mid 1920s little blonde girl character?

[sarasmile]

Helloooo there
Been searching all night, coming up with zilch. Went all thru wiki's 1920s comics that they have, turning up zero. Any oldies experts of comics here?
Who is this little 1920s-1930 girl, purple dress edged in blue, socks, maryjanes, blonde pageboy hair, from comics? She was found with Little Orphan Annie and Wimpie, so likely late 1920s era character.
Daisybelle wears a different outfit; having a tough time tho she reminds me of gasoline alley somewhat. Close to buster brown shoes/socks but I think that was common and wrong hair color to be mary jane.
Anybody have a clue?
Thanks for any help---Sara

[josemas]

You might want to extend your search beyond the 1920s.  IIRC, the character of Wimpy didn't appear in the Thimble Theater comic strip until 1931 so, if these figurines all date to the same period, I wouldn't date them before then.  I would guess sometime from the mid 1930s on as Wimpy probably wasn't well known or popular enough to warrant this sort of licensing before then.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

Little Miss Sunbeam

[sarasmile]

Thanks Josemas and narfstar,
dont think its miss sunbeam, her hair is supposed to be up, & with a red dress. Also too late a year. All of the pieces shouldnt be after '35. Because of their markings. This little girls dress-back, is very 1920s v slit.
Re wimpy, there are entire popeye thimble theater sets with wimpy from 29 or so according to their original box...that is a good clue tho to look at the early 30s. This little girl has to be someone obscure, or one with little info not on wiki's summary by decade.
Sara

[josemas]

This information in this article pretty much corresponds with my memory of Wimpy's first appearance stating that he first appeared as a fight referee in a 1931 strip and evolved into a regular supporting player.

 http://home.earthlink.net/~thimbletheatre/theatrecast.html

Don Markstein's Toonopdeia implies that he became a cast regular in 1932.

http://www.toonopedia.com/popeye.htm

Don't know what to say about those sets with Wimpy that are supposed to be from 1929 other than that if the character didn't exist before 1931 it brings into doubt the claim of a 1929 date for the sets. 
Popeye, himself, was only added to the Thimble Theater strip in 1929 and though he caught on pretty quick and had become the lead by 1930 I doubt there was even much merchandising of his character before 1930.

BTW, are there any copyright or trademarks stamps on the figurines that might indicate what comic strip syndicate they are licensed from?  For example, the Wimpy character would be a King Features syndicate character while Little Orphan Annie would be a Chicago Tribune-N. Y. Daily News syndicate character.   That sort of information would help to narrow down your search field.

Best

Joe

[sarasmile]

Hi
Thanks for your note. The owner of the popeye set was probably wording the origin of thimble theater in a confusing way.

I want to put the whole group up here so you can see what I mean about age. All from the same Oklahoma grandma, her toys. Alot of crackerjack looking tiny porcelain bisques. I might be missing a few that could be characters. Also took a pic of miss mystery's back neckline, theres another 20s lady here with same. The silver haired girl with the thread shirt, seems kind of specific in face. so does the blue capped fellowin his atypical costume, in terms of this sort of bisque figurine. Not sure what the purpose of the black suited man is, he is bald, fat and wearing tails. Wondering if maybe the kewpi-esque boxer dude, since he has a mini of him in  crackerjack size standing in front of him in photo I will put up, might be a cartoon as well. Bride and groom def. 1935 or below by dress. The forties got much goofier on figures and larger too, with not so much bisque as shiny cold painting for the bulk.


I have a special interest in comics. We have bud counihan out on a limb in my family tree who did boopie. Everyone is artistic...it's hereditary, in my family.

Thanks!
Sara C

[sarasmile]

Hi
Joe, re the markings, wimpy and annie have nothing; usually if japan, JAPAN means pre 39 and MADE IN JAPAN means post 39. Only a few are marked (larger ones) and theyre all JAPAN.


Thanks!
Sara

[sarasmile]

The blue cap fellow's hands are in pockets...he reminds me of charlie brown for some reason, maybe schultz had an affinity for hands in pockets poses?

[sarasmile]

Miss Mystery sitting is really bugging me...I have a photographic  memory and definitely have seen her, but cant put my finger on it. Then again, Disney & the later cartoons, seem to have copied tons of the real old comics, so maybe thats where Ive seen a version of her.

[narfstar]

Most of these look like they were not meant to be any specific character. The little girl in the chair could look familiar because of her lack of specificity. She might just be a little girl in chair.