A pixelated illustration of Home with animated heartshaped smoke bellowing out of the chimney

Toys!

Slowly but surely, we have begun to uncover media that confirms Welcome Home was once on the air! These remnants found below publicized the show via toys and playthings of all kinds, including costumes, coloring books, playsets, board games, and more. The Welcome Home fans of the era could surely bring their favorite Neighbors home in all kinds of ways with these items!

"IT'S-FOR-YOU" TELEPHONE	"RAINBOW LETTERS" PLAYSET	WALLY'S COLORING BOOK
WALLY DARLING COSTUME	THE WELCOME HOME WISHBOOK RADIO RECORDING	HOOPLAH CIGARETTES & TIE-IN BUBBLE PIPE
FLORIOGRAPHY	MORE TO COME....

"It's-For-You!" Talking Telephone Toy

A photograph of a toy telephone, it's red, with yellow and blue accents. There are 8 buttons, of which are a rainbow of colors (pink through purple, back to red).

A photograph showing the front of the box, which reads reads: 'Welcome Home IT'S-FOR-YOU! The official Marlo Talking Telephone! Talk to Wally and his neighborhood friends! Hear your favorite neighbors! 16 built-in conversations! Voice comes from the receiver like a real phone!' Alongside an illustration of Wally on the phone, twirling the cord and smiling, saying 'You're just the most!'

A photograph of the side of the box, showing illustrations of Barnaby, Frank, and Julie, all on the phone. Barnaby wears a smug expression and says 'Pick up the phone for a great gaff, kid!' Frank has a exhasperated look and says 'I only have a moment to spare!' while Julie twirls her hair and closes her eyes, smiling, as she says 'Do you want to hear about my new game?'

A photograph of the other side of the box, which has an illustration of 5 other phones styled to have elements that evoke Sally, Julie, Poppy, Frank, and Barnaby. Text reads 'Call your neighbors with a rainbow of funny phones to match your favorite playfellow puppets! (each sold seperately)'

Dated 1971, manufactured by Marlo, Inc.

We are very lucky to have recovered this item packaging and all, and restored the toy to original working order! Our research suggests it was an officially licensed toy from the Playfellow Workshop, produced under a partnership with a company called Marlo. The packaging suggests that many versions of these phones were sold, each themed around one of the neighbors, but as of writing we have only been able to recover the Wally Darling themed phone.

Click the buttons below to listen to the audio recovered from this delightful device! (NOTE: The audio for Wally Darling is experiencing a glitch and has been temporarily taken offline. Please be patient as we work to restore this as soon as we possibly can!)

Click here for a transcript!

[The phone rings three times. Then it picks up.]

Hello? Hellooo?

[Silence.]

Is this a prank call, kid? Listen, I got a better joke for you — What did the bee say to the flower? I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t there! What do I look like, a BEE’s-dropper?

[Rimshot and horn honk. Barnaby laughs. Silence follows.]

….Not even a chuckle? Boy, tough crowd! Hey, you can’t blame a guy for phoning it in! How about you call me back when you got something funny to say too, little buddy! Buh bye!

Click here for a transcript!

[The phone rings once before it’s answered.]

Hello, this is Frank Frankly speaking.

[Silence.]

...Hello? … Are you there?

[Silence.]

...Is this Julie? This had better not be another game you’re playing! …Oh no, is this a prank call? Is this Barnaby!? Well, I have a prank for you too, you jokester! A lesson!

[Frank clears his throat.]

Did you know butterflies have their own way of sleeping? It’s not so much sleeping as it is having a rest! It is always done with their eyes open, too! They also like to rest under leaves as a means of protection from dew or rain drops! Better yet, to hide from larger creatures with an appetite! A bit like you and those horrible hot dogs you love so much.

[Silence. Frank huffs loudly in annoyance.]

Well, whoever this is, I’ll have you know I have better things to do than wait for you to respond! Good bye!

Click here for a transcript!

[The phone is answered in the middle of the first ring.]

You’re calling Howdy’s Place! The Home of Everything You Need and Everything you don't! Howdy Pillar at your service!

[Silence.]

