Our Favorite Things

Collections of SDSU Library Staff and Faculty
August 11 through September 8, 2004

Kinder Egg Toys and Cartoon Maps

Mike Perkins
Collection Development,
Anne Turhollow
Reference Services

Many years ago we rented a small house in France for two weeks. One of our discoveries was a children's confection called "Kinder Eggs" or "Kinder Surprise." These are hollow chocolate eggs with a yellow plastic "yolk" container inside, which opens to reveal a cunningly packaged toy - vehicles, fantastic animals, futuristic space ships, et cetera. While the chocolate is not of the highest quality, the toys absolutely fascinated us. We seldom found duplicate toys, and the imagination evidenced by the toy itself and the way it was broken down to fit inside the "yolk" was a constant source of wonder.

We fell in love with them but were disappointed to discover upon our return that Kinder Eggs are hard to find in the U.S. Federal regulations prohibit inedible objects inside of confections and make Kinder Eggs difficult to import. For a time, Anne's sister-in-law, a Belgian, would pick up a few for us during her frequent trips to Europe. Then we discovered a European-style market stocks them - they come in flats of 24 eggs! They are great party favors - guests eat the chocolate, we keep the toy - and we have a steady supply that has turned us into serious collectors. We now have about 250 unique toys and about two dozen duplicates.

A closer peek at a Don Bloodgood map of Alaska.

Several years ago in the antique malls of San Juan Capistrano, we saw a wonderful cartoon representation of the California-Pacific International Exposition held in Balboa Park in 1935. Every detail was artfully rendered with cartoon figures and miniature buildings. It brought the exposition to life and we could also see why certain parts of Balboa Park are the way they are.

Shell Oil sponsored the map but the artist was identified as Don Bloodgood. We bought it, framed it, and it has since become one of our best conversation pieces.

We don't know much about the artist, but many of his maps are held in the Library of Congress historical maps collection. He also did humorous postcards and calendars. So far, we have collected eight maps, and they are a bit tricky to find on eBay or elsewhere. My research estimates 12 to 15 maps, so I'm about halfway to a complete set. The maps remind you a bit of the maps and cartographs of Jo Mora, which we also admire, whose maps sell for much more than Don Bloodgood's, so we opted to collect Bloodgood's work.

Physical exhibit curated by Kathi Neal. Virtual exhibit created by Mana Ghodsian and Marita Johnson under the supervision of Jossie Chavez.

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