Betty Boop Christmas Ornaments

It's Christmas time again, and this year, partially thanks to this blog, I was inspired to decorate our tree with a couple Betty Boop ornaments. There were so many to choose from online, but I went with the 'Santa suit' and 'black dress' Betty ornaments (seen below) from Kurt S. Adler, mainly because I thought the black dress was cool and because they were sold as a set on Amazon. The Black Dress Betty has a bit of a bling to it from glitter coating the jewelry and silver regions of the dress, and those red shoes on Santa Betty are just adorable.

So I figured I'd stop after the first two ornaments, but, while Christmas shopping at the mall, I came across a section inside of a Hallmark store that featured glittery, colorful resin Betty Boop ornaments (pictured below) from Westland Giftware that were too irresistible to not buy a couple.

I once read about a 1931 Christmas card from Fleischer Studios, drawn by Willard Bowsky, that shows Betty Boop supposedly in bed with Santa Claus. Well it wasn't that difficult to find, as it is featured on the Fleischer Studios website. At first glance, it might appear that Betty is about to retire on Christmas Eve, giving a goodnight wink, with her winter boots and festive apparel neatly folded, but the parked reindeer outside allows the imagination to run wild... Oh Dear, Santa! What would Mrs. Claus think?

Image Source: Fleischer Studios Incorporated

     

Betty Boop Travel Drawstring Jewelry Pouch

While at an arts and crafts festival, I spotted this item at a distance. As I got closer, I started to think it was a Betty Boop shower cap. How embarrassed I was when the lady selling it told me it was not a shower cap but a jewelry travel pouch with several small inner pockets lining the side interior and that could close up when you pull the two side drawstrings. I didn't approve of the implicit gambling theme, with the red and white dice and the word 'lucky' regularly spread around the exterior, but I made an exception here and assumed that Betty's just lucky all around. What's special about this is that it is not a stock item but a unique handmade item crafted from a kind lady, who was showing me a lot of different designs, but I told her that I was only interested in the Betty Boop one. Since I don't have any jewelry, the pouch now sits atop my PS4 and is home to my Dragon Quest Blue Slime Plush and a few other items that occupy some of the inner pockets. 

Betty Boop Metal Sign

For fans attracted to the more nostalgic and vintage side of Betty Boop, this collector metal sign is a treat. It's by Desperate Enterprises, Inc. and is supposed to be a duplication of an original from way back when (though I'm not sure how far back), with its damage and flaws recreated. It definitely captures Betty's chipper spirit and is something I'd expect to see in a '50s style diner. I didn't notice at first, but the background contains Betty comic strips, which are from a series of full color Sunday newspaper comic strips, drawn by Bud Counihan, produced and printed from November 25th, 1934 to November 27th, 1937.

What struck me when I first saw this metal sign is that I had never seen this Betty artwork before. There's a lot of stock artwork of Betty, but this image of her in what appears to be a giddy mood is quite unique and reminds me of the classic Betty cartoon Ha! Ha! Ha! (1934), where Betty and Koko the Clown (sadly his last appearance), as well as various inanimate objects and people on the streets, get hopped-up on laughing gas. This particular episode was supposedly banned at one point in time for its depiction of drug use.

From Ha! Ha! Ha! (1934)

 

Betty Boop Calendars

This year, 2015, has been a delight with Betty Boop as my calendar girl, and fortunately the same calendar kiosk at the mall had a new one, so it looks like 2016 will be the year of Betty again. Well, not just for me; maybe the new Betty Boop movie that Simon Cowell is making will come out sometime next year.

The 2016 calendar has an interesting iTunes theme called iBoop: Betty's-Playlist (ACCO Brands) with each month depicting a different music genre with coinciding Betty artwork that's presented in the form of a play-screen. The 2015 calendar (also from ACCO Brands) has a consistent sunny surfs-up-Betty theme that's been a pleasant wall decorator. Some of the months feature an image of Betty riding a wave, which conflicts a little with the 1934 classic Fleischer Studio cartoon Betty Boop's Lifeguard, where Betty is enjoying the beach and it is established that she can't swim, a likely plot excuse so she can be saved by the hunky lifeguard, Freddy, when she inevitably loses her rubber horsey flotation. Before she is rescued, Betty has a fever dream where she is a mermaid, portrayed in that silly, musical, surreal animation style that the Fleischer brothers excelled at.

