Dapper Dan

Marx manufactured more than one Dapper Dan Jigger toy and there is confusion concerning which of these toys are actually attributed to Marx. One reason is that Marx sold other manufactures’’ toys as well as his own and did not always identify the manufacturer in the advertisements. An ad in the February 1923 Playthings magazine is a case in point. Some of the pages featuring Marx Toys in a mail order catalogs included a few toys from other manufacturers that were not identified in the ad. 

Carters Dapper Dab Coon Jigger: 1922. 4-1/2” wide X 10” high. The dancing figure is strikingly dressed in a red and white-checked jacket, blue and white-striped pants, blue and white tie, white shirt, yellow vest and grey derby.

The mechanical workings of the toy are in a yellow base decorated with three figures elegantly lithographed in black with dashed of red and white. Red lettering reads “Dapper Dan Coon Jigger”. Another Dapper Dan figure has a spotted coat.

An ad placed by Louis Marx in January 1922 issue of Playthings magazine identifies the manufacture of the Dapper Dan Coon Jigger as C. E. Carter and Marx companies appear. The Hendren patent number 959,009 dated May 24, 1910, is also referenced to on the bottom of the toy.

Another ad for the Dapper Dan Coon Jigger appears in the December 1925 issue of the American Wholesale Corporation Catalog. The toy sells for $3.68 a dozen. The ad states that the toy measures 3-1/4” long x 4-3/8” wide x 11-1/2” high, but the toy actually is only 10” high. According to the ad, the toy is lithographed in eight bright colors and has a jointed figure with striped trousers, a red and yellow coat, and wide blue hat. A regulator on the side controls the action.