A boxed set of 18 wooden blocks produced by Halsam, referred to as "Safety Blocks" because of their non-toxic colors and rounded corners and edges. Printed on the side of the box is "By special permission of Walt Disney Enterprises" which dates the set to early 1938.
The blocks feature raised images of Snow White (two different poses), the Prince, the Seven Dwarfs, plus the ever-popular Donald Duck.
Box cover and side panels.
The blocks were listed in a 1938 Billy & Ruth toy catalog. We learn that there were actually two sets available. The 18-piece box of "small blocks" for 25¢ and a 16-piece "large blocks" set for 48¢.
Retailatalog images via antiquetoycollections.
They also appeared in the 1940 wholesale catalog of The Tracy-Wells Company.
Wholesale catalog image via gdawg.
I find the choice of cover art interesting. It's a great piece, I haven't see the Snow White inspection scence on merchandise often. Very fun. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it 1937. I agree. It's also a slightly different rendering of the scene so it has a kind of freshness about it.
DeleteI have a set of these also,was looking at the pictures of yours and noticed some differences on the box,like on front of it where it says Walt Disney's snow white in red,yours wraps around, where as mine don't,was wondering about that and if you may know what they are worth, not selling it,just curious, it's mint condition, don't think it's ever been played with
DeleteIt looks like they produced these blocks over several years. Slight changes were probably made to the design in later runs. The earliest ones would be copyrighted WD Enterprises. Those after 1938 may read, WD Productions. Not sure of the monetary value, but they don't show up very often on ebay. To a vintage Snow White collector, they would probably be quite valuable. Congratulations on your find.
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