Secret Story Of Billiken

 

• Mother of Billiken-boy-Billiken was originally created by Ms. Florence Pretz of Kansas City, Missouri, who patterned Billiken after Joss, the Chinese god of "things as they ought to be". Billiken was a cross between a god luck charm and cuddly mascot. There is no description or photo of Ms. Florence Pretz herself at the shelf in a library, no one could tell you if she was beautiful young lady or she was little plumpy aunt at this time... anyway she is a mother of Billiken boy.
• Father of Billiken-boy -OK, now... who is a father of Billiken boy? The Horsman Company manufactured Billiken dolls for 2 years and sold more than 200,000 of them during the first 6 months of production. So... this is the answer for above question... E.I.Horsman Co. New York City. Early in 1909 Horsman entered into agreement with Billiken Sales Co. for sole right to manufacture and sell Billiken dolls in the U.S. and Canada. Billiken was one of the first copyrighted dolls.
• Babyhood of Billiken-boy- Here is quotation from one of encyclopedias; elflike doll with molded and painted features and hair. Slanted brows and eyes. pug nose, impish grin, large pointed ears. Beige plush baby with jointed limbs. Brown thread claws on hands and feet. Green and white labels sewn side of chest. In another encyclopedias; having a head with a broad smile on the face, outstanding ears and hair brought to a peak on top and having the baby clothed in somewhat lose-fitting drapery, wide loose sleeves on arms and legs in loose raiment. These were 12 inched tall and cost $1.00 each. Billiken was also advertised by Butler Bros.; pink or white velvet babies, 13 inches. You would be able to find a few photos of Billiken dolls if you check in old encyclopedias. They all looked quite differnent from of its recent appearance. At least... Billiken-boy all used to wear some clothes.
• Friends of Billiken-boy-Billiken dolls usualy enjoyed short lives, since children loved them to death. As a result, they are relatively scarce today and in great demand for grown-up collectors. Many fad dolls disapper quickly, making them great favorited with collectors year later. Billiken boys were distributed through the world in boxes containing a sentimental poem that read in part: "Be very sure that you are good and always act just as you should: I love obedient girls and boys, I am KING of all the toys".
• Now Billiken-boy-Now Billiken-boy does not look like as he used to be... now he is a chunky naked boy. His naughty-boy smile might be one of reasons of his popularity.

Revival of "Billiken boom" in Japan

• He is the "trigger"?! ...Mr. Kitahara "Tin Toy collector" Do you know a TV programÅu Kantei-dan Åvon channel 12? Mr. Teruhisa Kitahara is one of regular performar as a connoisseur of this program. Mr. Kitahara is usually introduced as a "world-wide-known toy-collector" by the mass media. However, he should be considered as an "extraordinary collector". He is far above other collectors because of his strong interests in old things for not only toys, he collects anything what is called "antique". You must see his collection items at least 3 times. I, author, suggest as one of "old thing lovers". A few years ago with the mass media, Mr. Kitahara had informed about Billiken as "Billiken is so rare item and it has worth". His voice directed nationwide attention to Billiken. Kitahara stired up the interests of ordinary people even if they were not involved in the collectors world. As a fact... his report was the trigger of Billiken boom in Japan.
• Where to meet Billiken-boy-Surely one is in Osaka, Japan. Visit a place called "Tsu-ten-kaku". You also would meet one in Ike-bukuro, Tokyo.
• In Osaka. There is a place called "Tsu-ten-kaku" in Osaka. Oops! unfortunetely, Author have not been there... excuse me... but this is certain information. Billiken is enshrined in "Tsu-ten-kaku". If you have been there and have seen Billiken there, please let me know how he is doing.

Coming to Tokyo !

• Namja Town in Ike-bukuro, Tokyo. This is just a report of personaly favorit places.There is an amusement park which produced by game maker "Namco" in Ike-bukuro, Tokyo. Namjya Town. They celebrated 2nd anniversary in July,1997. Well, to be frank... this is one of place you could meet Billiken-boy! To tell the trouth, Namjya Town is the best spot for you to meet Billiken actually! This one is real big boy. There is legend of making wish to rub his feet... do you want to try that?

