The Mattel See 'N Say® family is perhaps the most familiar use of the chatty-ring outside of Chatty Cathy herself. Using the classic Mattel pull string and tiny phonograph/record inside the toy, the See 'N Say® was home to a variety of sounds and phrases. Along with Captain Kangeroo's Mr. Green Jeans and later Sesame Street visits to the farm, Mattel's See 'N Say® was a likely source for many children to hear their first duck sound. The See 'N Say® was advertised as a toy that lets you "Look! Listen! 'N Learn". The Farmer Says edition of the See 'N Say® was selected as the representative See 'N Say® inductee to the Talking Toy Hall of Fame® for its prevalence and almost archetypical talking toy sounds. The sound of the string pulling 'RRRRRR" and the resulting "The duck says Quack Quack Quack" is classic See 'N Say® and is also registered in the Sound Watermarks Hall of Fame, another Phonographia project.
Original 1966 version of the farmer says on left, later pull string in middle, Fisher Price 21st century version on right
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All of the following Mattel See 'N Say® family members use the Chatty-ring unless otherwise noted. For early models of the See N' Say®, references to the "pointer" are normally a character's three-dimensional arm and hand extended and pointing , e.g., see the 1966 Farmer Says (above) where the farmer's arm is extended up and his finger used as the pointer for selection of a sound. Later models use a graphic of a character mounted onto the selector which usually has an arrowhead-like design for pointing.
Mattel See 'N Say® Talking Toy
The Farmer Says | Turn the farmer pointer | 1966 | 12 selections of farm animal sounds | Sheep, dog, duck, frog, horse, coyote, rooster, pig, cow, bird cat, turkey | |
Smartpig | Bank | 1965 | Says seven phrases. | Advertised as "I talk about money! I help you save real money too!" | |
The Bee Says | Turn the bee pointer | 1965 | 26 selections, by alphabetic letter, A is for Apple, Z is for Zebra | Bee's stinger on head used as pointer (later model pictured) | |
Disneyland | Turn the Mickey pointer | 1966 | 12 Disney characters | Bambi, Winnie the Pooh, Donald Duck, Peter Pan, Pluto, Jimmy Cricket, Mary Poppins, Pinochio, Goofy, Dumbo, Snow White | |
Mr. Sound Says | Turn the man with microphone | 1966 | 11 sounds | Fire engine, cuckoo clock, choo choo train, hammering, airplane, typewriter, automobile, wood saw, motorcycle, ocean liner, thunderstorm | |
Snoopy Says | Turn the Snoopy pointer | 1968 | 11 sounds | Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Pippen, Schroeder, Violet... | |
Sing a Song | Turn the children's choir pointer | 1969 | 12 songs | Sings the first verse of nursery rhymes and classic children's songs: Mulberry Bush, Londong Bridge, Jingle Bells, Sing a Song of Sixpence, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Yankee Doodle, Little Dog Gone, Jack and Jill, Ten Little Indians, This Old Man, Mary had a LIttle Lamb, Row Your Boat | |
Raggedy Ann | Turn the Raggedy Ann pointer | 12 sounds | Raggedy Ann related characters speak phrases | ||
Spelling Fun-damentals | Turn the arrow (blackboard) | 14 words to hear and spell | See 'N Say makes the sound the picture makes, spells the word, then repeats the word. | ||
Mother Goose | Turn Mother Goose arrow |
Mattel See 'N Say® Talking Story-Maker
Dr. Suess | Turn the Grinch | 12 sound Story-maker |
Mattel See 'N Say® Talking Storybook
Funny Pets in Faraway Places | Turn the dial | 1967 | 10 different story-lines | 18 washable tear-proof pages, Advertised as "Hear the story! Read the Story!" | |
Ride along with us | Turn the dial | 1967 | Helicopter ride | ||
The Little Clown's Circus | Turn the dial | 1970 | 10 different story-lines | 18 washable tear-proof pages, Advertised as "Hear the story! Read the Story!" |