REMEMBERANCE OF CHRISTMAS PAST 1

This little guy is one of the earliest Christmas presents I can recall ever getting. It's a talking Beany doll from Mattel (You Can Tell It's Mattel, It's Swell!) from 1962. Beany had a pull string on his side and uttered about half a dozen phrases when you pulled the string. Stuff like: "Help, Cecil, Help!", "My name's Beany, what's yours?" and "Look out for Dishonest John". His body was stuffed, his jersey and overalls cloth while his hands, feet and head (complete with a beanie and spinning propeller) were all hard molded rubber. 

Beany, of course, was one of the stars of the cartoon series BEANY AND CECIL which ran on ABC-TV from 1962-1969. It was produced by legendary animator Bob Clampett. Beany's sidekick, Cecil, was a sea-sick sea-serpent. 

I adored this series when I was a wee lad and I loved my talking Beany doll even more. 

More Christmas memories to come. Stay tuned.