Good Old Bird

One of the new/old dolls that has come to live here at the World's Largest Toy Musuem recently is in pretty good shape. When I saw her stretched out like that I thought I'd surely break something if I tried to get in that position not to mention the challenge of getting back up! Most of my exercising (when it gets done at all) consists of walking - not contorting.

However, what caught my eye was the old bird standing behind her. The base says, "Peters Weatherbird Shoes - For Boys - For Girls." I had never heard of Weatherbird Shoes and so I did a little checking. I learned that the Saint Louis Peters Shoes Company used Weatherbird's image for promotion purposes from 1907 to 1932. But who is Weatherbird? As it turns out, Weatherbird is the oldest continually running daily cartoon in America. He first appeared in February of 1901  in the St. Louis Post Dispatch and is still going. He's been drawn by several different creators over the years and his "look" has evolved somewhat as well. But for twenty five years he was also the mascot for children's shoes manufactured by the Saint Louis Peters Shoes Company.

Perhaps our girl in pink has some Peters Weatherbird Shoes she can change into from her ballet slippers.

Some of the information for this blog came from www.weatherbird.wikia.com