Interesting WC Fields the red nose reindeer tin & ceramic Happy Daze ceramic light

[inspectorgadget]

Interesting WC Fields the red nose reindeer tin & ceramic Happy Daze ceramic light

This is kinda interesting especially since I can't find one like it, it was in a pallet from last week. We are thinking it's late 60's or early 70's but it's in basically mint condition inside & out. It's a WC Fields light that works on 2 C batteries. His red nose lights up & that's it, a very simplistic design in the way the battery makes a connection with the internal part of the switch to make it turn on. Says Happy Daze under him! Hes bout 8" tall. Made in Japan & marked MS in a diamond.

 

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[diggummup]

Nice unusual piece, I can't find one either. Not with a quick look anyway. The mark is definitely MS and not MSK in a diamond?

Here is a link for Japanese tin toy manufacturers and trademarks- Collecting Tin Toys: - INDEX OF JAPANESE TINPLATE TIN LITHO TOY MANUFACTURERS AND THEIR TRADEMARKS

 

[inspectorgadget]

Nice unusual piece, I can't find one either. Not with a quick look anyway. The mark is definitely MS and not MSK in a diamond?

Here is a link for Japanese tin toy manufacturers and trademarks- Collecting Tin Toys: - INDEX OF JAPANESE TINPLATE TIN LITHO TOY MANUFACTURERS AND THEIR TRADEMARKS

Thanks for the link!

Here is a shot of the mark.. definitely M.S in a diamond no K.

 

[inspectorgadget]

Looking thru the trademarks in that link it doesn't match up with any of them.. There are enough diamond shapes with letters inside it that's for sure but no diamond with an M.S in it... I'm use to this now tho as lately I've been coming up with rare or unusual, difficult to identify or just difficult to even find INFO on items.

 

[surf]

Hello gadget,

I think it's a stretch linking this to WC Fields. William Claude was never cutesy.

“The advantages of whiskey over dogs are legion. Whiskey does not need
to be periodically wormed, it does not need to be fed, it never requires a
special kennel, it has no toenails to be clipped or coat to be stripped.
Whiskey sits quietly in its special nook until you want it. True, whiskey
has a nasty habit of running out, but then so does a dog.”

WC Fields​

 

[inspectorgadget]

Hello gadget,

I think it's a stretch linking this to WC Fields. William Claude was never cutesy.

View attachment 911440

“The advantages of whiskey over dogs are legion. Whiskey does not need
to be periodically wormed, it does not need to be fed, it never requires a
special kennel, it has no toenails to be clipped or coat to be stripped.
Whiskey sits quietly in its special nook until you want it. True, whiskey
has a nasty habit of running out, but then so does a dog.”

WC Fields​

The top hat along with the nose is the give away not to mention the drunken "Happy Daze" phrase at the bottom otherwise I agree with ya.. 3 other people (friends) looked at it & all 3 said it was WC Fields without me even thinking that before they said it. Looked up WC Fields stuff & the old 70's battery tester that has the fat guy with a red nose that lights up if the battery is good (that I had as a kid BTW) is also a WC Fields item. I didn't remember that's who it was but I sure had one. Many items on the bay depict him with a red nose & of course the top hat, many depict him with a bright red nose, his red nose was his famed trait & it got a lot of attention when companies made items in his image! Older Japanese stuff always looked funny, sort of warped & freaky compared to toys & similar items made other places.

I'm no betting man but Id wager it is indeed supposed to be a likeness of WC Fields (kinda cartoonish in fashion which is typical of Japanese stuff like this). I could always be wrong tho!

The real old German glass Christmas ornaments can be quite freaky looking, boarder line scary & they bring big money!

 

[surf]

Colonial Tavern & 1 Room Schoolhouse

It's an old hackneyed image of a drunk swinging on a lamp post. This one with a childish face and a red nose. I don't wanna argue, but I see no resemblance to WC Fields.

 

[inspectorgadget]

I see much more similarity to what I have in theses items.. Most noticeably plump with a red nose that lights up red & a big red nose that's a button (I think)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Frankart-Cast-Iron-W-C-Fields-Electric-Lighter-/121179338512?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c36d9f710&nma=true&si=l7Dkz4kCoqAUaXnYiULYocV%252BVAA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557



These are strikingly similar too



I'm in no way a WC Fields expert but the ones in your pix are skinny fellows not even plump faced (well all but maybe the clown looking one) & thus in no way resemble WC Fields. I have found several "village/town drunks" with light up red noses but they all have something in common, a street light & pole or a sign & pole of some sort.

Mine also has a cane another very well known WC Fields thing along with 4 other WC Fields traits "fat, red nose, top hat & hair color"! I guess if you consider a skinny drunk fellow with a top hat hanging on a light pole or sign the same as a plump guy with a top hat, a big red (light up) nose & holding a cane than they are indeed similar, I don't quite get the connection tho.

Three different people I know looked at this (at different times) & everyone of em said it was depicting someone famous, then they thought about it & all 3 of em said "oh I know it's supposed to be WC Fields". One of these people is an eBay seller who's been exclusively selling on eBay since 98 & sure that doesn't make their word gold but after a while in the business you start to know & recognize things. Japan made figures of "white" people that often made them look pigish or cartoonish or even scary. Their old Salt & Pepper shakers depicting black people often were quite raciest looking with stereotypical black people traits blown a little if not a lot outta proportion. I'm still not saying you're wrong just making a case for the conclusion I came to & sharing the opinions of others who have seen it in person.

Maybe this seller is reaching? But I don't think so I think they are right on spot with who Garfield is supposed to be.. Notice hes holding a cane, wearing a top hat & has a real big red nose + a written known way that WC Fields felt about dogs & kids.


A Japanese lighted red nose Santa.. notice how it looks strange, a little outta whack & just weird like most older Japanese made items depicting "white" people look. Its mostly the eyes here they made a white guy with slanty Asian eyes, oops. That freaky thing sure doesn't look like the Santa head made by USA companies from when I was young so maybe its really just a guy in a red hat, with a red nose, white beard & not really Santa at all? lol j/k


I guess this should qualify as being similar? Even tho no cane & wrong color hair + no top hat but he has a red light up nose.. & instead of Happy Daze it says Bar Open.


Another example showing how his nose was blown out of proportion + red & the reason things like the WC Fields red light nose battery tester was made later on..

 

[diggummup]

I've owned a few different styles of the dunk on a lamp post lights. Some of those are supposed to depict Charlie Chaplin. I think the one Inspector Gadget has is WC Fields, though he does kind of look like a cross between the two, Charlie and W.C., LOL. But it's Japanese, so it's going to be exaggerated. Whoever it is, I can't find a similar ceramic/tin anything. Here is a McCoy cookie jar I have of WC Fields.

 

[inspectorgadget]

I've owned a few different styles of the dunk on a lamp post lights. Some of those are supposed to depict Charlie Chaplin. I think the one Inspector Gadget has is WC Fields, though he does kind of look like a cross between the two, Charlie and W.C., LOL. But it's Japanese, so it's going to be exaggerated. Whoever it is, I can't find a similar ceramic/tin anything. Here is a McCoy cookie jar I have of WC Fields.

I saw some of those cookie jars when looking for another one of these things I have & ha you have one! I agree it kinda looks like a hybrid Chaplin Fields figure from the way hes standing but the blond hair is what differentiates it from the others I see that are even remotely similar. The tilt of the hat on his head even says something to me. Also it seems like this is from the late 60's or early 70's when sort of a lot of WC Fields stuff was being produced but a lot of Chaplin stuff was produced around that same time too or maybe a little later. It's not Charlie tho that's for sure!