...Hello? Hello! Listen, pal, time is jokes and if I’m not laughing then I don’t have time! ...Actually, I do have plenty of time in stock, it’s in aisle two next to the bananas. But …I call ‘em cuckoo clocks!

[Howdy laughs at his own joke, but it becomes softer and more embarrassed as the silence follows.]

...Alright, alright! You’re giving me nothing to work with, buddy! I only deal in funny business and it looks like you’re runnin’ low, pal! So long! You get it? Like a caterpillar! Haha!

Click here for a transcript!

[The phone rings once, but in the middle of its second ring the phone is answered.]

Hello? [LOUDER] Hello!!

[Silence.]

...Hey, are you playing some kind of game? Well — I want to play too! Okay, let’s go on the count of three! One… Two… Three!

[Silence.]

…I don’t know how to play this game. ...Oh, I know what to do! We’ll make a new game! [Frantically spoken] We’ll need a jump rope, some chalk, a dice, a sandwich — I’ll call it… Quiet Sandwich Jump rope! I better get everything ready, Frank’s going to love this game! Okay, Bye bye!

Click here for a transcript!

[The phone rings once before it is picked up.]

Whether letter or parcel, whether rain, snow, or shine, we weather the weather and never decline! This is Eddie Dear of Eddie’s Post office speaking! How can I help you today?

[Silence.]

...Hello? Is anybody there? ...Should I say the jingle again? Okay—

[Eddie clears his throat.]

Whether letter or parcel, whether rain, snow, or shine, we weather the weather and never decline! This is Eddie Dear of Eddie’s Post office speaking! Do you need stamps? I got ‘em! Envelopes and paper? You bet! Markers, crayons, glue, glitter, tape, staples — [Takes a deep inhale to catch his breath.] — I got that too!

[Silence.]

[Mumbling] ...I’m starting to think nobody’s there… Wait… I can’t remember if the phone was ringing… Maybe I was going to make a phone call... But who would I call? Well, if you’re there… Uh… Have a good day!

Click here for a transcript!

[The phone barely has a chance to ring once before it is picked up.]

Hellooo! You’re talking to the brightest and most stupendous superstar this side of the neighborhood! Sally Starlet!

[A triumphant 'ta-da!' jingle, followed by silence. Sally whispers her next sentence.]

…I said ‘Hellooo!’ That’s your cue!

[Silence.]

…What’s wrong, do you have stage fright? I know, I know, having a star for a neighbor can be so intimidating! She’s so terrific, you’re probably thinking! Phenomenal, staggering, breathtaking — I’m taking the words right out of your mouth, I bet!

[Silence. Sally sighs softly.]

Well, parting is such sweet sorrows, but I must shine my brilliance elsewhere! Why don’t you call me back when you don’t have such cold feet, hm? Farewell!

Click here for a transcript!

[The phone rings twice before it is abruptly picked up.]

Hello, this is the Partridge nest — Or, I mean, this is Poppy!

[Silence.]

…Hello? Dear? Are you there? I can’t hear you if you’re speaking! Maybe it is my connection — Oh my feathers, a telephone is so difficult to work with — So many buttons!

[The sounds of shuffling, squawks and noises of tutting can be heard.]

Oh my goodness! I— Oh no, I’ve dropped the telephone on the ground I— Gracious me, there’s birdseed everywhere! I-I will call you back, whoever this is! Oh — My feathers are full at the moment! Don’t worry about me! Have a pleasant day, dearie—

[A panicked squawk is heard followed by a loud thud. The phone call abruptly ends.]

"Rainbow Letters" Eddie Dear Playset

A framed display of two brightly colored envelopes, one from Wally to Barnaby. Alongside one open letter reading: 'Walls! You told me to tell you when I got more paint in stock. So, here I am telling you! Boy, you go through this stuff faster than Julie through chalk! I would've called you myself, byt I had my hands full! All for of em! Hee! You favorite supporter of the Arts!, Howdy Pillar! P.S. You still owe me a knock-knock joke!!'

