Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Vintage Thingies Thursday Wiggy Wags

This afternoon, I was putting my can of crayons back on the shelf in my bedroom closet and noticed some illustrations that I had picked up at the local antique store a couple of years ago because they were all of cute dogs and I was going through a dog phase. They were leaning up against something else and still in sealed plastic sleeves. I opened this one up.


I know I bought it because I thought the puppy dog and little boy were so adorable. Based on the text, it's from a book about a dog called Wiggy Wags and someone named Tips.



I flipped it over to find another illustration on the other side. In this one, Wiggy Wags is not very happy because he has to spend the rest of the night with Susie the kitty in the baggage car. Notice the signature in the bottom righthand corner: Ruth E. Newton. Of course, I immediately had to google it.



Thanks to Google, I now know more about the book that this page came from. It's called "Let's Play Train" by Ruth E. Newton, Mabel Horn and Betty Carter. According to Biblio.com, it's "A large adorable collectible picture book featuring 2 little children, doll & dog running to catch a train. It includes a little Black boy who is the porter." That must be Tips. The one they have for sale was first printed in 1936 on linen-like paper. I don't know if my page is from a first edition but the paper is pretty cool. You can see the texture in this photo.



Ruth E. Newton (1884-1972) illustrated more then 40 books and designed rubber squeak toys for the Sun Rubber Company. Her images were also used for greeting cards, jigsaw puzzles and paper dolls. I found a Wiggy Wags paper doll in this album on Webshots that I had actually seen before when I was in my dog paperdoll phase. (Obsess much?)

Ruth Newton Wiggy-wags and helmet Wiggy-wags clothes

And, there's a Japanese site selling two placemats with embroidered cats from a Ruth Newton pattern.

My plan for this afternoon was to dust and vacuum my bedroom and then clean my bathroom. Instead, I spent a several hours going through Google results for Ruth E. Newton. I have three other prints of dogs still in their plastic sleeves that I could open and check for information on their illustrators but then I'd be here for another nine hours. I'll save that for a night when I'm stuck for something to blog about.


For the past two Thursdays, I have had so much fun checking out other Vintage Thingies. Go to Confessions of an Apron Queen and see who else is joining in this week.

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom! I'm way behind with answering my email and my blog reading so I'm going to take a break from blogging for a few days. Enjoy the weekend! [Hits publish and runs off to check other dog illustrations]

28 comments:

Amy said...

That's so cute - I remember books like that when I was growing up. And yes my blue glass jug does have bubbles in it :-)

Carrie said...

The book illustrations are very sweet.

SmilingSally said...

What a neat REfind.

Anonymous said...

Those are really cute!

Unknown said...

Those are adorable. You should frame them.

Unknown said...

those are adorable! I'd frame them.

Coloradolady said...

Of course I love this with the dogs. I seem to remember the paperdolls for some reason. The illustrations are really cute. I would frame them and hang them somewhere. Too cute for a closet.

Jane said...

This brought back some memories.

Deepa said...

U gonna take a break??? Nah,Nah..you cannot stay away for more than a day..shall we bet? :))

Drewzel said...

OMG soooo cute!! love it!! you might have just started me off on a similar quest, that dog is adorable!
xx steph (blog portion)

Anonymous said...

Oh these illustrations are just adorable. I love them all. I think I remember seeing them when I was little. Have a good break...

Twyla and Lindsey said...

You're so funny! I'm glad I read all the way to the bottom, ha. Your posts are always so educational. Enjoyed this one very much. Of course, I'm a 'dog' person. You have a great weekend too! Twyla

Charlotte said...

This is so interesting. I was interested to see the book was published in 1936. That was the year I was born. It is OLD.
I have a picture of the saloon girls at Knott's Berry Farm too, but my old boy friend is in it, so I didn't think Hubby would appreciate me posting it.
Hugs
Charlotte

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful find! I love old children's books illustrations. In fact, that's the theme for my daughter's first birthday! I'll blog about it after the party on the tenth. I don't want my guests to see the decorations before the party!

Melissa said...

Those are so cute. The dog looks like my little dog Bibi. The illusrations would be neat to frame and display.

Brook said...

Sweet I love the little puppy !

Threeundertwo said...

I love getting lost in old children's books and their illustrators. I've googled away many fine hours myself, so I totally understand.

The kids keep wondering why we have all these little golden books around, since they've moved on to more difficult books.

I have a hard time telling them they're for *me*.

Karla Cook @ Roads to Everywhere said...

That is oh-so-sweet! I love it!

Anonymous said...

Those paper dolls are gorgeous! What a lovely little collection.

The Apron Queen said...

Isn't google great? I find out the funnest stuff about some of my vintage items that way. Thanks for sharing.

Eileen said...

ahhh.. Ruth Newton. Another one of my favorite children's illustrators. Thanks for posting these adorable pictures!

My first time here.. a very cute blog. :-)

Pleasing Procrasinator said...

These are an adorable little collection of illustrations.

The Tiquehunters Wife said...

This was great and so informative!
Enjoyed it all--(and I should be cleaning my bathroom also!!:)
Blessings to You!
Claudia O.

S said...

I also love those cutsie illustrations! Hope you hang them up to enjoy.

Anonymous said...

Adorable!
Those are cute as can be.

Thank you for stopping by Apronstrings...

Kellie said...

and I call myself a children's librarian. BAH! I'd never heard of Ruth Newton before this. Those illustrations are absolutely adorable...I agree w/everyone who said you should frame them!

OK, so I've been perusing...I won't leave you a million comments but I must comment on your chicken scratch! It looks great! And that crazy tampons as arts and crafts story cracked me up!

I have missed your blog!

Amy C said...

I totally love dress the doggy dolls. I have been obsessing lately and googling some hours away looking for vintage cook books and other things.
Happy long weekend.

Unknown said...

Wiggy Wags is too cute, and I'm not into cutesy! You definitely need to do something with those prints/pages. Maybe a grouping?