FISHER-PRICE #780 VINTAGE OLD 1950s WOODEN 'SNOOPY SNIFFER' DOG PULL TOY ~ LOOK!

Description

FISHER-PRICE #780 VINTAGE OLD 1950s WOODEN 'SNOOPY SNIFFER' DOG PULL TOY
This week on Ebay we are offering up this wonderful old Fisher Price Snoopy pull toy from the 1950s.
This was sold as the “Snoopy Sniffer” and was the first version offered in a long line of Snoopy pull toys that were loved and cherished by millions of kids over the years. This is the Fisher-Price model #180 ‘Snoopy Sniffer’ pull toy. He dates to the 1940s-1950s. Made in the USA. A terrific vintage mid-century Fisher Price pull toy. Highly collectible, not many survived.
This is in very nice shape for its age! He is in fully working condition and even still makes a pleasant ‘grunt’ or barking sound when pulled across the floor.
CONDITION
This particular toy has been well loved and well played with, but he still has a great original vintage look and has great display appeal. He’s quite charming and is a real survivor.
I think he’s wonderful and charming just as he is. This particular model of the Snoopy pull toy was made up until 1957, making him at least 65 years old, and possibly older.
Snoopy is a solid wooden toy with a long shaped body. The wood of the body is about 1.5” thick.
SIZE: He’s about 16.5” long, about 4” wide at the hips and about 5” tall. The central wooden body is 1.5” thick. The legs are about 1” thick. I tried to add a ruler to some of the photos to give an idea of his size.
He is completely covered on the top and sides with smooth paper ‘fur’ that features a great lithographed design.
These early ones were of a white hound dog with black spots and a red collar with gold buckles.
There are some nicks, dings and scratches to his paper covering but most of it is here and it retains much of its original color and character. Most of the original paper surface has survived and is in wonderful condition.
The paper shows some honest, age related wear, particularly on all the edges of the toy, and he has a bit of age related discoloration, but in general, I think he looks very authentic, original and wonderful.
His face is great on both sides of this piece. He has big brown friendly eyes, a bit of a smile, a great expression, and his tongue is hanging out. Exactly how a dog out for a fun walk would look. He has a great expression. He even retains some pink blush to his cheeks.
His collar is still fantastic, His name is bold and clear and the bright red color is still there. The red paint on these early Snoopy toys is often quite sun faded. This Snoopy was likely an ‘inside’ dog. His nose has some wear but is actually quite nice. Most of these we’ve seen have significant wear on the nose and chin. This one is very nice.
This guy does have his patent number under the Fisher-Price logo on the back of his neck, “PAT. NO. DES. 111796”, placing his age between 1940 and 1957.
There is some rubbing and some loss on his lower butt and on his sides where the legs would slide up and down against his body, but overall the old lithographed surface looks great. His Left side seems to have a little more wear than his Right side for some reason.
The solid, black painted, double jointed wooden legs seem to be in good condition and have all of their original metal pins. No cracks, chips or splits. The legs move freely and correctly and he has a nice mechanical rhythm when he walks. The front and back legs are synchronized, so his feet touch the ground together, just like a real dog.
The legs show some rubbing wear, paint loss and fading, especially around the ‘knees’ but I think it adds a bit of authenticity and age to the piece. That could all easily be touched up, but I think he looks best in his original well-worn, well-loved condition.
The underside of the toy is just raw unpainted wood but looks to be in fine condition. There are old chisel marks and signs of craftsmanship. There are no chips, splits or cracks. The wooden parts are all structurally solid. There is no damage to the wooden structure of this toy.
The rolling mechanism seems to work fine. He rolls along smoothly, no wobble, with his legs churning away and the original barking mechanism works fine. As he rolls across the floor, Snoopy makes a "yip yip" sound, moves all 4 feet, and his spring tail wiggles.
The metal and wood ‘clicker’ or barking mechanism still works fine. It is made of a metal strip which is plucked by a ribbed wooden gear.
These were somewhat fragile and are often found broken. This one is in fine condition and causes the dog to intermittently ‘bark’ or ‘grunt’ when being pulled along.