A framed display of a written letter, brightly colored envelope, and lined paper with a crayon drawing of a bug. The letter reads: It reads: 'Dear Wally Darling, How are you today? I hope you are doing well. I'm having a good day. I know you would ask me if you were here. I have found a new insect today. You remember what an insect is don't you? It is a beautiful anthropod! I drew you a picture of it. I thought out of everyone in this neighborhood, you would appreciate its extravagant colors. I had to write to you as soon as I had seen it and before it went on its way. From, Frank Frankly.' The page of the bug drawing appears to be drawn in crayon, and shows a very colorful bug that has wide eyes, and some heart motifs. There's a red circle on one of the legs, with arrows and text that reads 'Legs are big and soft! Rounded and tapered towards the body!'

Dated 1971, unknown manufacturer

This array of brightly colored letters seem to be inspired by the equally colorful neighbors of Home, such as Howdy Pillar, Frank Frankly, and Barnaby B. Beagle. These pieces are predicted to have been from an activity set based on the efforts of the friendly and reliable mailman, Eddie Dear. It seems as though whoever enjoyed this playset had a grand time pretending to mail letters to their favorite Playfellow puppets!

Wally Darling's Coloring Book

An uncolored page from inside the coloring book showing Julie smiling and kicking her feet as she plays chess against a group of flowers. She says: 'You're good at this!'

Date unknown, published by Marlo

With the help of this beautiful booklet, viewers could color along with Wally Darling right at home! Though we have only been able to restore one out of surely many illustrations including in the book, the recovery of the complete cover — including price and publisher information! — is an unexpectedly wonderful find!

Official Wally Darling Halloween Costume

A photo showing the Wally Darling halloween costume laid out on a wooden table. It includes a connected blue shirt and red pants, as well as a Wally mask.

A photo of the costume neatly in a zippered plastic bag.

A closeup shot of the Wally mask, it has a painted on smile and holes so the mask wearer can see, as well as orange spots on his cheeks and faithfully recreates his blue hair do.

Date unknown, manufacturer unknown

The best part about Halloween is dressing up as your favorite character! With the official Wally Darling costume, children could do just that. This outfit was sure to make any child the envy of their friends while also staying within their parent’s budget just in time for the scariest season of the year! The fully ventilated Wally Darling mask ensured children could adorn Wally’s signature smile through their trick-or-treating efforts while the polyester clothing announced their love for Welcome Home!

This costume did not come in its original packaging, so we are unsure if there were additional characters made into costumes. Imagine being your favorite merry mailman, the resident grump, or the happiest hound in town! Here is to hoping more will be uncovered in the future!

The Welcome Home Wish Book

A page showing three tin toys of Welcome Home characters: Poppy (listed as 'Time for tea Poppy Partridge drinking bird toy, $1.89'), Julie (listed as 'Jump for Joy! Julie Joyful wind-up jumping toy, $2.35'), and Sally (listed as 'Shooting Star! Sally Starlet Pull-back motor toy, $2.35'), with text that reads 'Marvelous Motion! Bring home these charming Welcome Home tin toys featuring all your favorite neighbors, and watch as they hop, skip, jump and fly practically all on their own!'

A page showing various toys, including the 'Stretched thin Eddie Dear action figure $1.89', 'Welcome Home sew your own pillow toy, $3.49 (Wally Darling & Frank Frankly designs sold seperately)', 'Wally Darling & Home Jack in the box, $1.94', and 'Bouncy Barnaby B Beagle Spring Toy, $1.39'

A page showing various toys, including the ' Barnaby Beagle Joke Kit, $5.29. Bring home the laughs just like the neighborhood's funniest pooch! Kit includes Barnaby's Gag & Joke Book, juggling pins, microphone, tie, clown nose, gag glasses, hand buzzer, squirting flower, chattering teeth, homemade applause and can 'o beans.', 'Sally Starlet Star Stopper Kit, $3.37. With the help of this Star Stopper Kit, you are sure to become the greatest star this side of the neighborhood - besides Sally Starlet, of course! Kit includes star glasses, director's notebook, magician's wand, trick playing cards, and throwing knife.', 'Julie Build-Your-Own Game Kit, $6.29. What game should we play today? With this set straight from Julie Joyful, you can play all of them! Kit includes set of bowling pins, two bowling balls, ring toss set, full set of chess pieces, full set of checkers pieces, chess board, four cone pieces, twenty disc pieces, six dice, ten marbles, three darts, eighty number tokens, mallet, and personal score book.', 'Eddie Dear Li'l Mailman Kit, $5.29. Prepare and deliver the daily mail just like Home's own Eddie Dear! Kit includes toy mailbox with real working flap, Eddie's mail satchel, stationary set, Homewarming greeting cards, and sheet of thirty pretend stamps. Additional stationary, cards, and envelopes sold separately.'

