52.32... unexpected adventure
The email message from a puppet-collector friend arrived on Sunday without greeting or preamble, so I knew he was worried.
. . . . . . .
I thought we might "inherit" some wood crates full of an old stage presentation, STORM AT SEA. I think maybe as many as 8 versions of this existed at some time---I think this was the last one.
Greyhound will NOT ship wood crates. Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx of Yyy Yyyyy MA had fussed with the material for years until his passing recently. I met him in 1979, stayed at his home one weekend while preparing the touring PofA exhibit (1980-83).
His daughter lives in Florida, where her life is centered. Closing her parents' estate has been a burden for her and she was in a hurry to get back to Florida, After finding that Greyhound culd not ship the crates to me in California, it sounded like she just dumped the material. A e-mail from her today says it is temporarily stored in a barn or equivalent until the real estate property is sold. So there is still possibly time to preserve some theater history which is related to puppetry.
Paul McPharlin I think makes mention of Storm at Sea---sort of a recreated stage "news reel" presentation of storm-tossed ships, probably something sinks?? Big-time disaster?
Anyway, as far as I know, what Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx was tryng to restore is most likely the last surviving example, even in incomplete form. I have not seen the material---only heard about it since 1979. Someone in England expressed interest too, but Zzzzzzzzzz Zzzzzzzz Zzzzzz (daughter of Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx) is clearly not up to preserving her dad's efforts. Would ANYONE in the Boston area be willing to look into this and perhaps keep this stuff from being dumped when the building is sold?
I should think grant funds MIGHT be available to restore and preserve this material, or at least preserve PARTS that survived.
For a month I thought this stuff had already been dumped. Maybe there is still time?
ALAN
. . . . .
I suppose I shouldn't describe Alan Cook as merely a collector of puppets. He's actually THE PREMIERE collector of and authority on historic puppetry in this country. For years he kept the puppets and puppetry ephemera he'd collected in his house... and then also his mother's cottage after her death. I never saw the houses myself, but those who did tell tales of marionettes hanging from the shower head in the bathroom and hand puppets sitting next to the corn flakes in the kitchen.
Finally several years ago some good folks who live near Alan in southern California decided enough was enough, and they began raising funds to establish a museum- the Conservatory of Puppetry Arts "COPA"- where these important artifacts can be properly cared for and displayed. Establishing the non-profit was relatively easy, but finding funding and affordable space has proven tricky. The collection is currently housed in its third home- a small building on the grounds of a church where there is a LITTLE display space, but with an all-volunteer staff, progress on fundraising and finding a proper permanent home is glacially slow. Given the quality, size, and importance of the collection, it should be very possible to find grant funding and corporate sponsorships for COPA. I'm actually a fairly successful grantswriter and fundraiser myself, so I often I wish I was independently wealthy so I could devote some of my time to doing that for them. Meanwhile, I help in the small ways I can.
Undaunted by lack of facilities, Alan- one of the most delightfully eccentric and knowledgeable people I've ever known- continues to collect everything important that he can get his hands on, And, ever anxious to make sure the public gets to see these wondrous pieces of "art and history", he's constantly traveling around the country to mount exhibits in museums, libraries, theatres, and at puppetry festivals.. So when Alan indicates it's important to save something... I believe him.
Luckily my great good friend Dave has a van and was taking a "lets get chores around the house done" kinda vacation, so it wasn't too hard to talk him into a little adventure. After a quick visit to mapquest and our favorite coffee shop, we headed north on Route 1 toward the address we'd been given by Xxxxx's daughter. I had talked briefly to Alan on Monday, and it was clear he feared that barn the pieces were being stored in might be damp and rickety. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
It's not that the barn was so fancy- it was definitely a working barn- but more for a gentleman farmer than someone doing hard-scrabble truck farming. There were two stalls that had housed horses at one time. Possibly when the modest house abutting it had had fewer and farther neighbors than the suburban style homes nearby. It had obviously not been used for horses for a while, because in the pathway where horses would once have left the barn was a modern gazebo. Aimed at the road where the electric horses now travel.
We found the boxes housing the "Storm at Sea" mechanics and scenic elements quite easily, and it was easy to tell a lot about Xxxxx both from the way he kept his barn- with its lovely lovely bones- neat and tidy, and also from his abiding interest in the contents of those boxes. The show had been built in the late 1800's, when craftsmanship was at a zenith. The scenery and mechanics for the show were built into custom made boxes that were marvels of engineering and efficiency. Built so that one would stack onto another for easy travel, with their wood pegs and hand-sanded planes, they were a delight to examine and touch. As I was examining the contents of the boxes, Dave found the box that contained all the schematics and news clippings and notes about the production, along with a careful journal of Xxxxx's work on the project. This man was a historian's best friend.
Not much else to say. After oohing and aahing over everything, Dave and I each spent an hour on our own pleasurable pursuits. He relocated to the gazebo to devour the box of documentation in the cool shade, and- once I'd taken photos and made guestimates about the weight of thee boxes so I can find the right shipper for them- allowed myself to turn away from duty toward the pleasure of photographing the barn. Ah, heaven.
We'll be making another trip out to the barn soon, with a friend whose van is better suited to the size and weight of the boxes, Meanwhile, yesterday was the BEST of days for this artful brush with history, and our unexpected adventure.
