Squeaky Toy Hamburger and a Fast-Food Hamburger
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Here is a squeaky toy hamburger and a fast-food hamburger.
About a year ago, the local pet supermarket ran a special on squeaky toys. This made-in-China hamburger looked like a sure bet for our dog, Jazz, who loves squeaky toys. "Not a bad looking burger," I mused.
Jazz adored her "burger." After fifteen minutes of rigorous play, she pierced its plastic skin. We then took it away. I assume the plastic shards traveled safely through her digestive track.
Until today, this dog toy sat on our fireplace mantle. For the sake of doing a photographic comparison between an ersatz burger and a "real" burger, I purchased a Quarter Pounder with cheese from McDonald's.
I took one bite. The patty certainly tasted like beef product. It gave me a gut ache. I assume it will travel safely through my digestive track.
I'll keep you posted.
Princess “Fifi” and Sophia Loren
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
As mentioned in the previous blog entry, my favorite local place to look for doggie-themed curios is Lloyds of Lakeland. A couple of years ago, this vintage electro-mechanical toy grabbed my attention. Lloyds let me borrow it.
I took some pictures and ended up using this one for a poster to advertise my dog photography business. Although very tempting, I resisted the urge to load up the battery canister with the requisite "D" cell batteries. I did not want to damage this mint-condition post-war Japanese toy.
I spent a couple of hours last night digging up information about this toy pooch. Here is what I was able to harvest from Google.
"Princess" was made in Japan, from around the mid 1950s until at least 1960 by Cragstan Corporation. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information about Cragston other than it was an importer of cheap wind-up and battery operated toys – cars, airplanes, and animals. Here is a photo of the top of Princess's box.
Then a real surprise. I found a Rexall advertisement featuring Princess (and Lionel trains) in the November 14, 1960 issue of LIFE Magazine.
Sophia Loren appears on the cover of the November 14, 1960 issue of LIFE. Princess "Fifi" and Sophia in the same issue — wow!
Not My Dog’s Toy
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Jazz holds this in her mouth the way she would any bone, real or plastic. She does not "play" with it. Rather, she shows it to our guests and friendly repair people when they enter the house. This is her way of saying, "greetings and salutations; welcome to my pack," (meaning our family).
The close-up shows the effect dog saliva has on plastic. This "bone" has been around for at least five years. After writing about things my dog loves, it occurs to me that we respect her. Otherwise, all of her stinky, rotten toys, along with this purple plastic doggy bone, would have been tossed out years ago.
Jazz poses with her purple plastic bone.
Dog’s Toy: First Favorite
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
My dog's all-time favorite is this squeaky-toy alien being. It is usually stowed way out of Jazz's reach so as not to disturb the primates of the house. Primates agitate easily when inundated by the sounds of squeaky ETs.
Dog’s Toy: Second Favorite
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
This is my dog Jazz's second favorite toy. She has had it for the last five of her nine years. The rag-bone is a good indicator for us. When Jazz eliminates solid waste (during our daily walk or her post-dinner visit to the backyard tree), she will, upon reentering the house, seek out the rag-bone for a spasmodic frolic around the obstacle course of furniture in the big room. It is common for her to utter growls of excitement during these outbursts of play.