A page showing various homegoods, with the tagline 'Treat Your Home' and a caption 'Doesn't your own home deserve a gift this Homewarming season? Choose from dozens of delightful decorations, fashionable furnishings, cutting-edge cookware, and so much more.' it goes on to show three products, the 'Home Clock with Pop-Out Wally Darling, $12.89', 'Poppy Partridge Personal Tea-Time Set, $3.89', and the 'Sugary-Sweet Neighborhood Homewarming Tree Skirt, $15.89'.

A page showing two Welcome Home themed toys for babies, the 'Bug A Bye and Goodnight Mobile, $3.89', and the 'Wheely Worm Pull Along Toy, $1.35'

A page showing various welcome home records, with the tagline 'Bring Home Marlo Records' with a further caption 'NEW this Homewarming season!' And shows three vinyl album covers which are '$5.89 each, or bundle all for $15.89! Or bring home other Welcome Home favorites:' with a list of 5 additional records: 'A: Welcome Home with the Cheery Cavaleade Orchestra, $5.89. B: Painting with Wally Darling, $3.89. C: 'Happy Haunting to Boo and Yours' Storybook, $5.89. D: 'Eddie's Big Lift' Storybook, $5.89. E: 'The Fun in Your Frown' Single, $3.89' the bottom right says 'continued on the next page' in regards to the list of vinyl records.

Date unknown, manufacturer unknown

Finding the perfect gift for a loved one during the holiday season couldn’t be easier with the Welcome Home Wish Book! This holiday gift catalog was chock-full of shiny new toys and games that could be ordered via mail-in form and delivered right to your doorstep! From wind-up toys to emergency joke kits, one was sure to have their Christmas shopping list checked off in little to no time at all!

In addition to the recovered Wish Book cover and pages, we were able to find a portion of what appears to be a radio advertisement starring Santa himself, which you can listen to below! This ad makes mention of several toys and games that were not featured in our uncovered pages, leaving us all with hope that there is even more left to find.

Click here for a transcript!

[The track opens with static and muddled sound.]

SANTA: So many good girls and boys this year! Ho ho ho! Let’s see what they might find under their tree this holiday season with the Welcome Home Homewarming Wish Book.

Children can pretend they’re running their own grocery store with the Howdy Cash Register set! They’ll have fun exchanging goods for toy money like giggles, chuckles, and bellows! Ho ho ho! Cha-Ching! Ho ho ho!

Oh, how children will delight in visiting Home for themselves, with the Wally Darling and Home playset by Marlo! I hope they’ve left a treat out for little ol’ me!

Barnaby’s emergency joke kit? Now that would come in handy with distracting the missus when she catches my hand in the cookie jar. Ho ho ho!

But what else can I get my friends in Welcome Home? Hmmm, let’s see, Frank’s been such a good neighbor this year; I think I’ll get him that Insect Collection Kit!

Oh, and Poppy would love the Perfectly Practical Poppy Non-Bake Oven, fun AND safe!

And that stunning Sally, She’ll be able to set her sights high and see all the way to Mars with the Sally Starlet Space Kit. Now I’ll never get lost in the Milky Way!

But let’s not forget Julie Joyful! Every game sounds good to her, so why not let her make her own fun anywhere and everywhere with the Julie Joyful Make Your Own Board Game Kit. Checkmate!

Then there’s that friendly and reliable Eddie Dear-

[The track dissolves back into static and muddled sound once more.]

