Little People, places, and things.
No toy has caused as much controversey among Fisher Price
collectors as the Happy Hopper. Some of the more civic minded collectors believe
that we should free the three Little People who are imprisoned in the Happy
Hopper. Other collectors insist that the Happy Hopper is a classic toy and
should not be tampered with. Personally, I believe that there are actually
humanitarian reasons not to release the Little People from the Happy Hopper.
Here are three good reasons why the Happy Hopper should remain shut: 1) These
Little People might have done something really bad to be imprisoned in the Happy
Hopper for all these years. To release them may be putting the rest of the
Little Person community at risk. 2) After spending so many years in this
sheltered environment, these Little People's bodies may have adapted and
exposure to outside air could prove harmful. 3) Finally, the name of the toy is
"Happy Hopper", not "Unhappy Hopper". Take a good look at all of these Little
People's faces! They're all smiling! They look like they're happy to be there.
Who am I to impose my own cultural ideas of freedom and happiness on to them?
Thus, I encourage all Fisher Price collectors to keep this classic Happy Hopper
closed and preserved with a clear conscience!
In the good ol' summertime.
Of all the Little People sets that were ever made, the Musical
Ferris Wheel #969 is my all time favorite! It's a great combination toy of
Little People and music box, it plays a lovely instrumental rendition of "In The
Good Ol' Summertime", and it was one of my very first toys as a child. More than one version was made. Early models were made for vintage Little People with straight body types. Later versions were created for the vintage Little People with the more traditional figure shaped bodies. One thing that was constant in any version
was the frowning little boy, cranking the Ferris Wheel with his usual mean
scowl. You can't really blame him for frowning. He has to do all that work while
everyone else is having fun. Still, you'd think he might be a little happy over
being the only one with arms!
All wet.
And speaking of the "good ol' summertime", in the picture below
we see a bunch of Little People enjoying a nice summer's day at the pool as well
as another one beating the heat with a nice cool bath. You know, the Little
People must be the most modest folks in the world. They swim and bathe with all
of their clothes on!