From Betty Boop's Lifeguard (1934)

        

Betty Boop Lip Gloss Candy and Gum

These are a couple of keepsakes that I came across at the various candy stores in Old Town. The Berry Betty Gum (by Boston America Corp.) reminds me of pink Chiclets but smaller and comes in a neat pocket-sized Betty tin. The Lip Gloss Candy (by Au'some Inc.) is contained in a Betty figurine with a removable head and a base that is contoured into an hourglass shape that fits Betty's body. Her dog Pudgy, who was introduced in 1934 in the cartoon Betty Boop's Little Pal (nowadays usually included in merchandise art as a kind of fashion accessory), is included by her side. The Lip Gloss Candy is unusual in that it is not lip gloss but a gooey, sticky candy that reminds me of SqueezePop (a discontinued liquid lollipop candy popular in the '90s that you would squeeze out through a tube).

From Betty Boop's Penthouse (1933)

         

Betty Boop for President (1932)

"♫ When I'm the President, I'll give you all a great big kiss, when I'm the President, woo! ♫." - Betty Boop

Originally released on November 4th, 1932, just four days before the 37th presidential election when Roosevelt was elected, the musical cartoon Betty Boop for President was a lighthearted distraction from the hardships of the Great Depression (as was Betty in general); children and adult viewers got to fantasize about a crazy, fun world with the charming and chipper Betty Boop as president, who could make the country's problems disappear through song, dance, winks, and kisses. It's a fun watch that's riddled with political satire and presents the obvious joke of how Betty's looks and charisma seem to be more beneficial elements for her campaign, as is humorously exemplified in the cartoon by having the hugely favored Betty Boop contrasted against her opponent the less-popular, faceless candidate "Mr. Nobody."  

Betty Boop Tin Lunch Box (Cool Breeze)

This Betty Boop tin lunch box features her in the glamorous, iconic image known as "Cool Breeze", itself modeled almost exactly after Marilyn Monroe's also iconic promotional image for the film The Seven Year Itch from 1955. With "Cool Breeze" Betty is paying homage to Monroe, but interestingly enough, more than twenty years earlier, a scene from the 1932 cartoon Betty Boop's Ups and Downs has been noted for having Betty's skirt behaving in a similar fashion.

Note the perverted, dapper bird anthromorph seizing the opportunity to peek when Betty's skirt flies up. This is a part of a running gag from the early days of Betty's cartoon career, which would eventually be toned down when the Hays Morality Code was strictly enforced in 1934.

My Betty Boop License Plate

This license plate has been affixed to the front of my car for about five months now. It was another impulse buy that snugly fit right in to the front cover where the used car dealership sign used to be. I'll be honest, I sometimes feel a little awkward, being a dude and all, having what many might consider a "girly" license plate. Yet, most of the time, I'm proud to have it there, for the honor of Betty. People probably think that I think I'm real cool or something. Well I may not be cool, but Betty's cool, and I think she looks lovely on the front of my car. What can I say? She won me with a wink.

Porcelain Betty Boop Wall Ornament

This delightful little wall charm, which I found inside of a Betty Boop trash can for sale, only went for a dollar at a flea market. It's about a half foot tall and has a 1985 KFS copyright stamped on the backside.

Her snazzy leg kick sold it for me, and she's now a nice little addition to my eclectically decorated walls. I've taken care to place her high up so she won't ever get knocked off and broken, which the ornament seems to have already had the misfortune of, as she appears to have once been broken at the right ankle and leg as well as at the left arm.

This particular item might have had an interesting history, perhaps like 'the red violin' in the 1998 movie of the same name. If she could talk, what would she say?

(Betty's leg dance was recently featured in two mobile phone video games, Betty Boop Bop and Betty Boop Beat, which I hold the highest score in in the Android universe - really someone should try and beat my current high score of 242.)

Handcrafted Betty Boop Doll

I found this at an antique shop, although it is hardly antique with a production date of 20-May-09 listed on its tag. It's made by Kellytoy, and I'm guessing it might've been a claw-crane machine prize.

Of interesting note is how the doll's head isn't quite the usual oblong but more round shape, without the drooping jowls, and looking less like a puppy dog and perhaps a little more like Helen Kane. Oddly, Betty's characteristic earrings and bracelets are omitted.

At eight dollars, I couldn't resist picking this up, even if the original owner might've won it for fifty cents.