!

****************

Ah yes; more dark, Teutonic, forest-based, goings-on, more unaccompanied children; you wonder anyone ever went into a medieval forest without an armed guard of twenty!

"Come in my Children," coaxed the witch, all smiles,
When she caught the two eating her gingerbread tiles.
This mean witch cooked children for supper and lunch,
She fancied Hansel might be splendid to munch.
"Gretel, see if the fire in the oven is red"
"How" said Gretel, "Like me" the witch said.
Then Gretel shoved and the witch toppled in
And baked to gingerbread crisp and thin.

Darkly darker than some of the dark-enough originals! Barely been introduced and Gretel's cooked their host alive! Hansel and Gretel are good survivors being quite solid, squat sculpts and I have several already, useful as children for O-gauge railways.

Ah, yes; Child labour for prison food, and mindless rodents!

Little Tommy Tucker
Sings for his supper.
What shall he eat?
Brown bread and Butter.

And;

♪ Hickory, Dickory Dock!
The mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck one,
And down he ran,
Hickory, Dickory Dock! ♪

Tommy Tucker is another one which the older Opie's did work on, while we always said/sang ". . . The mouse ran down . . ." which scans better and is the normal version,  although I didn't even know there were more verses;

Hickory dickory dock.
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck two,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory dickory dock.

Hickory dickory dock.
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck three,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory dickory dock.

Hickory dickory dock.
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck four,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory dickory dock.

The clock/mouse is a nice, unusual sculpting, and with the removal of the mouse (the size of a house cat), the clock would be more useful as a diorama accessory in a shelled or bomb-damaged building? The new addition looks to be slightly damaged on the crown-finial - or whatever that decorative gold stuff at the top is called!

Ah, yes! Playing with your food! 

Little Jack Horner sat in the corner
Eating his Christmas pie
He put in his thumb
And pulled out a plum
And said, "What a good boy am I!"

An odd one this one, one of the longest histories . . . (I've only linked to the more interesting ones), and a true five-line limerick, but I don't remember it ever being a 'Christmas' pie, however I can't remember what - apparently - incorrect word we used instead? Old age creeping-up on me!

But, like Miss Muffet, one of the nicer, or more imaginative sculpts, there's definitely a plum on that thumb! But no damage to the pie? He's ruined one and taken another into the corner; greedy isn't the word!

Ah, yes! We reach the end!

Mistress Mary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row.

Marx have gone with bits of both common versions, as kids we used the Mary, Mary line, and there is a ruder, antique version. Another nice sculpt, and that brings these fun posts to an end! Something else next?

F is for Fairykins - 5 of 6

Onwards and upwards, we're at the fourth shelf down and we've two fairy tales and a nursery rhyme, although Marx has produced poems for all three!

I think I have most of these already in the loose stuff, but I'm not sure about Red' or Daddy Bear, yet obviously I have them now! How that wolf is supposed to be able to eat a whole granny so she can be rescued a few minutes later by the woodsman/hunter is anybody's guess!

Ah, yes; Murder, mayhem, talking wolves, unaccompanied children, isolated elders and expert axemanship in the forest, the Black Forest I bet!

"Where are you going, Red Riding Hood?"
Asked the crafty wolf in the deep, dark wood.
"To Granny's house with flowers and bread"
"I'll take the short cut" the mean wolf said
When Riding Hood got there in her cloak of red
Granny was in the closet, the wolf in her bed
He sprang at the lass and her cries of dread
Alerted a hunter who shot the wolf dead

"In the closet"? what a cop-out Louis Marx! I may have had the Wolf already, but I think Red Riding Hood is new, or if I had got her previously she will be found to be scruffy or damaged?

Ah yes; a close call because bears like little girls, for breakfast; much nicer than porridge! 

Three bears stepped out for a walk one day.
In came Goldilocks while they were away.
She rocked in their chairs, ate some porridge and bread
And fell fast asleep in the littlest bed
"Who's been using my chair?" Father Bear growled
"Who ate all my Porridge?" Mother Bear howled
When Baby Bear cried, "Who's asleep in my bed?"
She awoke with a start and away she sped!

A much sanitised version, she actually broke a chair, ate all Mummy Bear's breakfast, licked the other spoons and mussed-up all the bedding, she was - not to put too finer point on it - an entitled little brat who would go on to stand for the Republican Party!

And Marx seems to have her trying to bribe Baby Bear with his own bowl! This - loose - Baby Bear has lost his spoon, so I think I'm still looking for a better one? 

Ah, yes; more unaccompanied children, this time Health and Safety is absent at the crucial moment!

♪ Jack and Gill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water;
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Gill came tumbling after. ♪

We knew the second verse as kids, but I don't remember the third, and the history of this one is quite interesting.

Up Jack got and home did trot,
As fast as he could caper;
Went to bed to mend his head
With vinegar and brown paper.

