Ventriloquist Central - A Tribute To Ventriloquism

I have been asked why I like Marshall ventriloquist figures so much so I thought I would try to address that question. As a dealer of antiques for most of my life this is not hard to explain. When you buy and sell you always strive to purchase better and better items because the value increases. You can purchase items that cost $10.00 add a 20% profit and sell it for $12.00. Then you purchase and item for $100.00 add the same 20% and sell it for $112.00 and so forth and so on up the price ladder. Of course as you find more expensive and better items the price and profit increases.

Now I decided I wanted to get a ventriloquist figure like the one I first traded for as a youngster (see my biography) and that was the start. I did the same thing I have always done with buying and selling and quickly moved up the ladder as far as price is concerned.

When I finally purchased my first Marshall ventriloquist figure I was thrilled with the quality that he put into his figure so I decided I would keep him and went searching for another to be able to sell. Much to my surprise when I purchased the second Marshall again I loved him and was unable to part with him. This continually happened with each succeeding Marshall purchase. I finally realized that as far as Frank Marshall figures are concerned I am a true collector and not a dealer. I just can’t part with any of the Marshall figures I have purchased.

I have discovered that every one of Marshall’s ventriloquist figures has a mystique about them. They each have a unique personality and they all are lovingly created by a man who was able to give birth to an inanimate object that just breathed life. I love Marshall’s work and I don’t think I will ever be able to part with any of the ones that have become part of the Willinger ventriloquist figure collection.

Remember I am always looking for more because you never can have enough!!!

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************

All writings here are copyrighted by Dan Willinger and Ventriloquist Central. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Being a prolific builder of Ventriloquist figures meant that as Frank Marshall grew and changed his characters and became more of his own style as far as his heads were concerned, remember he used the Mack heads at first, he also changed his hands.

He of course started using Mack’s flat hands but in the late 1920’s he changed his style and gave the fingers just the slightest bend (picture number 1).

He then took this same hand and separated the fingers (picture number 2) these two styles of the same hand were used for the most part into the mid 1940’s.

Then came the appearance of the bent fingers hand (picture number 3) which were used right up until the end of his figure making career and are actually the most recognizable style of hand that Marshall created.

Picture number 4 is a variant of the number 3 hand but is about a third the size larger and was used on his special order custom built Frank Byron Jr. replicas that he made. I do have both a Frank Byron Jr replica in my Marshall collection called Theodore Peckerwood. Also the figure named Joe Doaks has the oversized hands.

Hands number 5 and number 6 are again variants of the number 3 standard hand but number 5 has the index finger pointing. This style was used on Charlie McCarthy.

Number 6 has the index finger attached to the thumb to create a circle.

It is fun to see the progression that Marshall used and the variations.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************

All writings here are copyrighted by Dan Willinger and Ventriloquist Central. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

As a follow up to the last blog about my not purchasing Speedy Wheeler II a couple folks emailed me and asked if I had any pictures of him. When I look at the pictures it really saddens me because it really was such a mistake on my part in not purchasing him.
 
OK enough with the woes!! Here are some great pictures of Speedy Wheeler II and you can see from them that he is quite a good looking figure and possibly one of Frank Marshall’s best recreations of an existing figure.

Marshall would make what he would call a duplicate but they were always different. A perfect example of this is in my collection…..Johnny Main’s Archie and Archie II. They are completely different.

Click here to see Johnny Main’s Archie

Click here to see Johnny Main’s Archie II

This one really does look like his first Speedy Wheeler. So enjoy these pictures!!

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************

All writings here are copyrighted by Dan Willinger and Ventriloquist Central. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

We have all heard the expression “Hindsight is a wonderful thing” well that is absolutely the truth. I say this because our young friend Christian Morse wrote in a comment to the blog about Speedy Wheeler being one of the best Marshall figures out there. I must agree with him and at the same time I kick myself in the behind every time I think about Speedy. You ask why and I will tell you.
 
