Rudy the Ostrich I’m That Funny Bird By Carl Lobel

The First Barney Google comic strip as drawn by artist/creator Billy DeBeck appeared in 1919. DeBeck added a new character in 1922, a broken down nag of a race horse named Spark Plug owned by Barney Google, expecting the horse’s appearance to be brief. Spark Plug was immediately the most popular character in the strip & DeBeck made him a permanent fixture, changing the name of the strip to Barney Google & Spark Plug. At around the same time the character of Rudy the Ostrich was introduced as a trouble making or troublesome stable mate for Spark Plug.

The popularity of the Barney Google & Spark Plug comic strip with children of all ages led to the production of toys, dolls, games, books & figurines. As with so many other comic strips of the mid-1920s, the Geo. Borgfeldt company moved swiftly to acquire the exclusive rights to license toys, dolls & games based on the Barney Google characters. The first tin toys were wind-ups produced in Germany by H. Fischer Nuremberg in 1923-1924. The Fischer wind-up toy Barney riding Spark Plug is copyright dated 1923 while the wind-up Rudy has a 1924 copyright date on the toy & the original box (Photo #2 & 3).

Subscribe!