The two new ones in the loose lot here have both had their buckets removed, but I have a few loose in good-nick, including soft ethylene Hong Kong copies which we looked at here, and who ironically have also had their buckets removed! In fact time has allowed me to realise that Hong Kong Jack is also a reverse copy, while Hong Kong Jill is pretty accurate, just sans-bucket!

More tomorrow!

F is for Fairykins - 4 of 6

Well, I think it was Einstein who said time can be relative, so tomorrow can be later today; in some universes anyway, this might as well be one of them! The second row is lacking kittens but still has some of the better sculpts;

While I think I may have the missing kittens somewhere, I'm pretty sure they are a bit chewed up, so I'm still looking for two good ones I think? I have Pussycat, but possibly not with the other 'kins; his paint job (airbrush/spray) is so different I may have sorted him 'out' rather than in!

Ah, yes; A ten-inch talking spider and a slightly tomboyish Miss Muffet despite the voluminous skirt'age!

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider
And sat down beside her,
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Not the best version of it, a more 'normal one has 'there came', 'big spider' and 'who sat';

Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
There came a big spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

While Curds & Whey is cottage cheese, and our Hobby's own James Opie's parents carried out some of the research in to the origins of the rhyme.

This is quite a stunning sculpt for its diminutive size, apart from her tiny spoon, the spider is actually doffing a top-hat and has eight legs, two of which are holding him upright, one is resting on his 'hip', the other active limb is holding the hat, while the four inactive legs are crossed across his abdomen!

Ah yes; draconian punishment for the loss of gloves . . . an important childhood lesson - we never learnt! I'm not going to transcribe the Marx version which is readable above, as it's had sections cut out to get from loss of mittens to eating of pie in a small text-box, so here's the Gladstone original from 1827

The three little kittens they lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
Oh, mother dear, we sadly fear
Our mittens we have lost
What? Lost your mittens, you naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie.
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
We shall have no pie.
Our mittens we have lost.

The three little kittens they found their mittens,
And they began to smile,
Oh, mother dear, see here, see here,
Our mittens we have found
What? Found your mittens, you good little kittens,
And you shall have some pie.
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
We shall have some pie.
Let us have some pie.

The three little kittens put on their mittens,
And soon ate up the pie;
Oh, mother dear, we greatly fear
Our mittens we have soiled
What? Soiled your mittens, you naughty kittens!
Then they began to sigh,
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
Our mittens we have soiled.
Then they began to sigh.

The three little kittens they washed their mittens,
And hung them out to dry;
Oh! Mother dear, look here, look here,
Our mittens we have washed
What? Washed your mittens, you good little kittens,
But I smell a rat close by.
Mee-ow, mee-ow, mee-ow.
We smell a rat close by.
Let's all have some pie.

The fact that in the smaller window-box set, one of the accessories is a flat of the mittens drying onn a line, suggests knowledge of the longer version. Although Mother is holding a blue mitten, while those on the line were white! Blue and Yellow look quite upset by their shenanigans, but Red is looking a little too pleased with [his?] performance!

Ah, yes; a clear breach of Palace security, allowing a mangy stray to enter the throne-room!

Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?
I've been to London to look at the Queen.
Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you there?
I frightened a little mouse under the chair

Not quite the version I learnt;

Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?
I've been to London to visit the Queen.
Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you there?
I frightened a little mouse under her chair

The differences being 'visit' and 'her' makes it more personal, the Marx cat could have just looked through the railings at Buck' House? Another nice sculpt too.

I shot them all again as I couldn't remember if I'd shot a line-up and it was quicker to do one than check the shots in the camera! Clearly I need to find good examples of Red and Blue kitty, as Yellow looks quite bereft with its little tear!

More tomorrow!

F is for Fairykins - 3 of 6

The recent sample allows for a reasonable coverage of the second row down;

But Mary seems to have walked into a combined harvester's cutting bed and lost her feet - ouch! Pretty sure I have a loose one in the storage sample, but not as sure as I am about Bo', I have several Bo's I think? However Mother Hubbard and the Poor Dog are new, and the Boy Blue is the first complete example; his horn being easily broken.

Ah, yes; "get a brew-on, girls!" 

♪ Polly put the kettle on,
Polly put the kettle on,
Polly put the kettle on,
And let's have tea.

Sukey take it off again,
Sukey take it off again,
Sukey take it off again,
They've all gone away. ♪

I wasn't sure why she was carrying a rake, but I suspect it's supposed to be one of those long-handled dust-pans! And another which is commonly found damaged due to the small extremities. And what about poor Sukey? No one ever models her, no one ever paints her, no one's ever done a nice etching of her . . . what heinous crime did she commit to be excised from the visual record?

Ah yes; starve the dog! Actually, I notice Louis Marx has weakened and left some meat-based product on the plate, the old softie!

