Forget about the Weather Channel and all those high-tech weather apps on your smart phones and tablets. In 1948, people predicted the weather the good old fashioned, common sense way--they relied on cartoon characters. "Watch for balmy days when Mickey is out--beware of rain when Donald's about."
It was as simple as this:
"There is no difficult mechanism to get out of order--nothing complicated to study. You'll love the beloved Disney clan--Figaro the Cat, the rooster weather vane and Pluto the Pup. The Mickey Mouse Weather House is sturdy, works indoors or out, is made of brightly colored plastic all hand painted."The Weatherman company out of Chicago sold these types of devices via mail order and advertised primarily in general interest magazines and comic books. It appears to employ a very basic hygrometer. For $1.49, it was likely more gimmick than science. They must have been rather disposable. I have never ever seen one and a quick eBay search produced no results.
8 comments:
Now, this is an item I would buy!
Very cool vintage piece
That's an interesting item. I wouldn't mind buying something like that :)
Also, it's good to have you back Jeff, I've missed your blog post and look forward to more. I'm really glad you started up again.
Sorta reminds me of a cuckoo clock. For $1.49 I would totally buy one. Wonder if it actually worked....
I owned one of these I found at an auction and yes, it actually worked.
Unfortunately it was destroyed in a leaky roof incident hanging on the wall. The entire housing was cardboard.
Live by the weather die by the weather...
PS - Glad to see you posting again.
Hello again it's good to see you back but now it's October the 2nd 5386and I'm sure that many of your readers would really love to see you doing more of your excellent blog postings as I would!
I remember ads like that in magazines. In today's world where we rarely read on paper, I can't remember the last time I saw something like that.
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thanks for all your hard work Jeff, I wish you well in whatever you are doing now.
This was absolutely science and not a gimmick.
If your hair gets curly when you travel to the humidity of Disney World, Florida you've experienced the science firsthand.
It's a simple hygrometer; Mickey and Donald are hung from a fiber which twists and untwists as humidity increases and falls.
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