I have been asked many times the questons What is a Billiken? What
is it's Origin? Who made it?

Well I have read 3 things about where it came from. But first I will tell you what it is. From what I have read (and correct me if you have heard different) that the Billiken is a Good Luck Symbol or Charm. It is made to bring St. Louis University Teams Good Luck... That is what I have read.

How the Billiken became attached to the University remains a matter of
debate. It seems to have happened sometime between 1910 and 1911 at the
height of Billikenmania.

St. Louis sports writer William O'Connor decided that SLU football coach John Bender resembled the Billiken. Later, Charles McNamara drew a cartoon of Bender in the form of a Billiken and posted it in the window of a drugstore. The football team soon became known as Bender's Billikens.

St. Louis Billikens

 

**THE BILLIKEN MAN Song, Words by E.Ray Goetz, Music by Melville, J. Gideon As Introduced by the Miss Blanche Ring, Famous Singing Comedienne. This song is published in 1909 by Special Arrangement with the Billiken Co., Chicago, Owners of the Copyright of "Billiken" five pages, on the back end paper there are nine extra Billiken Verses.

One verse reads: Once a fat man went a-swimmin; from the surf he tripped, He was flirtin, with some woman, When his new suit ripped. As he sat down in the sand, He said "Billikens don't stand", I'm a Billiken Man, a Billiken Man.

Review: Billiken-The Movie by Aaron Gerow Japanese title: Biriken Production Company: Kino Release: 3 August 1996 Length: 100 min. Format: 35 mm; 1:1.85 Color: Color

It's 'Billiken' to the Rescue

Put a coin in the donation box, rub the soles of his feet, and make a wish. Billiken the god of fortune will make us all happy.

Billiken who? The eponymous star of Sakamoto Junji's comedy, Billiken--a squat, dumpy figure with a mischievous smile and pointy head--is a character from real life. Created by an American sculptor in 1908, the bizarre statue became quite a hit in the teens and twenties in both the United States and Japan, and a shrine was even built in his honor in Osaka's Shinsekai district.

Billiken, however, has long since been forgotten. So, in some ways, have old entertainment centers like Shinsekai which, like New York's Coney Island or Tokyo's Asakusa, used to be the places to go to enjoy the thrills of modernity, to celebrate the then new fashions and fads like the movies and Billiken. However, these entertainment areas now seem somewhat pathetic and run down.

Starting with his delightful Knockout ("Dotsuitarunen," 1989) and Checkmate ("Ote,&quot), 1991), and continuing with Billiken, the Osaka-born Sakamoto has continued to offer a slightly nostalgic but always enjoyable portrait of the unique and irreverent culture of Shinsekai. In Billiken, the existence of the region itself is under threat as real estate developers propose to tear down Shinsekai and its symbol, the Tsutenkaku Tower, as part of efforts to bring the 2004 Olympics to Osaka.

As a defense, the head of Tsutenkaku (Kishibe Ittoku) tries a couple of absurd strategies to revive the popularity of the tower. He finally succeeds by reinstalling the forgotten statue of Billiken. But Billiken causes a commotion by fulfilling even the most ridiculous wishes.

To bring the wooden Billiken to life--to flesh out his character, so to speak--Sakamoto cleverly has the eccentric actor Sugimoto Tetta play the spirit of Billiken (he apparently prepared for his role by sleeping with the Billiken statue every night).

The movie's most delightful points are when Sugimoto, invisible to those outside of Tsutenkaku, scampers around Shinsekai trying to grant everyone's wishes, from leading a favorite horse to victory, to improving a man's sexual energy and even curing someone's hemorrhoids.

Billiken/Sugimoto fights the conniving real estate developer Ekage (Gan Ryutaro), a traitor to his native Shinsekai. He even falls in love with a young teacher Tsukino (Yamaguchi Tomoko), but it is when the fulfillment of these wishes begins to cause problems and Billiken gets thrown out of Tsutenkaku that the tight and well-paced script begins to unravel.

