Marx Joe Penner and his Duck Goo Goo Tin Lithographed Windup Toy *SOLD*

Marx Joe Penner and his Duck Goo Goo Tin Lithographed Windup Toy

We have for you a tin, windup, lithographed Joe Penner and his Duck Goo Goo manufactured by Louis Marx & Company of New York City, New York.

Our Joe Penner toy is something of a historical footnote and a superb tin toy by Marx. Windup this Great Depression era toy and watch him scoot across the floor with his comic relief Duck. In the day, he was known as a vaudeville comic as well as a radio comic. The working clockwork mechanism has a dedicated key that when wound makes Joe scoot and shuffle his feet, as his hat tips up and down with a fast action. Add in the often missing cigar and you get an iconic toy.

Our example of this Marx Joe Penner and his Duck Goo Goo is in great all original condition with no breaks, restorations, repairs, or touch ups. This piece shows the usual patina, dust, chips, scuffs, surface rust, scratches, and wear that are to be expected from age and play. It is approximately 8 ¼” H. This would be a great and impressive addition to any collection. We invite you to view the photos to further determine quality and condition.

A brief history of Louis Marx & Company of New York City, New York:  

Louis Marx and Company was an American toy manufacturer in business from about 1919 to 1980 founded in New York City by Louis & David Marx. Its products were often imprinted with the slogan, “One of the many Marx toys, have you all of them?” Arguably, Marx was the most well-known toy companies through the late mid-20th century. Best known for their lithographed tin windup toys Marx was also one of the big four among American electric train manufacturers. An interesting fact is that Marx also successfully revived the Yo-Yo in 1928; it sold well even through the Depression.

A brief history of Joe Penner from IMBD: 

“Mostly forgotten today, radio comic Joe Penner was a major craze back in Depression-era 1933 and 1934. There was no heavy social significance to his work and certainly no subtlety — just alot of slapstick silliness that helped audiences forget their troubles and get happy. People today equate Penner’s zany, simpering, man-child delivery to that of a Pee Wee Herman or Jerry Lewis. Born Josef Pinter in Hungary, he arrived as a child in New York City. He changed his name to Joe Penner and became fairly successful on the vaudeville and burlesque circuits as a Lou Costello-like patsy. His catchphrase “Wanna buy a duck?” started here. The story goes that in his routine he would customarily go out on stage with some sort of prop and say to his straight man, “Wanna buy a…” whatever the prop was. No laughs basically until one day when he went out on stage with a wooden decoy and said, “Wanna buy a duck?” The house went wild. “