Bil Baird Puppet, ca. 1950
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GUEST:
This is a, a puppet from the early days of television. It's part of the Bil and Cora Baird collection, and I got it at an auction in New York City in 1987. When I was a kid, I loved puppet shows on TV. The first TV show I ever saw was Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. Do you remember them?
APPRAISER:
I remember.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah. And I thought television was a puppet show.
APPRAISER:
(chuckling)
GUEST:
I, I didn't realize it was other stuff. And I loved the Baird puppets, in particular, because they had so much character and animation, and... Uh, so I watched a program called Whistling Wizard and Snarky Parker, and, uh, one day, as an adult, I was going through The New York Times, and there was a picture of Snarky Parker. They were talking about an auction that was upcoming, and I said, "I gotta go to that auction." And I did. I wound up getting this character, who, uh, doesn't have a name. He's not a famous, uh, actor or anything, but I think he has a lot of charm and I could afford him.
APPRAISER:
Yeah. What did you pay for him?
GUEST:
He, he cost me $500.
APPRAISER:
Well, I was really excited to see this...
GUEST:
Yes?
APPRAISER:
...because, uh, I like Baird puppets, too, and I liked, uh... I remember seeing the same shows. Well, Bil Baird, as far as I'm concerned, was the greatest American puppeteer. He was to puppeteering what Fred Astaire was to movie dancing or Walt Disney was to, uh, animation. He was, to me, the, the ultimate. And like you say, he was not a main character, but the minute you put him on the table, I said... (blows out): "This is, this is Bil Baird." I'll let you operate him. He has a little bit of action. He can wink and blink. I was at that same auction, and I've been to a lot of auctions over the years. That was the most exciting auction I've ever been to.
GUEST:
I've only been to that auction, and it was exciting.
APPRAISER:
Baird puppets are highly desirable. Most of his puppets have, are in several, are in museums, and so there's not many out there on the market. Condition is astounding. All original clothing. Um... (exhales)
GUEST:
I gotta show you something.
APPRAISER (laughing): Oh, wow, "Macy's Men's Store." How cool is that? The named characters: Snarky Parker, and Oilcan Olly, Slugger Ryan was the, my favorite. They're the iconic ones. They're the ones that really step up there. I think you did all right at $500. At auction, I think it would bring $1,500, so...
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
You did all right.
GUEST:
That's nice, that's nice to know.
APPRAISER:
Thank you so much for bringing it in. It just brought back a magical moment in my life.
GUEST:
My great pleasure.
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