Tale of a Stuffed (toy!) Dog

Cafe Society
1

Way back in the '50s, when I was a youngster, I became enamored of the basset hound Cleo on the tv show “People’s Choice.” I think it was Christmas of 57 that my Mom got me a stuffed toy basset hound (well, I thought it came from Santa Claus then, naturally - but it was really my Mom who got it, probably at Wanamaker’s in Philadelphia). It was in a position of repose (LOL quite natural for bassets, I think!) and had a vinyl face, with a squeaker in one ear. Cleo stayed with me for over 20 years, even going to college with me, but was unfortunately in a trunk that was stolen back in the 70s.

A wave of nostalgia brought on by pictures that one of my brothers sent me recently sent me to searching for a similar toy on E-Bay. I found one once that looked very similar to Cleo, but I guess it must have been on the last day of the auction and the next time I tried to find it, the dog was gone. :frowning: I don’t recall what the make of the toy was, but the one I found on E-Bay was made by a company called Rushton. I’ve tried to find more Rushton stuffed animals (apparently, they made quite a few Santa Claus toys, btw!), but haven’t had much luck there.

If anyone knows of a source for 50s-era stuffed toy animals, please let me know. I realize this is a real long shot and have found several toy-related sites already but nothing with a stuffed toy basset hound. Any help would be greatly appreciated! :slight_smile:

2

I feel your pain, even though my Floppy is still with me. He’s in such sad shape, and I’d love to find another to have for the first grandbaby. Floppy is a Gund, and I haven’t been able to find any websites that show a complete selection of Gund toys from the late 40’s/early 50’s when he was purchased. He’s a sleeping white cocker spaniel, I think. Don’t know if Floppy was his Gund name, because most of his tag is gone. So I wait with you in hopes that someone has some good links. maybe I’ll post a picture later…though he’s embarassingly beat-up. I find it funny that the age of the “vintage” stuffed toys on ebay were from the 1980’s!

3

In the early '50s I had a stuffed toy cocker spaniel with a plastic nose. I called her Lady. When the Disney movie Lady and the Tramp came out a couple years later, I was delighted to see that my “Lady” and Disney’s “Lady” resembled each other.