52.32... unexpected adventure
The email message from a puppet-collector friend arrived on Sunday without greeting or preamble, so I knew he was worried.
. . . . . . .
I thought we might "inherit" some wood crates full of an old stage presentation, STORM AT SEA. I think maybe as many as 8 versions of this existed at some time---I think this was the last one.
Greyhound will NOT ship wood crates. Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx of Yyy Yyyyy MA had fussed with the material for years until his passing recently. I met him in 1979, stayed at his home one weekend while preparing the touring PofA exhibit (1980-83).
His daughter lives in Florida, where her life is centered. Closing her parents' estate has been a burden for her and she was in a hurry to get back to Florida, After finding that Greyhound culd not ship the crates to me in California, it sounded like she just dumped the material. A e-mail from her today says it is temporarily stored in a barn or equivalent until the real estate property is sold. So there is still possibly time to preserve some theater history which is related to puppetry.
Paul McPharlin I think makes mention of Storm at Sea---sort of a recreated stage "news reel" presentation of storm-tossed ships, probably something sinks?? Big-time disaster?
Anyway, as far as I know, what Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx was tryng to restore is most likely the last surviving example, even in incomplete form. I have not seen the material---only heard about it since 1979. Someone in England expressed interest too, but Zzzzzzzzzz Zzzzzzzz Zzzzzz (daughter of Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx) is clearly not up to preserving her dad's efforts. Would ANYONE in the Boston area be willing to look into this and perhaps keep this stuff from being dumped when the building is sold?
I should think grant funds MIGHT be available to restore and preserve this material, or at least preserve PARTS that survived.
For a month I thought this stuff had already been dumped. Maybe there is still time?
ALAN
. . . . .
I suppose I shouldn't describe Alan Cook as merely a collector of puppets. He's actually THE PREMIERE collector of and authority on historic puppetry in this country. For years he kept the puppets and puppetry ephemera he'd collected in his house... and then also his mother's cottage after her death. I never saw the houses myself, but those who did tell tales of marionettes hanging from the shower head in the bathroom and hand puppets sitting next to the corn flakes in the kitchen.
Finally several years ago some good folks who live near Alan in southern California decided enough was enough, and they began raising funds to establish a museum- the Conservatory of Puppetry Arts "COPA"- where these important artifacts can be properly cared for and displayed. Establishing the non-profit was relatively easy, but finding funding and affordable space has proven tricky. The collection is currently housed in its third home- a small building on the grounds of a church where there is a LITTLE display space, but with an all-volunteer staff, progress on fundraising and finding a proper permanent home is glacially slow. Given the quality, size, and importance of the collection, it should be very possible to find grant funding and corporate sponsorships for COPA. I'm actually a fairly successful grantswriter and fundraiser myself, so I often I wish I was independently wealthy so I could devote some of my time to doing that for them. Meanwhile, I help in the small ways I can.
Undaunted by lack of facilities, Alan- one of the most delightfully eccentric and knowledgeable people I've ever known- continues to collect everything important that he can get his hands on, And, ever anxious to make sure the public gets to see these wondrous pieces of "art and history", he's constantly traveling around the country to mount exhibits in museums, libraries, theatres, and at puppetry festivals.. So when Alan indicates it's important to save something... I believe him.
Luckily my great good friend Dave has a van and was taking a "lets get chores around the house done" kinda vacation, so it wasn't too hard to talk him into a little adventure. After a quick visit to mapquest and our favorite coffee shop, we headed north on Route 1 toward the address we'd been given by Xxxxx's daughter. I had talked briefly to Alan on Monday, and it was clear he feared that barn the pieces were being stored in might be damp and rickety. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
It's not that the barn was so fancy- it was definitely a working barn- but more for a gentleman farmer than someone doing hard-scrabble truck farming. There were two stalls that had housed horses at one time. Possibly when the modest house abutting it had had fewer and farther neighbors than the suburban style homes nearby. It had obviously not been used for horses for a while, because in the pathway where horses would once have left the barn was a modern gazebo. Aimed at the road where the electric horses now travel.
We found the boxes housing the "Storm at Sea" mechanics and scenic elements quite easily, and it was easy to tell a lot about Xxxxx both from the way he kept his barn- with its lovely lovely bones- neat and tidy, and also from his abiding interest in the contents of those boxes. The show had been built in the late 1800's, when craftsmanship was at a zenith. The scenery and mechanics for the show were built into custom made boxes that were marvels of engineering and efficiency. Built so that one would stack onto another for easy travel, with their wood pegs and hand-sanded planes, they were a delight to examine and touch. As I was examining the contents of the boxes, Dave found the box that contained all the schematics and news clippings and notes about the production, along with a careful journal of Xxxxx's work on the project. This man was a historian's best friend.
Not much else to say. After oohing and aahing over everything, Dave and I each spent an hour on our own pleasurable pursuits. He relocated to the gazebo to devour the box of documentation in the cool shade, and- once I'd taken photos and made guestimates about the weight of thee boxes so I can find the right shipper for them- allowed myself to turn away from duty toward the pleasure of photographing the barn. Ah, heaven.
We'll be making another trip out to the barn soon, with a friend whose van is better suited to the size and weight of the boxes, Meanwhile, yesterday was the BEST of days for this artful brush with history, and our unexpected adventure.