Before there were dogs, there were toddlers, and those toddlers apparently liked dog toys. These were obviously created as learning tools as well for entertainment. With eyes that closed when they were knocked down and a high-pitched noise emitted when they were crushed, it was baby’s first tactile experience with getting tangible results from applying physical abuse. I’m sure plenty of kids are the better for it. My favorite is the elephant because, well, that’s not really what an elephant looks like, is it? The lamb is a close second though, with her eyebrows, crows feet, and her ears laid back like she’s ready to attack. These were all manufactured by the Arrow Rubber Company between 1960 and 1969. They stand about 10-12 inches high and are about a foot long at most.
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Allee Willis
I’ve always loved these things but never put together that they were all made by the same manufacturer. I love the way the paint just looks sprayed on. The hue of the light blue kills me as does the fleece and satin ears on the elephant. Why were none of the other animals so deserving of this extra material? Now that I’m looking at these I’m becoming obsessed with collecting them. Bravo to you for already having a fairly complete zoo.
windupkitty
Hahaha! I’m glad you like them! I started collecting these after I found the little dog with the uni-brow in a antique shop in NIles, California (a cool place to look up if you’re ever in Nor Cal…it’s really just a couple of blocks of antique shops but also boasts a tiny Charlie Chaplin Museum/Theater as he filmed there quite a bit…in fact there were plenty of films made there back in the day…). I immediately went home and found a few,listings for these on ebay and was enthralled. I’m always trying not to spend cash, but that elephant was a recent purchase…who could pass up those cocker spaniel ears? He squeaks the word “kitsch!”. It’s really hard to not fall in love with these as they are pretty cute…..When kids come to visit, they always want to play with them…. I too, love the fact they are spray painted so oddly,either that or that dog has a case of the mange!
Mark Milligan
I love this stuff. Why do I get the essence of baby powder when I look at these? Did some of the manufacturers of these things put a scent on them? That lamb is the best version of a poorly-disguised wolf in sheep’s clothing I’ve ever seen!
mreinl
Hi there. hopefully you can help me. I found the Mobley elephant at a rummage sale and i was wondering if you have any idea how much it is worth? It’s in pretty good condition, but the squeak doesn’t work. I just thought it looked so interesting and yours is the first i have found online?
anything would be helpful.i am so curious about this toy?
Allee Willis
I’m actually not sure of the monetary value of these Edward Mobley squeaky toys but all of these together here as a collection certainly add to the value. I’ve seen individual ones go anywhere from $10 to $100 depending on condition and who’s selling. The elephant is the best one to me because of the cloth ears. The one shown here was manufactured in 1962. The year before there was also a smaller elephant manufactured without cloth ears and in a different pose.
windupkitty
yep! you said it!
howmary
perhaps I can clear up a number of things for you all. mobley did the design work and the toys were manufactured by Arrow of East Patterson N.J, now Elmwood Park N.J.
the dog’s name was Woofie, and came in a couple of paint colors, but the coverage was always the same. the masks used for the spaying was the same, just the colors were different. he came in dark brown, light brown, and dark and light blue. there was a cat, elephant, and the lamb, but also others in the line. some had the plush ears, some did not. parents seemed to complaint about the ears if I remember and they didn’t sell as well.
my mom worked for Arrow for 10 years. I used to go there and bring her lunch and talk to all of the other ladies that worked the night shift. my mom was the eye inserter. I still have a few of the eyes around. they also came in different colors.
found a listing for a lot of Mobley’s design’s on Google it shows pictures of the toys that he designed and such. great for the collector to have.
http://www.google.com/images?q=EDWARD+MOBLEY&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-ContextMenu&rlz=1I7ACAW_enUS352&prmd=iofd&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=HkXPTISZIIGusAOS_NSgAw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CDIQsAQwAw&biw=999&bih=591
quite a large irl but you might try just googleing his name.
by the way, the squecker is a pretty simple affair. just clear plastic. should push out, it’s a reed of metal inside of a plastic tube. sometimes the flat metal piece got bent and it wouldn’t sqeeck.
Arrow also made most of Chatty Kathy for Mattel with the speaking part made in Japan and shipped in.
hope this helps.
Allee Willis
This is FANTASTIC information! Thank you so much, howmary.
Love that your mom was the eye inserter! Did you have all the Mobleys designs? Did Arrow manufacture other kinds of toys (as if Chatty Kathy weren’t enough!)?
howmary
as far as other stuff from Arrow, they were all over the map in the 50’s and 60’s. apparently their claim to fame was the soft rubbery-plastic that the woofie was made out of. I don’t recall anything else being that soft that didn’t turn hard after a while. they made dolls from small ones up to very large walking dolls that were 48″ tall. most were under other names like Mattel but they did all of the bodies, arms,heads arms everything except the mechanical stuff. I do have a Revlon doll that is about 38″ tall that was a gift for their sales people only. it was very high end. my mother always treasured that one.as far as I know, only the animals were actually sold under the Arrow name. Arrow even made gallon jugs for Clorox bleach, the first ones with the hole in the handle so that they don’t burp out liquid when you pour them, mom was the final inspecter on the line at night and also the eye inserter for the line. chatty Kathy was only finished on the night shift so every one of those had her eyes inserted by my mom. I think they made some parts for the Betsy-wetsy doll also. there were so many and it was almost 50 years ago.we always had a bunch of arms and legs around the house when I was growing up, it was like living in a bad horror movie.
my mom’s gone now, and the last time that I was back east, Arrow was long gone and I can’t find anything on them anywhere. been trying to find some info for an old pair of demos that I have from them, but without luck. that’s how I happened on this site.
polarsky
We have a ton of these little guys! My Wife is obsessed with them. Sun Rubber also made similar ones too. Here is our collection (not updated):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/v38gqb8pajy2jo3/Photo%20Aug%2013%2C%202%2037%2036%20AM.jpg