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the Cupboard
To give the poor dog a bone,
When she came there,
The Cupboard was bare,
And so her poor dog had none.

It gets weird though, as it often did back in the day;

She went to the Baker’s
To buy him some Bread;
When she came back
The dog was dead!

She went to the Undertaker’s
To buy him a coffin;
When she came back
The dog was laughing.

Pleased to get these two; I may have a loose mother already, but I don't think I've seen the dog outside of the book, so a nice addition to the collection.

Ah, yes; the illegal smuggling of freely-pooping livestock into a place of learning!

Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go

He followed her to school one day
Which was against the rule,
It made the children laugh and shout,
To see a lamb at school.

Although the new one is broken, Mary is another who survives quite well and I think I have one or two in the stash, note though, the different colour treatments of the two figures, especially the stockings, I still don't have the lamb, who has a distinctive bow.

Again there are other verses I don't think I've ever read/heard, but they are boring and moralistic, so you can look for them yourselves, if you need you!

Ah yes; a noisy neighbour and a fire-bug!

I think I've only previously had damaged versions of these two, so useful to get the whole ones.

Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow,
the cow's in the corn.
Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He's under the haystack, fast asleep.

There are two more lines in the common version;

Will you wake him? Oh no, not I,
For if I do, he'll surely cry.

While Jack's is short and sweet;

Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over the
Candlestick

Apparently a reference to a form of fortune telling!

The Boy Blue is a very American rendition I think with the dungarees and wide-brimmed hat, while Jack looks to be an insufferable prig from a rich landed family with his red jacket and George boots!

Another bunch tomorrow!

F is for Fairykins - 2 of 6

So the first layer, level or row of the original 'secret compartment' book of Marx's hard, polystyrene plastic Fairykins in the Miniature Masterpiece style, and we are looking at the tales of Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo Peep, Jack & the Beanstalk, Simple Simon and the Pieman (or Pie Man, I think it can be either?)

I don't have the Giant in the recent purchase, but I know we have seen him in a donation or show plunder post, and I think I have a couple, possibly a third damaged one in the tub of glue'able 'broken's waiting for some whacky conversion idea!

Ah, yes; the careless fat one . . .

♪ Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King’s horses
And all the King’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again. ♪

The second 'Dumpty doesn't really scan and is usually omitted? It's no wonder he fell off the wall it's hardly substantial upon investigation, and he must be hideously top-heavy, if you don't diet - stay near the ground, s'my advice!

Humpty came with no retainers and all the King's horses and all the King's men (such as there were; three or four?) were detained in the Disney Palace/Babes in Toyland sets! Which may be why the original reassembly failed, they never actually turned-up?

Ah yes; another careless one, she's usually only got the one, how did she lose it, dalliance behind the woodshed with a chopper I've no doubt, a post-luncheon tryst with a yodeling cow-heard and his lederhosen I bet!

♪ Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
And can't tell where to find them;
Leave them alone, and they'll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them. ♪

Slightly different from the version I learned as a kid;

Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
And doesn't know where to find them;
Leave them alone, and they'll come home,
Dragging their tails behind them.

While some sources have 'bringing' their tails behind them.

The sheep she comes with is different from Contrary Mary's, and also differs from the two or three in the Miniature Masterpiece farm sets, but both (Bo's and Mary's) are realistic sculpts and fit-in well with the 'serious' set's animals!

Ah, yes; the murdering, thieving, bone-idol bass'tard!

"For a handful of beans, you traded the cow!"
Jack's poor mother raised a dreadful row.
And threw the magic beans out on the ground.
Next morning they say a sight to astound,
An enormous beanstalk reaching up to the sky.

Jack climbed up, up to the top and found nearby
A deserted stone castle with a roomful of gold.
He was filling his pockets when his blood ran cold.
Through the door crashed a Giant waving a knife,
And gnashing his teeth. Jack ran for his life.

He slid back down the great vine; took his axe from the wall
And chopped down that beanstalk . . . Giant and all.

This must be a Marx authored poem, as the original Jack and the Beastalk is a longer tale, I've broken it in a couple of places and jigged a bit of punctuation. As I say, the Giant's in storage somewhere, but the treat here is the Jack figure, hanging out of a little plastic beanstalk!

I will here just recommend the Jim Henson modern remake, as I think it's a little gem of a movie, including both the crimes of the original Jack and the redemption of his descendant in restoring things to the Giants, with a bit of help from the Giants of course!

But, there is also a poetical version by Roald Dhal, which is sublime . . .

