Hurry and get this old-fashioned ice skating party for just $1

This advertisement is featured in the December 1964 issue of The Workbasket and Home Arts Magazine — an issue that also includes some recipes and crafts that I wrote about last weekend.

It offers, from the Melton Company, a 30-piece, old-fashioned ice skating party for just $1, as part of a "special pre-Christmas sale." (You also had to include 25¢ for postage and handling.)

The set is described as "life-like" and "a whirling, colorful wonderland." Here's some more of the advertising copy:

"So realistic, they almost spring to life. Ma and Pa sit bundled in their sleigh as their snowball flinging lads and lasses frolic and gay villages whirl across the ice. Authentic Mid-Eighties costume design, in true, bright, rich colors. ... You and friends will enjoy this rare bit of Holiday Charm that sends you on a sentimental journey back through many Christmases. Use year after year — on mantel, table, near tree. Durably constructed of dimensional plastic."¹

To its credit, the advertisement clearly states in two separate places that these life-like figures are only 2½ inches tall. I'm sure Melton wanted to avoid angry letters from purchasers who believed they had been hoodwinked.

The 2½-inch figures included with the set were:

• 2 horse-drawn sleighs
• 3 lady carolers
• 3 children throwing snowballs
• groups of 2, 3 and 4 skaters
• 4 musicians
• 2 snowmen
• 3 evergreen trees
• 3 lamp posts
• man pushing sleigh
• 3 single skaters
• man falling on ice²
• wind-blown lady
• child pushing sleigh

But the small black-and-white illustration with the magazine advertisement makes it hard to envision what this "rare bit of Holiday Charm" was really like, which is a shame.

But wait. There's more!
I always go the extra mile for you, the reader(s), here on Papergreat. I have discovered an original Ice Skating Party for sale on eBay.³ It could be YOURS for as low as $12.50, plus $5 shipping, if you place a bid by December 21.

Thanks to the eBay item listing, we can get a much better look at what this Ice Skating Party was all about. Here are some pictures:

The instructions provide some additional insight into how this $1 decoration was to be set up:

• "To avoid breakage through the mails, we have shipped you this Ice Skating Party in its compact form, ready to push out. Important — Each figure fits into a slot in the 30 snow-like styrofoam bases. Simply separate bases with your fingers."
• "If you want more elaborate scene to cover a larger area, you can create your own ... [by] surrounding the ice pond with a large piece of aluminum foil. Then, surround with Tide or any similar soap powder to have a snow effect. Then place your figures in a setting of your own creation."

Honestly, it doesn't look too shoddy, considering it only cost $1. The plastic figures look a bit like Shrinky Dinks. I think I'll have to give this a thumbs up and say that I wouldn't have been disappointed if I had made this $1 purchase a half-century ago.

Footnotes
1. I have no idea what "dimensional plastic" means. Is the alternative non-dimensional plastic?
2. That would represent me.
3. If that link doesn't work for you, just search eBay for the listing "1967 Clear Acetate Ice Skating Party Display un-punched Melton Company."