1958 Jim Henson Wilkins Coffee Hand Puppet – First Muppet Toy – Rare Vintage For Sale

Before Kermit. Before Sesame Street. Before The Muppet Show.There was Wilkins.And Wilkins would really, really like you to drink the coffee.This is an original vintage Wilkins Coffee promotional hand puppet, based on one of Jim Henson’s earliest commercial characters, Wilkins. Henson created Wilkins and his coffee-hating counterpart Wontkins for a series of wonderfully unhinged Wilkins Coffee TV commercials beginning in 1957. The basic plot of many of them was:Wilkins: Would you like some Wilkins Coffee?
Wontkins: No.
Wilkins: commits an act that would concern modern Human Resources.The campaign became a hit, and Wilkins Coffee offered vinyl hand puppets of the characters as a mail-order premium beginning in 1958. The Smithsonian identifies these plastic Wilkins and Wontkins toys as merchandise produced because of the popularity of the commercials. They are among the very earliest pieces of Muppet merchandise ever made.This is Wilkins himself, the cheerful, coffee-loving half of the pair and a fascinating bit of pre-Sesame Street Jim Henson history.The back is embossed:WILKINS
© JOHN H. WILKINS COMPANY
PATENT PENDINGThe “Patent Pending” mark is especially neat. Henson and Jane Nebel applied for design patents for the Wilkins and Wontkins puppet dolls in October 1958; the patents were granted September 15, 1959.Condition is shown in the photos. This example displays very well and retains strong color, with expected surface wear, scratches, scuffs and marks from roughly 67 years of surviving children, coffee drinkers, attics, basements, changing tastes in puppetry, and whatever Wilkins did to anyone who refused a cup.There is visible age/use wear throughout. Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form part of the description. No box, paperwork, coffee or Wontkins is included.For a serious Jim Henson or Muppet collection, this is about as close as you can get to the beginning of the story without breaking into the Smithsonian.Offers welcome. Lowball offers may be referred directly to Wilkins.And if you’ve seen the commercials, you know that’s not a threat I make lightly.