"Earth Invaders" more commonly known as "Miller Aliens" were manufactured by the J.H.Miller company of Quincy, Illinois. The year was 1958, the kids on my block would run down to the local novelty shop and lay their dimes on the counter for the angry "Big Dipper" or the ferocious "Neptune". In all the series consisted of 18 characters - Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Orion,Ceres, Milky Way, Big Dipper, North Star, Betelgeuse,
2 Eyed Moon Man, 3 Eyed Moon Man, Nebula M31 and the Purple People Eater (which also dates the set). In the 1990's a man by the name of Julius Lopes recast the aliens in a resinsolid form and painted them in brighter colors. The new rubber silicon molds cost him $10,000
and he hired two museum conservators for the process. The set sold for $375 plus $10 shipping and were advertised in Toyshop Tabloid. Eventually he sold all the new alien molds.
The original sculptors were Ruth Dudley (Ruth and her sister Gladys were known local artists) and Frank Dutt. Even as kids we knew these aliens didn't last too long. The so called "waxy" plastic, which was actually polyethylene, would easily break, melt or totally disintegrate with the help of a firecracker.
Dateline 1938 - John Miller, aka "Tike" and his wife Shirley started making individual plaster
nativity figures when, as the story goes, only sets were available and he just wanted one figure. Their figurines, cast and painted at home, became popular items in gift and novelty stores. This led to an expansion of the business and several moves to larger facilities with a crew of employees. The leading manufacturers of Nativity sets were in Germany and Japan, so when World War 2 broke out the J.H. Miller Company took over as the leader in the field.
"Tike" produced thousands of figurines a week, which gave him the capitol to open a large facility in Quincy, Illinois (where he also moved with his family). In 1950 the company also started to produce plaster toy soldiers. While experimenting with plastic he came up with a blow mold injection system which he switched to. In the "Boomer" '50's he made a good move by producing jungle animals, dinosaurs and an array of holiday figures with his famous "waxy" plastic. Mr. Miller also worked with the ARA (Automatic Retailers of America) to come up with a factory in a case called the "Mold-A-Rama". For 25 cents you could watch this machine, the size of a jukebox, produce your own miniture animal. These were placed around the country in amusement parks and zoos.Amazing as it may seem, many are still turning out these souvenirs to this day. (Although it will cost you a few bucks today)
The J.H.Miller company produced millions of small items, including our beloved aliens. Tike eventually moved on and invented other machines, including "The Golden Goat" which would turn your old aluminum cans into cash in hand. This was years before the "Green" trend. He was truly a guy with some good ideas and the smarts to carry them out.
Thanks Tike, I had a lot of fun with the toys you made for us kids.
nativity figures when, as the story goes, only sets were available and he just wanted one figure. Their figurines, cast and painted at home, became popular items in gift and novelty stores. This led to an expansion of the business and several moves to larger facilities with a crew of employees. The leading manufacturers of Nativity sets were in Germany and Japan, so when World War 2 broke out the J.H. Miller Company took over as the leader in the field.
"Tike" produced thousands of figurines a week, which gave him the capitol to open a large facility in Quincy, Illinois (where he also moved with his family). In 1950 the company also started to produce plaster toy soldiers. While experimenting with plastic he came up with a blow mold injection system which he switched to. In the "Boomer" '50's he made a good move by producing jungle animals, dinosaurs and an array of holiday figures with his famous "waxy" plastic. Mr. Miller also worked with the ARA (Automatic Retailers of America) to come up with a factory in a case called the "Mold-A-Rama". For 25 cents you could watch this machine, the size of a jukebox, produce your own miniture animal. These were placed around the country in amusement parks and zoos.Amazing as it may seem, many are still turning out these souvenirs to this day. (Although it will cost you a few bucks today)
The J.H.Miller company produced millions of small items, including our beloved aliens. Tike eventually moved on and invented other machines, including "The Golden Goat" which would turn your old aluminum cans into cash in hand. This was years before the "Green" trend. He was truly a guy with some good ideas and the smarts to carry them out.
Thanks Tike, I had a lot of fun with the toys you made for us kids.