Barnaby's Tobacco Pipe

A screenshot from an advertisement, showing Barnaby's hand under a Barnaby colored play pipe

Date unknown, manufacturer unknown

Does your child ever wish to be just like their tobacco pipe-smoking pop, but without the danger of smoke inhalation? Look no further! With this “bubbly play pipe” hand-painted with Barnaby-inspired colors, children could do just that— through the fun of blowing bubbles! Just pour the bubble liquid into the reservoir, close the cap, and you were ready to “smoke” just like your old man! Or even better, just like Barnaby B. Beagle himself!

This toy appeared to be a tie-in product for Hooplah brand cigarettes, as it was shown to be a child-friendly smoking alternative in concurrently-running Hooplah advertisements.

Click here for a transcript!

(BARNABY'S voice fades in from static, muffled for the first couple words.)

BARNABY: Well whatcha waitin’ for Howdy, I’ll take a pack and a light.

YOUDO and HOWDO: (In sync with one another.) But what about me, Uncle Howdy?

HOWDY: Aw, sorry, li’l Howdo and Youdo, but this just ain't for kids!

BARNABY: Now hold it! If they want in on the fun, they can have one of Barnaby’s Bubbly Play Pipes, sponsored by Hooplah! It’s completely safe, and kids can pretend they're blowin’ big streams of bubbles.

YOUDO and HOWDO: (In sync with one another.) Yahoo! Now we can have a Hooplah too!!

(A jaunty piano jingle plays.)

ALL: (To the tune of the jingle.) Hip Hip Hooray! Have a Hooplah Today!

Board Game “Floriography”

A photo of a sheet of paper that reads: RULES FOR THE GAME OF FLORTOGRAPHY. EQUIPMENT. 60 flower cards, 40 action cards, 1 each of 5 colors, and a game board. OBJECT OF THE GAME The player needs a bouquet of flowers for Springtime. The player who retrieves one Flower card of each color and plants himself in the soil first, wins. FIRST TURN All players pull the top card from one of the Flower card stacks. The name on the Flower card that is highest up in the alphabet goes first. The turns continue clockwise order. ACTION CARDS Action cards are played at the beginning of every turn. The player moves according to the cards direction. The player can replace his turn by using an Action card on another player or keep the Action card in his hand for a different turn. FLOWER CARDS Flower cards are drawn depending on the color of the space the player lands on. In order to keep the Flower card the player must complete the challenge on the back. If the player does not perform the challenge, another player may steal the card by performing the challenge himself. WINNING The player to retrieve one Flower card of each color and plant himself in the soil first, with regard to the rule set chosen, wins. VARIATIONS FRANKLY RULES: For younger players. Players can only use an Action card on himself. Flower cards cannot be stolen by other players. In order to win players must retrieve one Flower card of each color and plant himself in the soil first. JOYFUL RULES: For advanced players. Players can use an Action card on another player in place of his turn or keep it in his hand for a different next turn. In order to win players must retrieve one Flower card of each color, have the most cards collected overall, and plant himself in the soil. copyright1974 Marlo, INC

Full view of the game board for Floriography

Angled view of the game board for Floriography

Closeup shot of the Floriography game board

The pink cards from the game Floriography

The orange cards from the game Floriography

The green cards from the game Floriography.

The blue cards from the game Floriography.

A set of action cards from the game Floriography.

A comparison of an action card and a pink card from the game Floriography.

1974

A full board game based around Julie Joyful and the Joyful family, as well as the resident grump, Frank Frankly. The goal of the game is to gather enough flowers in time for Springtime. “Grow and Go” act as action cards and tell players where to go on the board. Then, players will pull a “Flower” card of the same color as the space they landed on with a challenge on the back. Completing this task would allow the player to keep the card and begin building their bouquet. If unable to be completed, another player can steal it for their own hand. Once a player has all four colored cards, they must head to the plot of dirt in the middle of the board and plant their bouquet to win.

There are two sets one is titled the Joyful rule set, while the other is called the Frankly rule set. They are differentiated by their ease of gameplay, with the Frankly rule set being for younger players and Joyful rule set being for advanced players. The former variation will only ask players to get one color of each card and make it to the center first to win, while the latter will ask players to get as many flowers as possible and make it to the end with the most to win.