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Friday, September 28, 2012

Fisher Price Friday - Play Family Farm

Today on Fisher Price Friday I'd like to revisit the Little People Farm.  My very first Fisher Price Friday I shared the Little People Farm #2555 from 1990.  It was the chunky people version of the classic Play Family Farm.  Today I'd like to show you an older (but still not original) version of the farm, the Play Family Farm #915.  The farm was made from 1968-1985 and went through many many small changes and piece variations.  It is tricky to figure out which pieces went with which version, really I think it's best to pick the farm/pieces you like best and go with it!

I believe that my version is from 1979 because of the plastic base.  It has a green plastic base rather than masonite (which was on the farm from 1968-1978).  The roof is white plastic with a Fisher-Price logo and stickers.  There are lithographs inside and outside the barn.  The set came with a silo (not the one pictured though), animals, a farm family, tractor and cart and fence pieces.  The barn can be carried by the plastic handle on the roof.

There are many variations to farm animals that came with each set over the years.  The 1979 version came with a black pig (bottom left), white sheep, brown dog, white & brown cow, white chicken, red hen and a brown horse.  I believe that these are the same animals pictured (except the white sheep, she's older).  On the original FP boxes the animals were named: Rusty Rooster, Henrietta Hen, Horace the Horse, Wooly Lamb, Spot the Dog, Pudgy Pig and Bossie the Cow.

None of these newer animals should have metal hex screws in their bellies (as seen in the older sheep).  They were all plastic and say "Made in Hong Kong" on their bellies.  

The 1979 family included a farmer, farmer's wife, brown haired girl and yellow farm boy.  They were named: Farmer and Mrs. Brown and their kids Cathy and Clem.  The sets had some variations to the farmer's family over the years as well.  Until 1974 Cathy could be green or blue with either red/yellow ponytail hair.  The Farmer had different colored hats and scarves.  Clem could be red with a yellow hat, blue with a red hat, or blue with a yellow hat.  Mrs. Brown's only changes were from wood to plastic.  Her white bun and yellow body stayed consistent over the years.

The earlier farms had wooden people.  Here are the older and newer Farmer and Mrs. Brown side-by-side.

This tractor/cart combo is for the 1979 version.  Tractors could also be yellow w/green wheels or red with yellow wheels.  The carts could be red, yellow or green.  The carts connect with either the tractor or via a harness to the horse.  The tractor should have a lithograph of a "engine" on the front as seen in the photo below of a yellow/green tractor.



The horse wearing the harness.  

The barn door on the left makes a "mooing" sound when you open and shut it.  One of the best features of this classic toy!  The doors of the barn keep closed with a plastic latch.

Inside the barn there are lithographs on the walls of (surprise) a barn interior. Ha!  The interior includes a Spring Valley Feed sign, 3 bays of windows, a back door, milk container, a saddle and other horse tack.

The animals in the barn include a few friendly mice, a barn swallow and a barn cat.  There is also a hay trough.

The hayloft has a lithograph of hay on a wood floor.  The white doors open and shut.  You can fit quite a few animals in that loft!

The right side of the barn has lithographs of the windows (correspond with the inside ones), flowers and a lovely decal.

The back of the barn has a lithograph of a Circus sign, small windows, a sleepy dog under a bench, a back door and some more flowers.

The left side of the barn has a small window, flower in a pot, another decal and a small bird's nest in a hayloft air "vent".

We have a few other animals in our set, enough to make a full barnyard.  The white plastic fence pieces (4) are the old style with a "knife-whittled" finish.  Newer fence pieces are smoother and have a whiter finish (if you look closely the fence piece on the right is a newer one).


Until next time, have some fun on the farm!

3 comments:

  1. What is something like that worth

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    1. Hello there. Well the value of the barns can very quite a bit depending on the condition, year and what accessories are included. I'd say around $30-$80 on average.

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