Ventriloquist Central - A Tribute To Ventriloquism

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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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