Posts

The Hare Hair Stylist - A Silly Pun-Filled Story by Don Clark-Happy Bungalow

The Hare Hair Stylist

The Hare Hair Stylist

The Hare Hair Stylist - A Silly Pun-Filled Story by Don Clark-Happy Bungalow

It used to be that journalists had just one job. For instance, a fashion reporter, style reporter, or the offbeat / quirky news specialist. Never was one person called upon to do all four jobs. But times are tough; People just aren’t reading magazines like they used to. Unfortunately many people lost their jobs. Most eventually found new jobs; some even started up their own companies.

But for those left with a job, their blessings were mixed. Yes, they still had a job, but now it had become jobs. Plural. So fashion / style / offbeat beat came to be handled by one person.

Melanie McKay was such a person. This is the time she found herself on the niche interview of her life.
Read more

The Buffalo and the American Reaper Company-Happy Bungalow

The Bison: Nomadic Wanderer

The Bison.  Noble Ungulate wanderer traveling across continents.

Originally from Europe, the Old Country, the bison arrived in the New Country millennia before it was known as America (1). In the great open land where, one day, meritocracy would throw off the shackles of European aristocracy. For in this new land it did not matter what station in life you were born to, it only mattered what station in life you desired to achieve.

 

The Buffalo and the American Reaper Company-Happy Bungalow

 

Here there was a new continent with fields aplenty. Vast tracts of untrodden lands to be tamed – a continent to be cultivated and prepared for a great outpouring of human ingenuity that would change the world.

Here in the new world, so much was new that, many immigrants changed their names (2). Some dropped a syllable, other re-arranged some letters. A few changed their names entirely. The Stag became the Buck. The Elk became the Moose. The Bison became the Buffalo.

THE BUFFALO

The Old World, small ancient land that it is, had been tamed and tidied ages ago. Compact little towns hugged cozy farm lands. Tidy rivers ran along beautiful, but small, open spaces. Every inch of earth was ordered and claimed; there was no room for expansion.

This was not so in the New World.

The Buffalo arrived with a strong back prepared to clear the vast tracts of the American West. But there would be no need for the agrarian scythe – not with the Buffalo!
Read more

Happy Bungalow's wooden toy warranty

Super Official Toy Warranty

Happy Bungalow's wooden toy warranty

Happy Bungalow’s Super Official Toy Warranty:

For a period of 10 years Happy Bungalow will repair, replace, or refund materials (exclusive of shipping) that prove defective, upon inspection (or emailed photo) by us, during normal residential use.
This Warranty does not cover:

Scratches, dings, and dents that may occur through typical use.  Damages caused by abuse such as, but not limited to, smashing, kicking, throwing, hammering, tantrumming, Evel Knievel stunt reenactments, attempted sub-orbital space flights, etc. etc. This is an indoor product – left outdoors for a period of years it will do what natural wood naturally does and turn into dirt. We will accept no returns on products that have been allowed to turn to dirt.

Of course, you may have other rights based on the state you live in.

*Yes, we’re being silly,
but if you have a
problem call or write:
(+1) 513-442-6924
don@happybungalow.com

not quite real vintage illustration of duck and flowers

Lame Duck Day

Today is Lame Duck Day.  While the day doesn’t celebrate the animal, there is a real lame duck (distant bird relative of the snipe).  We dug through Great-Grandpa’s library and came up with this sketchbook page highlighting the Lame Duck in the wild.  It’s like total proof.

not quite real vintage illustration of duck and flowers

wood groundhog toy

Don’t Look Down Groundhog!

wood groundhog toyTry this tongue twister:  How much ground could a groundhog hog, if a groundhog could hog ground?  Not as catchy and recognizable as: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?  It still works though.  Call him a groundhog, a woodchuck, even a whistlepig or land-beaver – this toy is fun.  Pick up one today from our online toy store.

 

superhero squirrel

Super Squirrel, Legend of the Trees

superhero squirrel

In honor of Squirrel Appreciation Day we give you Super Squirrel, Legend of the Trees.

Think of the furry legends of the trees and marvel at their daring branch to branch leaps and skittering dashes to find buried treasure! Sure, it would be fun to invite the little fellas inside (perhaps for a cup of acorn tea), but it’s best to leave the wild animals in their natural habitat.  Though, with our wooden squirrel toys you can play right along without the little guys making a mess of your fruit bowl.

first wood toy

Throw Back Thursday – Bunny

Today we throw it back to just about the first Happy Bugnalow toy ever prototyped.  I think it was just about the first thing I ever made on a scroll saw.  This was made when Happy Bungalow was just starting up.  We were ordering a few pieces of new professional grade equipment, but still trying to make it by on the thinnest shoe-string budgets.  So this little animal was cut on a piece of pine that was hanging around the shop.

scroll saw rabbit

I drew from (cartoonish) memory the shape of the animal.  I was happy that others recognized the shape was a bunny, but disappointed in how lame the thing looked.  So I set about drawing animal profiles from real animals (usually from pictures, but occasionally from real life as in our bison toy).  When we fist started there were two primary animal lines:  farm and safari.

Since we’ve added to our shop woodlands animals, dinosaurs, and mythical animals (think unicorns).  In addition we’re working on adding water animals, Australian animals, and just about every other animal that can be rendered in wood.

scroll saw rabbit profile

Reproducing real life animals into small wooden form took some tweaking.  Legs were too thin, bellies to bulgy, and the like.  Legs are the biggest problem.  Like, have you ever seen how thin a horse’s legs are?  Or a chicken’s?  In the beginning there was a lot of tweaking and fussing to get the animals just right, but now,  I think we’ve made close to one hundred different animals so far, we usually nail it down pretty quick.

So kids, remember – what they say is true.  Practice Makes Perfect!  Or just a lot better.

farm animal wooden toys

Buffalo – Fuzzy in Real Life, Fun as a Toy

Whatever you call it – buffalo or bison – this baby is A-dorable.  There’s a state park (Big Bone Lick) near the Bungalow that has, amongst other cool attractions, a herd of buffalo.  The Kids here love it.  In times past Big Bone Lick was a gathering spot for animals of all sizes.  Bison, mastodon, giant sloth, among them.  The area was mineral rich (like a natural salt lick – hence the lick).  Unfortunately for the larger creatures the ground was boggy and many of the animals sank into the ground and later died.  The bones of these large animals were later unearthed (hence Big Bone).

Happy-Bungalow-bison-buffalo-570We love the buffalo so much that we’ve rendered the bison in wood (walnut).  You can find them in our shop.

 

Happy-Bungalow-natural-wood-animal-child-safe-toy-beeswax-farm-wild-walnut-BISON-BUFFALO-alt001-570