American Toby Jug Museum 

Sandy Powell character jug in a large size produced by Fielding & Company of Stoke-on-Trent, England, circa 1935. Albert Arthur Powell (1900-1982), known as Sandy Powell, was an English comedian best known for his radio work of the 1930s and for his catchphrase "Can you hear me, mother?" He first said this in a theater in Coventry. Fifty years later, deciding he needed a rest from the business, he again said it in a Coventry theater, for the last time. He made a total of eighty-five 78 rpm records between 1929 and 1942, mostly double-sided sketches with him in various occupations. In the 1930s he began to work on the radio, always introducing his show with the catchphrase "Can you hear me, mother?" Powell said that the catchphrase originated on an occasion when he had dropped his script and was killing time at the microphone while rearranging the pages. This jug was a promotional piece for the Sandy Powell's Gang of Good-Deed Workers, a children's club for Sandy Powell fans in the 1930s and 1940s. A soccer goal and ball form the handle of the jug. Some large jugs came with a musical movement in the base. Photos courtesy of Alan Roberts.