The rear wheels and axle may or may not have a mild issue. The walking mechanism seems to work just fine but I’m not sure how the wheels of this toy stayed securely in place. They just seem to be stuck onto a metal axle pin with nothing really keeping them in place other than the snugness of the fit. No nut or cap; it’s all just pinned together. The rear wheels seem to be relatively easy to detach, but pop right back into position without any effort. I’m not sure if this was the way it was designed or not. My suspicion is that all of the pins on this dog have become mildly loose over time and may need a few delicate hammer taps or a dab of glue to tighten it all up again. Like I said, it all works fine, just may have become a little ‘loose’ with time. The whole toy could use a good deep cleaning, oiling and tightening up. All I did was gently wipe the dust and dirt off.
The following poem was part of this classic dog’s early advertising campaign from the 1940s.
Snoopy Sniffer is my name
~ A good bird dog of mighty fame
I snoop and sniff and "Woof woof" too ~ I'm the funniest dog you ever knew.
~~~
This wonderful old toy is in great charming condition, as is, but there are several MISSING PIECES:
The rope pull-string ‘leash’ is missing but the old rope can easily be replaced.
Early ones like this had a longer 4" springy wire tail with a red wooden bead at the tip which vibrated and wagged as you pulled it along. Later dogs had a shorter, stubbier tail. He retains his wobbly wire tail but is missing the ball at the end.
His original black, floppy, oil cloth ears are missing. Originally, he also had flat rubberized cloth webbed ‘feet’ stapled to the bottom of each leg to give him floppy feet when he walked. Those are also missing. I’ve only seen one example with feet, in all my years of antiquing. Most examples have one or none.
This toy has all of its original large, aged staples still in place and in great condition. 2 for the ears and one on the bottom of each foot. Those would help preserve the ‘originality’ of the piece if someone wanted to fabricate new ears and feet for this charming toy.
This great dog toy is in wonderful ‘original’ condition but a talented do-it-yourselfer could touch up the paint, create some new feet & ears from felt, add a ball to his tail, and really make this old dog look terrific and like new again. He looks great, but has the potential to look even better.
~~~
For Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers, the name Fisher-Price is synonymous with childhood. Fisher-Price is an American company that produced colorful, well-built, educational toys for children.
Their fundamental toy-making principles centered on intrinsic play value, ingenuity, strong construction, good value for the money, and action.
The Company was founded in 1930 during the Great Depression in East Aurora, New York.
In 1931 Fisher-Price showed their toys at the American International Toy Fair in New York City and due to their delightful design and bright colors, they instantly became a hit.
Fisher-Price toys had to meet the firm’s “five-point creed.” A toy had to have intrinsic play value, ingenuity, strong construction, good value, and action. The early toys were made of steel and wood and were known for their durability. The first Fisher-Price toy ever sold was "Dr. Doodle" in 1931. Some of their most popular toys, the 1960s Play Family or Little People, have become one of their most collectible toys over the years.
By the 1950s, Fisher-Price realized that newly developed plastics had bright colors, durability and were easily molded. By the mid-50’s they redesigned many of their toys to incorporate plastic parts. The all wood toys, like this great Snoopy Dog, were no longer made.
Fisher-Price’s very first ‘Snoopy Sniffer’ was introduced in 1938 as the #180 Snoopy Sniffer. The second ‘Snoopy Sniffer’ was introduced around 1956-57 as the #780 Snoopy Sniffer. The third and final Snoopy Sniffer was introduced in 1961 as the #181 ‘Snoopy Sniffer’, remaining in production until 1980.
This original #180 Snoopy Sniffer came in 3 variations. For the first two years he did not have a patent number below the Fisher-Price logo on his back. From 1940 to 1957, Snoopy was marked with the patent number. By 1958, he was totally transformed into a brown dog with plastic ears.
~~~
Many generations of children have played with one of these faithful and loyal ‘Snoopy’ toys, thus making him one of the most popular pull toys that Fisher-Price has ever made.
I ‘adopted’ Snoopy at an Estate sale in the exact condition as I’m selling him, except for a gentle wipe down with a moist washcloth. He was ‘found’ hiding on a shelf in the basement of an older home here in Baltimore. Quite dusty and dirty but otherwise just as you see him in the attached photos. If you have any specific questions, just ask.
Please look at all the photos of this great vintage toy as they are part of the description and they show the condition and details better than I can put into words.
Such a charming, cute, charismatic toy, reminiscent of a carefree, simpler time and a period when children’s toys were built to last.
~~~
As this toy is large, fragile and needs special handling, shipping cost within the lower 48 states is .00 on this item. If you would like insurance, or anything faster than Economy Mail, please let me know and I can arrange it for you. I’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy!
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