Dream Pets were made by Dakin from the late 1950s until the early 1970s, with I think the most heavy production coming in the late 60s – early 70s. They all have sweet, dreamy looks and have a lot of personality. This tiger looks pretty relaxed. I’m crazy about them, but they are kind of hard to find.
I have a few more somewhere, including a really cool giraffe, but they’re boxed up at the moment. If I find him, I’ll post him.
Beware though, these were reproduced in the early 200os, it’s pretty easy to tell the difference if you’re familiar with them, but if not, they look nearly identical. Actually, I’m not complaining, because they did a really good job with the reproductions… I love these and don’t mind too terribly much if it’s old or if it’s new.
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Allee Willis
So cute!! Having spent the last week drawing lots of jungle animals for the Pomplamoose with Allee Willis “Jungle Animal” video and music game and contest I looked at tons of photos of animals online to use as models. For some reason I didn’t draw a tiger. I don’t really need more animals but it’s been gnawing at me for a few days that I left the tiger out. Seeing this little fellow I now feel inspired to spend the next hour commemorating him for inclusion in the jungle.
I didn’t have this tiger but I know I had a few of these little pets back in the day.
(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!)
Nessa
I’m glad if my pet inspired an arty Tiger!
k2dtw
So cute… I’m having deja vu??? Trying to remember something I maybe had???.. I googled to see if Daking was still in business and doing the reproducing..
I found this in Wikipedia…The ownership and history paragraph is very strong… wonder if their finance emergency was part of the decision to reproduce their dream pet???…humm??..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakin_Building
Nessa
I think the Dakin label is now owned by cheap-goods retailer Big Lots. The reproduction Dream Pets were sold in places like Hallmark and specialty gift shops and toy stores, but I saw them on super clearance and then they started showing up in big piles at the flea markets. I am not sure if they are still making any of them.
windupkitty
he’s so cute and so mellow looking….i love that he’s looking sideways…kinda seems like he’s saying “hey there, brother, how you doing on this fine day?