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Private company

Juro Novelty Company

American Toy Company

Juro Novelty Company was a New York City-based toy company headed by Sam Jupiter, and later by his daughter Vivian Kaplan. Juro manufactured composition ventriloquist dolls from 1949, to approximately 1957, by which time they used plastic for the head and hands instead. They produced toy versions of the following characters: Jerry Mahoney, Knucklehead Smiff, Charlie McCarthy, Mortimer Snerd, Danny O'Day, Farfel, Ricky Little (not to be confused with the I Love Lucy character), Lester, and Velvel.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

  • Industrygame industry1

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Juro Novelty Jerry Mahoney ventriloquist puppet toys publicity photo March 1952
Photo: Juro Novelty (Life time: 1953 - 1977), CC0, via Wikimedia Commons3

Juro Novelty Company was a New York City-based toy company headed by Sam Jupiter, and later by his daughter Vivian Kaplan. Juro manufactured composition ventriloquist dolls from 1949, to approximately 1957, by which time they used plastic for the head and hands instead. They produced toy versions of the following characters: Jerry Mahoney, Knucklehead Smiff, Charlie McCarthy, Mortimer Snerd, Danny O'Day, Farfel, Ricky Little (not to be confused with the I Love Lucy character), Lester, and Velvel. They also made Dick Clark, Dagmar, and Pinky Lee dolls in the 1950s, along with hand puppets of Bil Baird's characters.2

Products and brands

  • toy

Listed on Wikidata.1

Sources

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