c.1933 R. Sanchez, Laurel & Hardy w/Felix The Cat, Doll Stroller
Today, there are very few examples of any toy made by Rogelio Sanchez. He was a Spanish fruit packer with absolutely no experience producing tin toys. But that didn't stop him from creating his own tin toy company around 1928. Whatever character he wanted on his toys, either real or animated, he used without licensing. Whatever design he thought would sell, like Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat together smoking cigarettes, he used. Rogelio ceased production in 1936, after volunteering to fight in the Spanish Civil war and was killed shortly thereafter. The Sanchez company produced this collapsible tin doll stroller probably because it provided two large easily lithographed flat surfaces for whatever character they chose. In this case Laurel and Hardy with Felix the Cat. I also have a smaller version of the stroller with Mickey Mouse and Felix. I purchased both from the same Spanish collector who had owned them since the 1950's. I was unable to find any reference for it. The stroller is all tin including the spoke wheels and is hand made. The handle pushes down into the seat back and the chair folds up into a small square (although I wouldn't recommend doing it). The lithoed seat and seat back feature color images of Laurel and Hardy surrounded by flowers, a checkerboard, and Felix the Cat in each corner. The imagery on the seat back was "borrowed" from the classic L&H film "Sons of The Desert" (shown below). This 1933 film centered around the boys "fooling" their wives into thinking they cruised to Honolulu for Ollie's health, when actually they attended their "Sons of the Desert" lodge convention in Chicago. Arriving home Stan carried a pineapple and danced, while Ollie played and sang "Honolulu Baby" on a ukulele. Both wore flower wreath leas around their necks. As you can see, these elements were all included on the toy. Using the same color design, the seat was lithoed with a smiling Ollie pushing a smiling Stanley in the collapsible stroller. Rogelio cleverly used the island motif showing a palm tree in the background. He had named his company La Isla or The Island and used the palm tree as his trademark. The Pico y Cia Juguetes, or Hide and Seek Toys triangular trademark was used occasionally to make the toy look more "official". Very few licensed Laurel and Hardy products were produced while they were still alive. Other toy manufacturers made figures that were reminiscent of L&H, but were just different enough to get by without licensing them such as Kellermann's (Germany) Ollie hand held sparkler and Marx' (U.S.) Sunnyside Service Station. Size: 11" tall x 8" deep x 5" wide.
Price Sold: $ 1100
