Question about 12 O'Clock High Toby mug

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

I believe the original was owned by Henry King. It had sat on a mantle in his home. After the director's passing, his wife kept it on display in their home. After her passing ,it disappeared. Probably in a land fill somewhere in SC.

[p51]

The opening scene in the film takes place in 1949 in London where the former Adjutant of the Group, Harvey Stovall, discovers the Mug in a second hand shop.

Could he afford it?

I think it was just a couple of schillings in the film. The shop owner didn't want to rip him off cause it had been "knocked around a bit"!

Yeah, poor Harvey missed out on the "fine Stafford's mug" the guy tried to sell him, huh? Funny how people here don't think that a A-2 jacket for over $500 is likely a "rip off" when any jacket of similar manufacture (but modern design) at a clothing store can cost less than half that. How about books on airplanes that cost over fifty bucks when the newest John Grisham novel (with even more pages) costs less than twenty? Why no cries of rip-offs there? You don't want it? Don't buy it! I'm not into pottery but I'm sure a lot of design work went into this, not to mention the licensing fees they had top pay for. Be thankful someone made this instead of griping about how expensive it is! One of the guys in my WW2 display group has one and they're very well done. I've pondered over buying one for years as I'm a huge 12O'CH fan and have been to both of the "Archbury" locations for the movie in the past (even flew over one of them in the Collings B-17 once).

Here is some info I got off another website:

In his book Twelve O’clock High, author Bernie Lay described the 918th Bomb Group's green Toby" as "Vigorously modeled, with a well formed satyr handle, the beer mug depicted a robber with a Robin Hood hat and a black mask over the eyes." Considered to be an essential element of the story's development much care and thought went into the development of the prop. As a base, Fox's prop makers secured a large Robin Hood jug (Royal Doulton, circa 1947) to which was added the necessary modifications, not only to fit Lay's description but to make the design unique enough that no royalties would be due to Doulton. An unknown number (one or possibly two) of the fictitious jugs were cast and painted for the scenes in the movie. When the Fox studios were finished with borrowed Air Force equipment and other props in July of 1949, director Henry King gratefully handed the movie's now famous 918th Bomb Group Toby jug over to General Frank Armstrong, a fitting gift for the man who was the inspiration for the "Frank Savage" character in both book and movie versions of Twelve O’clock High. It was a cherished heirloom of the Frank Armstrong family until it fell victim to theft in the early 1990's and to this day remains elusive.

Probably long ago destroyed or it became someone's pencil jar in a trailer somewhere.

Last edited by p51 on Thu Jul 11, 2019 2:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Bluedharma]

Just got to see one last week.
Interesting history to it.

[p51]

A good friend of mine bought me one of these for my upcoming 50th birthday.
I still can't believe it as I've always wanted one of these!

[JohnB]

I see many of you seem to think it's $500.
I checked online and found it from the maker for $189.95...still a lot, but less than $500.

https://archbury.net/product/toby-jug-replica/

They also make a small coffee mug for a fairly reasonable $29.95.

If you have a B-17 you really should have one.

Seriously, check the internet...A Royal Doulton (UK pottery maker) site lists examples of mugs on ebay.
$189 is less than the going price for a gen-u-wine 1984 Paul McCartney...or a John Lennon...or an Alfred Hitchcock mug. Lord only knows what a Harry Potter mug would go for.
Hey, at least Hitchcock made the N3N famous.


In response to an earlier thread, I don't feel ripped of by my discretionary purchase of aviation books and items.
I'd rather buy a $45 book on the history of a type I find interesting, I'd rather do that than give Stephen King $30 for one of his books (where he takes the opportunity to give me his political opinions).

I also didn't mind paying good money for my quality (the same maker as the new Air Force units) A-2 or for my Breitlings.
In short, nobody made me buy them so I don't call "rip-off" about their prices.
If you don't want to pony-up the big bucks for quality and what you want, feel free to buy a $20 windbreaker at Sears and a Timex.

[phil65]

What's wrong with Timex....

Phil

[JohnB]

What's wrong with Timex....

Phil

Nothing, I have one for dirty work.
And I had one (model B-29, in fact), I used in deployments.

My point is it's okay to spend a lot..or little..as you want.
Different strikes and all that...

[phil65]

I have an Omega when I'm not getting dirty...

Phil

[Cvairwerks]

Haven’t worn a wristwatch since my Seiko exploded one night at work back in 1987. I have on occasion carried a pocket watch, but haven’t done that since 1998 or so.

[p51]

I see many of you seem to think it's $500.
I checked online and found it from the maker for $189.95...still a lot, but less than $500.

https://archbury.net/product/toby-jug-replica/

They also make a small coffee mug for a fairly reasonable $29.95.

My pal who got the Toby for me said he was told the coffee mugs were sold out (and made in China) and that the seller has about half a dozen of the US-made Toby full sized replicas left.
As my friend said when he heard that, "get 'em while they're still around," and he even got one for himself, which he likes as much as I like mine.

[HPDCapt]

I had wanted one of these for years and finally ordered one, It is now on display in my living room and I really like it. I also ordered one of the coffee mugs but after three trips through the dishwasher the paint began to peel. It was marked dishwasher safe. The company had sent me an email warning of this possible problem and promptly replaced it.
I have no complaints about these mugs and I was happy to pay the purchase price. But that's just me.