Gid-ap The Balking Pony

This is one of the few "Century" toys in the collection. This toy was manufactured in 1923.

Marx “Gid-Ap” 1923

Below is the description found in the Marx Greenburg’s Guide to Marx toys Vol. 1 from 1988.  This toy is very rare, I have seen the toy for sale only twice, this is the only box I have ever seen. When the Marx book was being put together I believe they did not know the name of the toy, hence it being listed as “Horse And Cart With Clown Driver”. 

“Horse And Cart With Clown Driver: 1923. 7-5/8” long X 5” high. This rarely seen toy consists of a clown in a cart pulled by a small horse. The clown wears a pointed cap and a costume with a circular pattern. The cart body, excluding the disc-style wheels, is covered with a circular pattern, which differs from the costume.

The horse and cart with clown driver appeared in a 1923 Sears catalog advertisement. It is believed to be the first year that a Marx item was shown in a catalog, although Marx ads did not appear at that time in toy magazines. The ad did not mention the name of the manufacture and the illustration differs from the actual toy in a number of ways. While the actual toy has a large Marx logo on its pointed cap, the ad shows the cap with a star design. The ad shows the clown’s costume with a crescent pattern. No pattern is shown on the cart and the wheels are open spoked in the illustration. A few years later, other catalogs showed the wheels in a disc style as on the actual toy.

In 1925 Sears catalog, the Horse and Cart and Clown Driver appeared on a page with other toys. Some of the toys were made by Marx, but others were from different manufacturers. The Marx Horse and Cart sold for 25 cents and is described as follows; Pony trots around in a circle as driver moves in his seat.

The horse and cart appeared in catalogs without the clown driver as early as 1920. The toy is on a page with some Strauss toys, which suggests that Marx may have acquired the horse and cart from Strauss. In fact, even with the addition of the clown driver, the toy may have originally come from Strauss die which explains the toy’s appearance in catalogs as early as 1923.

A picture of the Horse and Cart with Clown Driver can be found in the interesting book by Don Cranmer, Cast Iron & Tin Toys of Yesteryear.

The cart and horse of the toy resembles the 1930’s Popeye Horse and Cart. The length of the two toys is approximately the same, but since there is a different figure in both toys, the height of each toy differs.