Judy's Old Wood Toys

The Animals A to E

Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yafee

From the alligator to the elephants, our new style guide is based on years of Humpty Dumpty circus collecting and dealing by Judith Lile and Jim Sneed. Much of this information is also based on earlier research from Evelyn Ackerman, Jim Kramer, and others. Photos are by Judith Lile and Jim Sneed.  We learn about new variations quite often. This is a work-in-progress and many more photographs are needed. Your contributions would be greatly appreciated.

What constitutes a unique design? These Humpty Dumpty circus pieces were made to be sold as toys, not as collector items. Due to their complexity, they were all hand made to some degree. The early pieces show more hand work than the later ones. A design difference must show a basic design change, not simply an artistic or manufacturing variation. The design change can be the eye design (glass, painted, decaled), the head shape (carved, molded), the paint color, the paint design, or the ear shape or material. To complicate things, some examples of animals have been found that have parts from older pieces combined with parts from the newer design. These are probably transitional pieces that used up the leftover parts from the previous design. Animals might be found with pieces from entirely different animals. This is either a factory error or they ran out of the correct pieces and simply robbed parts from another animal's parts bin. Given all of these factors, it is difficult to consistently judge a design change in many cases. So in some cases, we dodge the issue altogether by pointing out the variations and you can judge whether or not the variation constitutes a unique design.