nPostednon January 7, 2016
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nInhave never owned one, but I know a bit about bobbleheads.
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nInknow that bobbleheads are collectible toys with oversized headsnconnected to their bodies with springs. I know that they arenespecially common in sports, most especially in baseball, withnbobblehead give-aways designed to lure people out to the ball park. n
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nWhatnI didn’t know – and, frankly, find somewhat hard to believe! – isnthat there is a National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum due to benopened some time this year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And that everynJanuary 7 is National Bobblehead Day!
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Bobbleheadsndidn’t start with Major League Baseball! Way back in the 1840s, anshort story talks about plaster cats that wag their heads, and therenhave been and still are many animal figures with spring-mountednheads. A traditional sort of doll from India is a sort ofnbobblehead—Tahnjavur dolls, to be specific.
Bobbleheadsndidn’t start with Major League Baseball! Way back in the 1840s, anshort story talks about plaster cats that wag their heads, and therenhave been and still are many animal figures with spring-mountednheads. A traditional sort of doll from India is a sort ofnbobblehead—Tahnjavur dolls, to be specific. n
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nThe first modernnbobblehead appeared in the 1950s, and ML Baseball got into the fadnwith papier-mache bobbleheads in 1960. n
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nThenfirst baseball bobbleheads had young, “cherubic” faces butndifferent colors of hats and uniforms to represent the differentnteams. The 1960 World Series featured bobbleheads that were supposednto be specific to star players – Roberto Clemente, Mickey Mantle,nRoger Maris, and Willie Mays. But the faces were still all the same.
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nAllnthrough the sixties, the bobblehead fad continued. The materials werenchanged from papier-mache to ceramic, and many more forms werencrafted, including cartoon characters, athletes in other sports, andneven the Beatles.
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| Original Beatles bobbleheads are rare– and valuable! |
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nBynthe mid-70s, however, the fad was beginning to fade away.
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nAndnthen the craze got a restart with (of course) plastic becoming thenmaterial of choice. Finally, it was possible to make truly variablenbobbleheads, with much smaller “runs” of many more differentndolls.
The collectibles were suddenly way more collectible!
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nMini-bobbleheadsnwere created as well.
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nAndnrecently personalized bobbleheads have been offered. Just send in anfew color photos (front-view and profile-view, for 3-D modeling),nmake a few color choices, and pay $79 – and voila, in a few daysnyou will own a bobblehead of yourself!
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nHerenare some of the bobbleheads you can find today:
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nTVnpersonalities such as Mythbuster Jamie Hyneman and Ellen
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nFictionalncharacters, including Superman and Rosie the Riveter
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nScientistsnsuch as Marie Curie
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nAthletesnsuch as Derek Jeter and LeBron James
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nAlsonon this date:
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nGannanin Ethiopia
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nHarlemnGlobetrotters Day
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nTempuranDay
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nAnniversarynof publication of Fanny Farmer’s Cookbook
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nTumbesnAnniversary in Peru
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on:
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nJanuaryn birthdays
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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