Jack’s mother said, “We’re stony broke!
Go out and find some wealthy bloke
Who’ll buy our cow. Just say she’s sound
And worth at least a hundred pound.
But don’t you dare to let him know
That she’s as old as billy-o.”
Jack led the old brown cow away,
And came back later in the day,
And said, “Oh, Mumsie dear, guess what
Your clever little boy has got.
I got, I really don’t know how,
A super trade-in for our cow.”
The mother said, “You little creep,
I’ll bet you sold her much too cheap.”
When Jack produced one lousy bean,
His startled mother, turning green,
Leaped high up in the air and cried,
“I’m absolutely stupefied!
You crazy boy! D’you really mean
You sold our Daisy for a bean?”
She snatched the bean. She yelled, “You chump!”
And flung it on the rubbish dump.
Then summoning up all her power,
She beat the boy for half an hour,
Using (and nothing could be meaner)
The handle of a vacuum cleaner.
At ten p.m. or thereabout,
The little bean began to sprout.
By morning it had grown so tall
You couldn’t see the top at all.
Young Jack cried, “Mum, admit it now!
It’s better than a rotten cow!”
The mother said, “You lunatic!
Where are the beans that I can pick?
There’s not one bean! It’s bare as bare!”
“No, no!” cried Jack. “You look up there!
Look very high and you’ll behold
Each single leaf is solid gold!”
By gollikins, the boy was right!
Now, glistening in the morning light,
The mother actually perceives
A mass of lovely golden leaves!
She yells out loud, “My sainted souls!
I’ll sell the Mini, buy a Rolls!
Don’t stand and gape, you little clot!
Get up there quick and grab the lot!”
Jack was nimble, Jack was keen.
He scrambled up the mighty bean.
Up up he went without a stop.
But just as he was near the top,
A ghastly frightening thing occurred ---
Not far above his head he heard
A big deep voice, a rumbling thing
That made the very heavens ring.
It shouted loud, “FEE FI FO FUM
I SMELL THE BLOOD OF AN ENGLISHMAN!”
Jack was frightened, Jack was quick,
And down he climbed in half a tick.
“Oh Mum!” he gasped. “Believe you me
There’s something nasty up our tree!
I saw him, Mum! My gizzard froze!
A Giant with a clever nose!”
“A clever nose?” his mother hissed.
“You must be going round the twist!”
“He smelled me out, I swear it, Mum!
He said he smelled an Englishman!”
The mother said, “And well he might!
I’ve told you every single night
To take a bath because you stink!”
Jack answered, “Well, if you’re so clean
Why don’t you climb the crazy bean?”
The mother cried, “By gad, I will!
There’s life within the old dog still!”
She hitched her skirts above her knee
And disappeared right up the tree.
Now would the Giant smell his mum?
Jack listened for the FEE-FO-FUM.
He gazed aloft. He wondered when
The dreaded words would come ... And then,
From somewhere high above the ground
There came a frightful crunching sound.
He heard the Giant mutter twice,
“By gosh, that tasted very nice.
Although,” (and this in grumpy tones),
“I wish there weren’t so many bones.”
“By Christopher!” Jack cried. “By gum!
The Giant’s eaten up my mum!
He smelled her out! She’s in his belly!
I had a hunch that she was smelly.”
Jack stood there gazing longingly
Upon the huge and golden tree.
He murmured softly, “Golly-gosh
I guess I’ll have to take a wash
If I am going to climb this tree
Without the Giant smelling me.
In fact, a bath’s my only hope ...”
He rushed indoors and grabbed the soap.
He scrubbed his body everywhere.
He even washed and rinsed his hair.
He did his teeth, he blew his nose
And went out smelling like a rose.
Once more he climbed the mighty bean.
The Giant sat there, gross, obscene
Muttering through his vicious teeth
(While Jack sat tensely just beneath),
Muttering loud, “FEE FI FO FUM,
RIGHT NOW I CAN’T SMELL ANYONE.”
Jack waited till the Giant slept,
Then out along the boughs he crept
And gathered so much gold, I swear
He was an instant millionaire.
“A bath,” he said, “does seem to pay.
I’m going to have one every day.”

Ah yes; the idiot and the capitalist failing to meet in the middle!

Simple Simon met a pieman,
Going to the fair.
Said Simple Simon to the pieman,
"Let me taste your wares."

To Simple Simon said the pieman,
"Show me first your penny."
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
”Indeed I haven't any.”

There are other verses which can be found about, the Wikipedia one is free and uses 'said' instead of Marx's 'says', so we'll have a longer version, although the page makes clear there are far longer ones out there;

Simple Simon met a pieman,
Going to the fair;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
”Let me taste your ware.”

Says the pieman to Simple Simon,
Show me first your penny;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
”Indeed I have not any.”

Simple Simon went a-fishing,
For to catch a whale;
All the water he had got,
Was in his mother's pail.

Simple Simon went to look
If plums grew on a thistle;
He pricked his fingers very much,
Which made poor Simon whistle.

He went for water in a sieve
But soon it all fell through
And now poor Simple Simon
Bids you all adieu!

Another bunch tomorrow!