Bob Isaacson is a collector and performer and when I started looking for Marshall Figures in earnest, I contacted Bob and told him that I was in the market looking to purchase a Marshall. Bob said I came to the right person because he was entertaining the idea of parting with his back up Speedy Wheeler which he had Frank Marshall carve for him, but he had only used him twice. Yup you have that right it was brand new old stock. Bob and I talked and he sent me pictures and

I drooled and pondered and finally told Bob that I really want him but just did not have enough money to be able to make the purchase. He understood and told me it was OK that I didn’t purchase him.
 
I really agonized over not purchasing Speedy and it took me some 6 more months to put the money together that he was asking and then I called him back. Much to my dismay he had already sold him to another well known collector “Mr Tom Ladshaw”

Tom I take my hat off to you because as Bob will tell anyone, every time we talk I always mention to him that in my collecting of ventriloquist figures I made one mistake and that was to not bite the bullet and purchase his figure.

Since that time I have never passed on purchasing a Frank Marshall and I don’t think I ever will again.

Oh Hindsight!!!!!

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************

All writings here are copyrighted by Dan Willinger and Ventriloquist Central. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

A very few full size walking Frank Marshall figures are know to exist. I myself only know of 2 that are outside of my own collection, one being Champagne Charlie at the Vent Haven Museum, and another owned by Mr. Bob Abdou. I myself own 2 of Marshall’s walking figures and here is one of them.

I have taken some close up shots showing the way the mechanism is attached to the left hand so that while walking the ventriloquist can control the movement of the mouth. On this particular example it is done with a long lever up the arm attached to a cord which is then attached to a brass lever on the underside of the shoulder board and then again attached to the mouth lever on the head stick.

My other walking figure has this mouth movement accomplished by a squeeze bladder in the hand which runs to the mouth. That figure is currently being restored by Ray Guyll.
 
This figure is large and stands about 50″ tall. The legs are all basswood and are jointed as well as the arms which are also basswood and jointed. The arms are attached to the shoulders with metal straps to facilitate the weight when walking the figure. These do weigh in at around 20 pounds.
 
This fellow has moving side to side self centering eyes and also slot jaw. The paint and wig on the head have been redone, the paint is around 40 years old. I replaced the wig.
 
I hope you like seeing this rare figure.

Click here for Walking Marshall

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************

All writings here are copyrighted by Dan Willinger and Ventriloquist Central. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Back a few years ago I was very fortunate to be able to acquire the Johnny Main collection of ventriloquist figures. One of the key figures was Archie II. Since Mr Main’s acquisition of Archie II he retired Archie I and only used Archie II as he liked this figure much more than the first. Johnny had made numerous repairs and had repainted him several times and by the time he came to me he was in pretty sad shape. I decided that this was a figure that had to go to the master for a complete restoration so off to Ray Guyll he went.
 
I had Archie II in my hands for only 2 days and then I shipped him off to Bothell, Washington for Ray’s expert work. Ray received him and told me that he had actually done a restoration of this figure many years back when Johnny had visited him in Washington. He had replaced the leather eyelids and also the leather upper lip for Johnny.  When I got him both of these were cracked and the paint was peeling. The Marshall style paint was long gone having had many coats of fresh paint from Johnny.
 
It is two and a half years later and low and behold Archie has returned to the rest of his family with me here in Boston and I must tell you, as I have said in the past, good things come to those who wait. I also say that opening a box from Ray Guyll at any time is like Christmas morning and this was no exception. I am able to say that Archie looks as though he was just delivered from the hands of Frank Marshall to me. He is nothing short of spectacular. The leather eyelids close all the way and are perfectly smooth. His upper lip is so fine and smooth that you would think it was carved wood and not leather. The superb color match and texture of the paint is Frank Marshall’s without question. I again must take my hat off and bow to Ray Guyll. He is today’s Gepetto and I defy anyone to show me a Marshall restoration that is better.
 
Please follow the link to look at this great Marshall figure on the Marshall page of my figure collection!! Enjoy seeing this figure because I know Johnny Main certainly would have loved to see him like this again.

