The Chalkware Wall
Carnival prizes from the 1910s through the 1940s
Every figure on this wall was once a prize at a carnival, county fair, or boardwalk game. They're called chalkware because they're made of plaster, poured into a mold, then painted by hand or with an airbrush and often dusted with glitter to sparkle under the midway lights.
Between the Great Depression and the end of World War Two, chalkware was the prize you won for knocking down milk bottles or tossing a ring. It cost the carnival about a dime apiece. Makers copied whatever was popular that year: Shirley Temple, Little Orphan Annie, Popeye, and after 1938, Snow White, Pinocchio, Mickey and Donald. When the war came, they added saluting soldiers and sailors, and even a cannon marked Pearl Harbor.
Plaster chips and paint flakes, and nobody expected these to last. That's why so few survive with their color and glitter intact. Pieces with real hair and paper skirts, like the ones on the top shelf, are rarer still.
What you're looking at is thirty years of American pop culture, won one ring toss at a time.
Our chalk character collection is big but they’re going fast, be sure to get one soon before they’re all gone……and such a bargain!