Posted 9 years ago
papa
(184 items)
Got this old hand painted starving horse from an estate sale and have never seen one like it before. Not sure if it was a cartoon or just folk art. Seems to be a composite wood item like those old composite dolls, has some age to it. Any clue of characterization of this item?
He is unique for sure and has not ate in months . Neat find and he does seem to represent a cartoon character :-)
These were made by MPI Multi Products Inc, in the late 1940's/early 50's. It's a Syroco wood/resin figure of a "hungry horse" and came in a 4" size and 8".
They were sold as souvenirs across the west, although why anyone would think an emaciated horse was amusing, or something one would want as a souvenir of a trip, is beyond me.
There was no connection with any other figure, someone just apparently thought there would be a market for this type of item. They frequently show up on eBay, with stickers from Catalina Island, Pikes Peak, Montana, and Tombstone, among other places.
Thanks everyone; found a "Hungry Horse Dam" Travel Decal for Montana; Same horse; and a Hungry Horse Dam Newspaper Glacier National Park; same horse. The town of Hungry Horse was indeed named after two draft horses used for logging the area when they wandered off during the severe winter of 1900. The horses, Tex and Jerry, were found a month later, all scraggly and hungry but very much alive. As visitors today drive through Hungry Horse on their way to and from Glacier National Park, there are statuesque reminders of the hungry horses.
Today the town has a population of 900 and is a small community that is likely to be overlooked as visitors make their way onward to Glacier National Park, which lies just 10 miles to the east.
My Mother, she was born in 1942, had one. It had the name "Sorrowful Suzy" and some sort of poem on the bottom of the sculpture. A few years ago, she gave it away among other things. (Alzheimer's) I wish I could have saved it.