1905 Kenton Yellow Kid Cast Iron Goat Cart Toy ~Yellow Journalism For Sale

Here we offer a genuine, original Kenton cast iron and steel goat cart toy, offered in the Kenton Catalogue in 1905. Included is a modern replica Kenton Yellow Kid character, reproduced in painted resin. The toy originally featured an identical cast-iron model of the Yellow Kid, who is credited with being the first popular cartoon character in nascent turn-of-the-century colored comic newspaper supplements. The Yellow Kid (a.k.a. Mickey Dugan) was a carefree Irish street urchin--dressed only in a soiled nightshirt, and shaved bald, as lice-infested poor kids routinely were--but with a natural cheer nothing could upset. He was colored bright yellow to show off the color printing in Joseph Pulitzer\'s New York World newspaper. He became so sensationally popular at the close of the 19th century that Hearst\'s New York Journal bought the cartoonist away from the World. The World kept up the strip with a new artist, and all of a sudden there were two Yellow Kids in New York. The poor journalistic quality of these two warring, overly-sensational rags came to be known as \"yellow journalism\", a term referring directly to the Yellow Kid comics they shared. The Yellow Kid\'s marvelously creative cartoonist, Richard F. Oucault, would go on to further success, in the comic strips \"Hogan\'s Alley\" and \"Casey\'s Corner\", with, most notably, mischievous rich kid Buster Brown and his talking dog, Tige (pronounced as in \"Tiger\"). Hogan\'s Alley would inspire \"Little Orphan Annie\" and, much later, \"Our Gang\" and \"The Little Rascals\" and even the esteemed Alfred E Neuman!The goat cart is a similar charm to this character, as poor people in cities often kept goats for milk, and a goat cart was seen as a novelty of plucky urban life. At the turn into the 20th Century, Kenton Hardware Company produced a slew of cast iron toys from its Kenton, Ohio home. This model featured rolling wheels and removable Yellow Kid character. The goat and cart are original, excellently-preserved condition; the Yellow Kid replica, which you can only get here, is mint. Assembled, the toy measures approximately 7.75-inches long x 5 high.
This treasure of Americana will make a wonderful addition to your collection or a very thoughtful gift.

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