Click here to see Johnny Main’s Archie II

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************

All writings here are copyrighted by Dan Willinger and Ventriloquist Central. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Frank Marshall was a genius when it came to the functions of his characters. I was asked about the winkers and how or what type of clips Frank used to attach them. The fact is that he didn’t use any clips to attach the wire frame. Instead the wire frame was bent into the correct shape of the outer ball of the eye and the wire continued inside the head at the tear duct side a bit longer making a right angle to which he attached the spring which is attached to the head below the eyes. He then knotted the cord to that same spot holding the spring to the wire, ran the cord upwards and over a pulley and then down through the head stick attaching to his chop stick lever. Very simple and very effective. A small nail is placed as a stop so that they travel just so far down. I have photographed this for you to see.
 
Frank has 2 style of eyes that he used in his figures. One was a complete glass eyeball the type you can find a taxidermist using and these were stationary. The other is a wooden sphere into which he planted a glass Iris. I am not sure where you can get glass Irises today but plastic ones are readily available at hobby shops.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************

All writings here are copyrighted by Dan Willinger and Ventriloquist Central. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I hope you enjoyed reading the story about Lester Marshall Sr and Lester Marshall Jr.from Bob Isaacson because now you have some background on the two them.

I am happy to introduce to you the wonderful Marshall figure made for Lester Marshall Jr in 1957. He is in terrific shape and still has on the original tuxedo that Lester Marshall dressed him in as pictured in the poster which I have also included for you to see.
 
I am always excited to share my figures with everyone and to give you all as much information as I possibly can about each one that joins my collection. If you have any more information about Lester Marshall or Lester Marshall Jr please share it with us.

Click Here to see the Lester Marshall Jr figure

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************
All writings here are copyrighted by Dan Willinger and Ventriloquist Central. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Frank Marshall was not a cheap way to go for a ventriloquist figure back in the heyday of ventriloquism. Everyone forgets the inflation factor when talking about prices from back in those days. An item that a person would purchase for $25.00 was a very princely sum when you consider that a weekly wage at that time was around $60.00.

His figures were rather expensive and I can now prove this by way of a wonderful Railway Express invoice that I just acquired.  This was for the super figure I have listed in my Marshall figures which was made for Jimmy Jedry. His figure was priced at $225.00 and he had a C.O.D. balance of $175.00 upon receipt of his figure. The invoice is dated August 21, 1947.

Just stop and think about how much money that price was for this figure back in 1947 in today’s dollars. I hope you enjoy seeing this great piece of Frank Marshall memorabilia.

Click Here to see Frank Marshall Invoice

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I am asked over and over why do I like the Frank Marshall figure so much. The answer is a rather complicated one, but I think anyone that has ever had a Marshall figure will agree with what I have to say .

For me Frank was able to capture a soul in every one of his creations even though his creations were never really true life look faces. They were all done in a caricature style. His carving always gave you the impression that the figure could give you an answer without anyone’s hand inside his back.
 
The paint scheme that Marshall was able to finally use the last 20 years of his figure making has been copied by so many because he found out how to make his creations sparkle on stage. I know there are those that think his orange paint is over the top but when you put those stage lights on them they are the best. Even the performer has to put on make up to appear correct on stage so why not the figure. Pastel shading with true flesh tones are great if you are looking at a figure in sunlight but what happens when that paint job is on stage with stage lights? It is washed out and looks like a ghost. Marshall new this and compensated for that.
 
Today Bill Nelson does painting on figures in the manner that Frank Marshall did, meaning stage paint, and his figures to many look over the top but on stage they are terrific.
 
Frank’s shaped shoulder boards on his body worked perfectly to give his figures the correct shape and he used a reeding for the horizontal and vertical shaping which gave a great interior roominess for the performers hand. It has been rumored that Frank used fruit crates to make his bodies but I have yet to find evidence of this and I have almost 40 Marshall figures. All his bodies are superbly crafted and many of them are signed  as well.
 
Mr. Marshall took great care in wigging his figures as well. His wigs for the most part were done with a distinct sewn part and came in both straight and wavy hair style. All were cut to perfection and ranged in colors from black to Irish red. I wish I knew where he got his wigs or if they are even available like they were back then. They were really terrific. Marshall on some of his early figures used crepe hair as well.
 
Please think about some of these ideas and let me know your thoughts. These are my opinions and they are the reasons that I love Frank’s work!!
 
Dan

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!