Last Updated: Jan 30, 2023
Piglet, Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore Sears Puppets made between 1968 and 1979.
Here are some vintage puppet collectables that I think are extra-super-awesome! These are the Simpson Sears Winnie the Pooh puppets made between 1968 and 1979 in Canada by Mighty Star. During the same time period Mighty Star also produced several very popular plush toys and puppets based on cartoon characters from Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera, Pink Panther, New Zoo Revue, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Animal Crackers. All of these plush toys and puppets were manufactured in Montreal, Quebec.
It's odd to think of these days, as everything is made over seas, but there was once a time not too long ago in which a very vibrant toy manufacturing industry existed right here in Canada. In fact Canada was once a major producer of textiles and stuffed articles before the Canadian government stepped in and destroyed it all with new regulations that favoured over seas manufacturing. Quite a dumb-ass move in my view. In any case, these toy puppets are part of that unique history, which is one of the reasons that I like them so much.
In my experience, I find these Sears Canada Winnie the Pooh puppets to be very rare as, prior to posting this, I've NEVER seen them on e-bay or online anywhere... so this could very well be their first appearance on the internet! (UPDATE: I have since seen them on e-bay once or twice, but they turn up very rarely.)
Winnie the Pooh Sears Puppet
I found Winnie the Pooh and Piglet together years ago in the late 1980s or early 1990s at a second hand store. About 10 years later I was very happy to find Eeyore at the Stittsville Fleamarket. These are the only characters that I've ever found from this set, and I've never seen copies of these anywhere else (aside from the very few times that I've seen them on ebay). Unfortunately, my Pooh puppet is missing the removable red shirt. Pooh has plastic button-like eyes attached with a fastener, while the other characters simply have glued on felt eyes. Pooh's nose, eyebrows, mouth, and tongue are all glued on.
For some reason Winnie has his Sears tag sewn into his side rather than at the puppet sleeve opening as is the case for the other two puppets. The larger Mighty Star tag is attached at the puppet sleeve. You can see that the tag says "Made by Mighty Star Ltd, Montreal, Quebec, Canada". The smaller print says "This label is affixed in compliance with the Upholstered and Stuffed Articles Act, 1968 of Ontario", therefore the puppets would not have been made before 1968.
The Sears tags are embroidered with a small picture of Pooh holding a honey pot. The back of the tag says "Ó Walt Disney Productions / Simpson-Sears Limited"
The Piglet puppet reminds me of Finnegan the dog from the Mr. Dressup TV show, which used to be shown on the CBC, because of the eyes and the floppy ears. Piglet has a huge head compared to the other two characters. In fact he's the biggest one of the set, which is odd as he's supposed to be the smallest character. As the Disney Pooh characters were drawn with stitching lines, Mighty Star used wide stitches in selected spots so that the sewing would show. It's a nice detail that is often overlooked for these characters. Each puppet was made with a plastic tube at the neck for the puppeteer's finger to go into. Unfortunately the tube is missing from this Piglet puppet.
A side view of Piglet
Here's Eeyore, who has always been my favourite Winnie the Pooh character. He's also my favourite of this set.
A side view of Eeyore
Eeyore's tail is attached with a snap button allowing it to be removed. I'm glad it's still there and wasn't lost! Below you can see the rivet inside the puppet with the word "Canada" on it. Above that are the letters RAU, though I don't know what that indicates. Just above the rivet you can also see what is left of the larger white tag that was cut off by a previous owner.
And there you have it, the Simpson Sears Canadian Winnie the Pooh puppets by Mighty Star! It would be really cool to find a Tigger for this series!
Note for collectors
In addition to the Tigger puppet that was made for this Canadian set, I've seen a Tigger hand puppet on e-bay that was also from the 1960s and sold at Sears stores in the United States, however that puppet was not made by Mighty Star. As such, the set of Winnie the Pooh puppets sold in the US during the same time period as the above set of puppets was not the same. So if you are a die-hard collector of Winnie the Pooh, there are two different sets of puppets to find from the 1970's!
UPDATES:
In Aug 2014 I received an e-mail from Derek who sent me a photo of an identical Sears Winnie the Pooh puppet that still had the original red shirt (shown below). The shirt looks like it is made out of red felt and it has yellow printed letters spelling "Pooh" on the front. This is the first time that I've ever seen another one of these puppets! It looks like the head on this Pooh puppet might be slightly larger than the one I have, though it could also be that the plush on mine has been flattened from being played with over time.
In April 2015 I received an e-mail from Sara who sent me photos of what looks to be the Tigger puppet from this set. It has the same white and red Sears Pooh tag attached (shown below) and similar felt eyes and eyebrows as Piglet, along with the large stitching detail at the seams. So I'm fairly confident that it is the Tigger puppet that goes with this set, which confirms that one was in fact made!!! Very awesome news!
If anyone has more info about these puppets please do contact me! I'd be glad to hear from you even if it is just to confirm that you have one of these puppets as they do seems to be rare...feel free to send a photo too, if you wish!
You can contact me at: info "at" artellepuppets.ca
Thank you in advance!
- Mikey
Disney Winnie the Pooh, toy hand puppets by Mattel, date unknown
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.