Posted 12 years ago
rkmontg342
(11 items)
ORIGINAL MICKEY MOUSE WEATHER HOUSE/HYGROMETER dating to the 1950s.
MICKEY MOUSE (left) came out of doorway 8 to 24 hours in advance of clear weather.
DONALD DUCK (right) came out of doorway 8 to 24 hours in advance of stormy weather.
BOTH FIGURES standing evenly in doorway indicated changeable weather.
Instructions printed on cardboard on back.
Cardboard on back has a small stain. (see photo)
See photo with blue rooster showing upper area of back. There is supposed to be a small thin string/line coming down from the rooster in order for the weather to be predicted. You can barely see what remains of that line in photo. Hence, no weather predicting happening. Mickey and Donald retired from the business until somebody reactivates them.
There are a few small areas where original paint has chipped. (see photo)
No breaks to the plastic or figures to my knowledge. No box.
This weather house has a blue roof which seems more rare to find. Most often found are roofs in yellow or red.
This item has been in our family since the 1950s.
Very nice ! Love it and thanks for sharing :-)
You are welcome, Manikin, and glad you enjoy seeing it.
It's still a nice display piece, I like it.
Unusual Disney items are always HOT.
As if you haven't fiqured it out, I had to stop in and share some love on this piece. Very unique and highly collectable. VERY nice piece, thanks for sharing this wonderful Disney item.
Thank you Kerry10456 for stopping by and kind words. If I had known ahead of time, I could have put on the kettle for tea. (grin) Then, we could chat more about Mr. Mickey. Kidding aside . . . glad you like it.
OK, found something fun to read about weather forecasting houses this afternoon.
Stumbled upon at Wordpress, an article from Nov 1950, in Mechanix Illustrated titled "Big Profits From Little Prophets", written by Clive Howard.
First paragraph, "The Kahns took the old Swiss weather house, put it on a modern production line and now collect over 3/4 million dollars annually."
Paragraph 7, "Second biggest seller is the Mickey Mouse model, designed by Mrs. Kahn. If the weather is going to be clear, Mickey Mouse emerges from the house. Donald Duck, clad in raincoat and carrying an umbrella, forecasts wet weather."
I will add the url here and maybe you can get to it to read more.
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2012/01/09/big-profits-from-little-prophets/
Thanks for the link, enjoyed reading it.
You are welcome and I am glad to hear the link worked.