American Toby Jug Museum 

Dick Deadeye box designed by Clarice Cliff and produced by Shorter & Son of Stoke-on-Trent, England, circa 1950. From the 1885 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta "H.M.S. Pinafore", Dick Deadeye is as ugly as his name implies, He is a fellow crew member who tries to sabotage Ralph Rakestraw’s happiness. Ralph is an able seaman who is secretly in love with Josephine, Captain Cocoran's daughter. "H.M.S. Pinafore", or "The Lass That Loved a Sailor" is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London in May of 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical theater piece up to that time. "H.M.S. Pinafore" was Gilbert and Sullivan's fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation. With permission from D'Oyly Carte, Shorter modeled this series based on the actor and costumes from the operas and posing in scenes from the operas. Dick Deadeye is featured on the top of the box while a ship's cabin forms the bottom.