Article: Cartoon Brownies helped push products; CURRENT PRICES Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions. Ladd eggbeater: blue, T handle, ball bearing, 1926-'29; $15. "All in the Family" card game: Archie Bunker, 1972, Milton Bradley; $25. Hotel Victoria, Chicago, 1899 Christmas menu: color engraved cover; $35. Pinky Lee child's chair: wooden, folding, red graphics, "PINKY LEE" along back with picture and balloons, 1950s; $95. Betsy McCall doll: blond, pink-and-black party dress, pink shoes, white socks, 1960s, 8 inches; $165. Ten Commandments sampler: Catherine Chittenden, ninth year of age, 21-by-17 inches; $270. Silver vodka cup: pierced strap-work handle, lotus and floral design, Moscow, 1894, 2 inches; $300. Mary Gregory pitcher: ribbed, crimped petal rim, woman in long dress carrying vase of flowers, painted features, 91 2 inches; $325. Royal Bonn vase: painted and gilded, two handles, flowers, multicolored ground, shell form feet, marked, 17 inches; $400. Louis XVI-style gilt-bronze mounted parquetry bed: 19th century, 57-by-86 by 621 2 inches; $2,300.

Cartoon characters have been used to promote products since the 19th century. The Palmer Cox Brownies, comic characters in books and cartoon strips, were among the most successful product "salesmen."

Palmer Cox was born in Quebec in 1840. He went to San Francisco in 1856 and soon was working as an artist, journalist and cartoonist. His first book of cartoons was published in 1874, and he moved to New York in 1875.

The first Brownies story was printed in a magazine in 1883. The Brownie books gradually became more and more popular, and their fame brought fortune to Cox. He wrote more than 20 books before his death in 1924.

The Brownies Dude, Soldier, Policeman, Sailor, Cowboy, Scotsman, ...

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