Billiken's eventual triumph is also a bit haphazard, which only reinforces the impression that Sakamoto's portrait of Shinsekai is best when it focuses on the area's communal ambiance, the peculiar but honest humanity of its collection of characters.

Here being out-of-fashion is cool. And Japanese religion is neither Zen nor the animism of Shinto, but the bonds of belief in one's hometown, even if it is made up of petty gangsters, homeless people, hucksters, and modern showmen like Sakamoto.

Billiken does not rise up to the level of Sakamoto's previous work, but maybe re-encountering out-of-style idols like Billiken can help us all be a little bit more happy.

Sugimoto Tetta as Billiken

Darling pair of Billy Can and Billy Can't figures made of chalkware. They look as tho someone has repainted them, so I priced accordingly. You can see by the bottoms, tho, that they ARE old. Great for collectors of chanberpots, Billikens or just Good Luck in general. You can't see the lettering on the fronts of the figs. very well, but it is incised into the chalk and does say BILLYCAN (w/ a backwards n) on one and BILLYCAN'T on the other. The reason is obvious, eh?

Here some other variations:

Billiken Bank

Billiken Bookends

Billiken Token

Billiken Salt & Pepper-A

Billiken Tooth Pick Stand

Billy Can Salt & Pepper-B

Whale Tooth Billiken from Alaska

And my favorite, a Nixon Billiken.

Subject: Billiken History Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2005 21:41:29 -0800 From: Verbeck Smith <hvsmith@mindspring.com> Reply-To: hvsmith@pobox.com To: ezsmith@e-z-smith.com Dear Mr Smith: I'm writing to you because you have some information about the billiken that is circulating on the Internet. Yours is one of three primary sites that I found, and all have just part of the early information on these artifacts and collectibles. Unfortunately, there is no published research available on Internet that I have been able to find, and the articles about them, including the one referred to in your information, are unavailable to most people. That first article appeared in the Alaska Sportsman, September 1960. Dorothy Jean Ray, the author, wrote a longer and more detailed piece with illustrations for the Alaska Journal, Winter 1974. She is disappointed that no one has used that piece as a reference, from what she has read and heard. She has asked me if there is any way to get the second article published on the Internet, and I told her that I know of none. Dorothy Jean Ray, anthropologist and historian, is a recognized authority on the history of the Iñupiat Eskimo people of the Bering Strait and on Eskimo art. She resides in Port Townsend, Washington, where she and her late husband, Verne Ray, retired from his work in anthropology at the University of Washington. She has an original copy of the 1974 magazine, and she has agreed to make a copy of her article in that, if you wish to have me send it. After speaking with her, I looked in her most recent publication and found most of the information about the billiken, including some of the same photos. This book is widely available in libraries and is still in print, if you are interested. See: A Legacy of Arctic Art, University of Alaska Museum, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1996. pp. 15, 132, 164-9, 177. My interest in all this is as a result of my deceased wife's work centered on her paternal grandparents' decade teaching the Iñupiat people of Kingegan village (Wales) in Alaska Territory. Mrs. Ray was Kathleen's mentor during the process of publishing two works based on letters, art, and papers in her family's Alaskana collection. For details about all this, see our Website: http://www.icewindow.com Thank you for your time. Verbeck Smith, Seattle hvsmith@pobox.com Reply: Dear Verbeck Congratulations , you've just become one of the authorities on the subject of billikens. Since everything I know about them has been gathered from the net and added to this page, then it seems only fitting that your letter be added to the mix. If you e-mail me a copy of Dorothy Jean Ray's article, I'll add it to my page too. Good hunting.

Subject: Billiken Date: Wed, 30 May 2007 Hi, would you like another photo of a Billiken? My husband bought me a concrete one many, many years ago at a junk store in Callaway County Missouri. It made me laugh, so he thought I needed it. He had one of those 'I'm a nice husband moments'. Anyway, it's been traveling around MO from one move to the next and has always been a yard ornament. A Navajo man who use to visit us from time to time liked it, and would turn it towards the East every time he came to visit. So, if you want another photo of one, I'll go out and take a digital of it and email it to you. It's currently painted red, but has been many colours thru the years. Originally it was painted white. Judiann