Long-Ears, Wagner Style: Donkeys

It being election season, I thought it might be a nice time to write about Wagner donkeys and elephants. This one will be about the donkeys, with elephants to follow later in a separate post.

The German word for "donkey" is Esel and shares its roots with the word easel. Easel was borrowed from the Dutch ezel, "donkey," and traces back through time to older Germanic words such as asil and even older Latin asinus (and now you see why we live with all the asinine puns that we do when it comes to donkeys).

I remember being fascinated when I learned the connection between easel and donkeys (and recall sharing my glee with co-workers, who were also editors but completely uninterested in this observation, alas). I liked the link between the foursquare stance of a sturdy easel bearing its load and a plucky donkey likewise bracing itself under its burden.

At any rate, the artists tasked with creating donkeys at the Wagner Handwork craft shop appear to have had a bit of fun linking art with donkeys. I think the donkeys are among the most winsome animals in their menagerie. They also provide a chronicle of how collecting madness can enable one to buy yet another donkey because, look! This one is just a little different!

Let's start with the littlest guy (below) This fellow is about an inch tall. He's glued to a cardboard poinsettia, because he used to live in a whisper-thin glass ball and was a Christmas ornament. The glass ball shattered long ago, but I don't think Donkey cares. He's got the trademark Wagner smile and head tilt to the left, as well as vinyl and felt tack held in place with a silver pin.

Next up size-wise is the standard-size Wagner Kunstlerschutz donkey, shown below in his earliest form as an M.C. Original (he's older than the pint-sized donkey on the poinsettia). As is typical of the M.C.'s, he's skinny with very thin legs and wild orange eyes; instead of a cute smile, he's got red nostrils and a red grin. Kinda phoukah-like and very Roman-nosed. But he does sport handsome white tack and a red saddle.

Ah, now here's the classic Wagner we're all familiar with (below). Cute smile, check; black bead eyes, check; leftward head tilt, check. Still has super-thin M.C.-style legs and a fine build, but pretty darn cute. His label is now Kunstlerschutz instead of M.C. Original.

Sometime after that, the slender donkey was replaced by a fuzzier, stockier, and just as cute version (below). He's also lost the breastplate and has just a red felt saddle and vinyl girth.

Interestingly, donkeys also appeared that seem to be laughing, with the head tossed back and mouth open--and with even bigger ears (below). They often also had back stripes, just like real donkeys. This one lacks a saddle, but wears a bit made of silver pins and a vinyl bridle with reins.

And then, to further entice us crazed collectors, along comes old Long-Ears, but this time he's pulling a cart (below). The cuteness never stops. Because now you can put other Wagner animals in the cart....

And just to be on the safe side, better add that donkey who's a rocking "horse."

And just when you thought it was safe and you could start saving money instead of buying little flocked animals, ZAM. Along comes a larger version of the cute donkey (below, posed with standard donkey). She's twice as big and, well, not twice as cute, because they're all cute, but, you know, you've got to buy another donkey.

OK. That's IT. No more donkeys. But...but wait. Along comes another large donkey, this time wearing a blue saddle. OK, there's room in the stable for just one more. But that's IT...

...except, see, there's this large donkey who doesn't just have a saddle, he also has a bridle (below). Gotta add him to the gang. And then, really, truly, that's it. How many donkeys does a person need?

Well, when the donkey not only has a saddle and a bridle but STIRRUPS, too, clearly one more is needed.

That's that, then, right? It would be, except Wagner also made an even larger donkey, one who's braying joyfully. Clearly she must be ushered into the herd, no question about it.

And when you find her vintage ancestor for a song, with broken wooden legs and those wild M.C. orange eyes, and a label that only says "Germany," it would be pennywise and pound-foolish not to add that one, too. Amiright?

As far as I know, there are no other Wagner burros, donkeys, mules, jennies, jennets, jackasses, onagers, hinnies, or zeedonks clip-clopping around out there, but you never know.

Here are a few other representatives of Equus asinus that you might run into--not Wagners, but nice to add to a collection to represent the ancestors of the Wagner animals as well as possible contemporaries.

This little guy predates the M.C. Originals, I think. 
He's got matchstick-thin legs, leather ears, and his
silver tack-pins are tarnished.

This donkey doesn't have a label, either, but I'm
guessing he is one of the German "Original Fur
Toy" animals. He's made out of fur over a
composite body, with leather ears and
wooden legs. 

No label on this donkey, either; there are letters
on his girth that I can't quite make out. I don't 
know what his body is made out of--he could be 
all wood; certianly his legs are. His hide is gray 
felt that is carefully glued down to minimize
the seams. His ears are felt, and he has very
tiny beads for eyes. The saddle is leather, the 
saddle pad is felt, and I think his bridle and
reins are leather.

Another donkey without a label. Feels as if she's
made of plastic with flocking glued on, but she
retains old-world features such as a fur mane,
leather ears, and beads for eyes. 

Every now and then you'll run across this wild-eyed
creature billed as a Wagner. He's not, but he's kind
of weird and fun. My mom tucked this one into
my Christmas stocking when I was a kid. Plastic 
with glued-on flocking, plastic eyes, felt saddle.

This one isn't a flocked donkey at all, but she was
made by M.C. Originals, who made many kinds of
wind-up animals. The key sticks out from her
other side. She twirls her tail and bobs her head.