
Meet Bombo the Chimp, a wind-up toy from the 1930’s made by Unique Art Mfg. in Newark. If you use the key to wind-up the tin litho chimp, he does some impressive acrobatic swings from the coconut tree. His name is spelled out in bananas on the (rusty) base.
Allee Willis
Absolutely beautful. I love old tin litho toys. Chimps are my favorite. They never scared me as a kid. A beautiful Jungle Animal to be sure.
I love how the coconut and palm leaves are textured at the top but the little fauna down below remains flat. And speaking of flat, Bombo’s arms and legs kill me.
(The AWMOK Jungle Animal Petting Zoo is a scenic attraction whose cages are currently being filled to coincide with the release of the upcoming Pomplamoose with Allee Willis “Jungle Animal” VideoSong and online music game and contest. Jungle tamer, AWMOK creator, curator and charming hostess, Allee Willis, me, will be steadily leading jungle animals to their cages over the next 1-2 months or so as you bring them here until the song is released. If ever there ever was a category that was primed to be kitschified it’s that of “Jungle Animal” as all the stripes, spots and fur have been inspiration for designers since the beginning of time. I thank you all in advance for placing your jungle pets in such an illustrious cage as The Allee Willis Museum of Kitsch. Keep them coming!)
denny
Stop it Doug, just stop it! This piece makes me go completely over the edge and causes shortness of breath! This is beautiful and I am a huge fan of anything monkey related! Cool item Doug!
Douglas Wood
Thanks, Denny. I’m a huge monkey fan myself– it’s one of the few animals that usually doesn’t cross over into “cutesy” territory, in terms of collectibles, but does occasionally enter “weird” or “bizarre” which I’m much more comfortable with. I have a bunch of other vintage monkeys but I haven’t shared them because I’m not convinced they’re genuinely kitsch. I only submitted the recent 3 because of the Jungle Animal Petting Zoo.
Allee Willis
I trust your sense of kitsch but if not sure, submit. Always great starting points for ‘what is kitsch’ conversations.
windupkitty
this is incredible! i’ve never seen a tin toy like it!!!! i love the tree…wow, too cool…..
Douglas Wood
Hearing that you like the monkey makes me feel a helluva lot better about paying what I paid for it (more akin to an antique store price than a yard sale one.)