Visiting the Barker Character, Comic & Cartoon Museum In Cheshire is like peeking into the attic of an old man who never threw away any of his childhood toys — or any of the toys belonging to his parents, siblings, cousins and kids.
A Huckleberry Hound lunch box? Right next to the Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Daniel Boone and “The Magic of Lassie” lunch boxes.
A Mr. Bill action figure? It’s there, too, near the Alfred E. Neuman, Garbage Pail Kids and Rat Fink dolls. A Pee-wee Herman Halloween mask? Yup, displayed in a case with Casper the Friendly Ghost, Pac Man and Marie Osmond masks.
A “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” card deck? In the case dedicated to spies, with dolls of Maxwell Smart, Austin Powers and Ursula Andress in a bikini.
Eighty thousand items pack the two-story display area — items on walls, on the floor, in display cases, hanging from the ceiling — at the Barker. The family-owned museum is dedicated to preserving the memories of 20th-century American pop culture, as it was experienced in the licensed character-focused products that filled kids’ toy boxes and playrooms for decades.
The collection belongs to Herb and Gloria Barker, who founded Barker Specialty Company in the building next door in 1948. They’re retired now and living in Hollywood, Fla. The Barker family still runs Barker Specialty Company.
Herb and Gloria began collecting old toys in the ’70s.
“My wife had the idea that the toys that were being thrown away were part of American history. … We wanted to preserve the history of toys as they related to America,” Herb says in a phone interview. “When our other friends were out playing golf or tennis or traveling, we were at tag sales picking up different toys, every single weekend.”
Although the items on show lean heavily toward ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s pop-culture, Herb’s heart is closer to more distant decades.
“Popeye was born in January 1929. I was born in January 1929,” Herb says. “During the Great Depression, there was nothing to cheer about. … People were so sad. They needed a laugh. A lot of comic strip characters were coming out.”
Popeye, as well as other more old-time characters such as Mickey Mouse, the Katzenjammer Kids, the Yellow Kid, Betty Boop, Little Lulu and Barney Google, have their own displays. The oldest item in the exhibit is a little elephant made in 1873. The most recent are a few items from “The Force Awakens,” although 21st-century items are not heavily represented.
“You go to museums and everything is 100 years old or older. People don’t recognize something they may have had or their father or grandfather may have had,” Herb says. “Like a Lone Ranger ring. You used to get them in a Farina box or a cereal box. Now they’re worth $750.”
Just for fun, many of the items have price tags on them to show what they are worth now, though nothing is for sale.
“Everyone wants to know what they’re worth,” says museum director Judy Fuerst. The Barkers “got them at tag sales for 25 or 50 cents. Nobody valued this stuff back then.”
But it’s the memories that charm visitors. So many TV shows, actors and characters, some beloved, some long-forgotten, fill the display area: Lorax, Pink Panther, Gumby, Incredible Hulk, Beavis & Butt-Head, the California Raisins, Thunderbirds, the Wizard of Oz, Tweety Bird, Heckle and Jeckle.
The Smurfs, Felix the Cat, Alvin & The Chipmunks, Flash Gordon, Howdy Doody, Wonder Woman, Mighty Mouse, Magilla Gorilla, Mork from Ork, Fonzie.
They are represented in puppets, comic books, dolls, Pez dispensers, pins, dishes, Colorforms, pull toys, pens, lunchboxes, candy cigarettes, watches, paddle balls, books, action figures and hundreds of other licensed products that may seem silly now but sold well back in the day.
The museum is a tidal wave of nostalgia. Visitors might not be able to stop themselves from breaking into a TV show theme song as they wander through the aisles.
“People have memories in storage they haven’t thought in 50 years,” Fuerst says. “We hear kids and grandparents exchanging stories. That’s the fun of this place. Many kids don’t think of their grandparents as being young.”
THE BARKER CHARACTER, COMIC & CARTOON MUSEUM is at 1188 Highland Ave. in Cheshire. Hours are Wednesday to Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Admission is $5, $4 students and seniors, $3 kids 4 to 17, free to ages 3 and younger and active-duty military and their immediate families. barkermuseum.com.
