Oswald Pin

I swore on a stack of 16mm Kodachrome that I wouldn’t mention every piece of Oswald The Lucky Rabbit merchandising I came across – but I couldn’t resist pointing to this one.

I find it fascinating to watch the Disney corporation of today attempt to market an 80 year old cartoon character that most people (Cartoon Brew readers excepted) have never heard of. I love that they are doing it, of course, but some of the items produced are head scratchers. This Jumbo Oswald pin (above) looks like none of the merchandising models they’ve been using, nor the version of the character in any existent animated cartoons. This image was taken from the cover of the Oswald Stencil Set from 1928 and it was used in Universal trade ads. Apparently it’s the earliest model of the character, from possibly Poor Papa (which is a lost film) – an odd choice, but it certainly makes for an interesting fashion accessory.