NASHVILLE ANTIQUE ARCHAEOLOGY REMAINING INV.
Lot 238:
Description
Mid 20th Century Suited Ventriloquist Dummy. This piece can be seen in "American Pickers" Season 23 Episode 10 "Wolves in Wisconsin." This dummy was created by its owner, Mathew Bernard Gruber, a New York inventor who is credited with building the first modern automaton with voice. Gruber passed away, February 28, 2024. According to his obituary on Goodman Bensman Whitefish Bay Funeral Home’s website, "…he started his own business called Sound Display Enterprises, where he invented automatic talking puppets, (automatons), that were rented and used in point-of-sale advertising. Most notably, at that time, he was involved with The Howdy Doody Show, where he created an exact replica of the Howdy Doody marionette ? only his Howdy could talk by himself and didn?t need strings to move his arms, trunk, eyes, mouth and head. That Howdy Doody was used by the show?s sponsors throughout the country to promote their products, and Matt had to go where Howdy went, making for an exciting time of life." Mike Wolfe did not buy any automatons/puppets during the episode as Gruber called them "his children." Mike must have purchased them at a later date. The head is carved from three blocks of wood. The lower jaw and chin are movable. The torso is a wooden frame covered with cotton padding covered with cloth. It is open at the back to be operated. This dummy has a cigar/cigarette holder in its mouth. The facial features are hand painted. Measures approximately 14" wide X 43" high. Provenance the remaining inventory of Antique Archaeology, closed Nashville, Tennessee location.
Condition: Condition- To operate dummy, it would need to be restrung. Some operational cables are inside. The cloth body has wear and some holes, exposing the cotton filler. Some loss to hair and paint loss to face, neck area. Pants do not fit properly. See photos.
Share this lot:
