You'll Want To See This Museum Full of 1950s Squeaky Toys

A new exhibition cracks open the toy box lid on the wonderful world of midcentury rubber toys pulled from the archive of one dedicated Long Beach collector. Rubber Menagerie: The Squeaky Toys of Edward Mobley recently opened at Muzeo in Anaheim and showcases the adorable critters in the collection of Kate Hart, AKA Bitter Squeaks.

“I didn’t start this to be a completist,” Hart says. “I was just getting what I like.” Hart’s massive collection of adorable rubber includes original concept art, packaging, and prototypes and dates back some 70 years. Most of her flock was sourced directly from the estate of the late Edward Mobley, who led the field in soft kiddie toys with the rolling eyes and far-off stares.

Hart, whose daily driver is a pink ’68 Cadillac hearse, was expecting her first child at age 26 and evaluating her house full of oddities, including some stuffed birds she wasn’t sure were baby safe. “Some people have a nervous breakdown when they’re pregnant,” Hart says. “I ditched all my taxidermy but still knew I wanted to be a weirdo. I still want something in my house that gives people the heebie jeebies.”

Hart paid one dollar for her first crumpled, filthy Mobley elephant found at the bottom of a box, another one showed up after a few minutes of digging. “I washed them off and found out one was blue and one was pink,” she says. “That was fucking special and I was like… ‘I am obsessed!’” A cat and dog followed, then another elephant with extra-long ears. “It’s really horrifying. I like that fearsome feeling people get when looking at them.”

After obsessively researching Mobley and his career, Hart stumbled upon his descendants living out of state and began a years-long campaign to discover all she could about her new hero. “It was like walking into Narnia,” she says. “This whole entire world was presented in front of me.” After four years of research, fan letters, late night phone calls, and awkward attempts to reach out to the Mobley family, Hart was invited to visit the Mobley archive. The family was slow to reveal the size of the collection over the phone. “He says a lot,” Hart remembers. “Three peanuts is not a lot of peanuts but three murders is a lot of murders.”

The fangirl was in love instantly on arrival. “There’s a barn in the backyard and it is floor to ceiling toys from the factory still in the original boxes,” she says. “Gaaa! I am losing my mind, I’m crying. It’s so pretty and I’m so happy and we’re pulling boxes out and I’m like… ‘how much?’”

The unsolicited offer was refused at first, but she left with a reassurance of “maybe on the next trip.” Hart couldn’t wait to plan her return. “I offered him my entire life savings and said ‘Take every last penny,’ she remembers. “On my next flight I brought a carry-on plaid suitcase lined with cash. I’m in one of my stupid dramatic dresses with a hat, sunglasses and one change of underwear.”

Soon, the Mobley archive was in a storage pod on its way to L.A. Hart and friends spent two years cleaning, cataloging, and archiving the horde. She kept every unique piece, all the documentation, and the best example of every model in every color. The rest went on Etsy and into a new museum she opened in Huntington Beach. “I’m not going to take credit for his work,” she says. “But part of the resurgence was my love for it and that really translated through every Instagram post and every single photo. I think my love for them made it more than it was at the time. That I’ll take credit for.”