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John Fawcett's Life-Long Passion
I grew up in Watertown, Massachusetts, born December 1939. My earliest "dateable" memory was a 1943 issue of Looney Tunes comics from when I was 3 years old - and I remember every story in that issue. I drew all the time and copied comic book covers and even made my own comic book when I was 6, a Mighty Mouse story that my aunt sewed together on her sewing machine. I still have that comic. I collected as a kid, keeping runs of Classic Comics, Walt Disney's Comics & Stories, Looney Tunes, Tarzan, Roy Rogers, Lone Ranger and a few others, mostly Dells. My childhood comics were all lost, however, as my mother loaned them to a neighborhood kid who was sick in bed for a month. When I saw him on the street after he recovered, he told me all my comics had been burned because he had scarlet fever! Only my Classics survived from childhood. The art in my comics held a magic life force for me. I am an artist who grew up in the days before television. When I saw them come to life on the giant movie screens, it was astounding! As with all artists of my generation, I was amazed by the magic in the early Disney animated feature films. These films were made for adults and general entertainment - they were not aimed at children. For example, Snow White nearly has her heart cut out by the Huntsman. Bambi's mother is shot and the forest fire is terrifying. Pinocchio is eaten by a whale. When I returned home, I drew the images I saw on the screen to remember the visual experience. My collection today is basically an artist's visual reference . . . my wallpaper if you will. Whenever you visit any artist's studio you will see pictures on the wall of images that are of interest, and my 32-year collection is my visual wallpaper. Other artists such as Maurice Sendak, Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol and the great toy designer Mel Birnkrant all had similar visual influences from childhood. I stopped collecting when I became a teenager, not to start again until the mid 1960s. The Pop Art movement was just beginning and I wondered where my old comic images were. I bought a few gum cards and comics off the newsstand, but they were not of interest to me and held no "magic." I called home and my mother came up with my Classic Comics, some of my baseball card collection, and even some of my earliest comic drawings. Through a wanted to buy an ad in a local newspaper, I found another collector, Dick Mosso in Worcester, Massachusetts. He told me where the other collectors were, and I subscribed to the Rocket's Blast and Comic Collector. My adult collecting life began in the old RBCC. I found Mike Barrier and Funnyworld. It was through Mike's excellent research that I learned about the artists who wrote and drew the comics and films I loved. I was there when the names of Carl Barks and Floyd Gottfredson finally become known for the work that they did. The 1960's were exciting times. I bought Carl Bark's Truant Officer painting #13 directs from him for only $150. Sorry to say, I no longer own that painting. I found old time radio and listened again to Brace Beemer on the Lone Ranger as I worked on my art. When Clayton Moore's Lone Ranger arrived on television in 1948, I was slightly disappointed - the pictures were always better on the radio. So Charles Flander's art and Brace Beemer's voice were my versions of the Lone Ranger. My interest in this material is not so much about nostalgia as it is about aesthetics. I am collecting the works of thousands of anonymous artists and sculptors who designed the toys and drew the art behind these important pieces of American popular culture and films. After 32 years of teaching art at the University of Connecticut, I retired and moved to Maine. My collection had grown to such size that it was time to open a museum. It's my hope that Fawcett's Antique Toy Museum will return visitors "to those thrilling days of yesteryear." We have opened our private home to the public to view a 37-year collection of cowboy and comic character toys and art. The museum features a fabulous collection of 1930s Disneyana, with Mickey Mouse and his pals. The collection even includes a large 1930s Donald Duck French carousel figure, movie posters, comic books, and original comic art featuring Felix the Cat, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, Popeye, Superman, Charlie McCarthy, Lil' Abner, Pogo, Krazy Kat, Betty Boop, Tarzan, Bugs Bunny, Mutt & Jeff, Snow White, Pinocchio, Howdy Doody, and more recent toys such as The Beatles, Snoopy, Robots, and space toys are on display. In addition, the museum displays the finest Lone Ranger collection in the world. Other cowboy toys, cap guns, dolls and items feature the likes of Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Red Ryder, Paladin, and Tom Mix. An original cowboy shirt and boots worn by Brace Beemer and Roy Rogers are on display, as well as Gene Autry's Rodeo saddle and an original 1950s Lone Ranger & Tonto Dell comic book cover painting. Original paintings featuring The Green Hornet and The Lone Ranger from the offices of WXYZ radio in Detroit can be seen, as can old cereal boxes featuring radio program giveaways and an extensive collection of radio rings and decoders. Also highlighted are premiums from the Shadow, the Green Hornet, Captain Midnight, the Lone Ranger, Tom Mix, Jack Armstrong, Sgt. Preston & Yukon King radio shows, Kellogg's Pep comic character pins, and the only two known complete Kix Cereal boxes featuring 1946 Atom Bomb Ring. A complete 1948 model of the greatest radio giveaway of all time, The Lone Ranger's Frontiertown, is on display, too. In addition to the original art from the Dell Lone Ranger covers, we have numerous other comic books and their subscription premiums, as well as sports items, Hartland baseball and cowboy statues, World War II paper toys and anti-Axis propaganda, American and British toy soldiers, 1930s Pop-Up Books, antique Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns, Christmas light sets, and many other items, too. It's my hope that folks will visit the museum and say - if they are old enough - "Gee, I had one of those when I was a kid!" Fawcett's Antique Toy Museum is located on Route one, 3 miles northeast of Moody's Diner in Waldoboro, Maine. Waldoboro is located in mid-coast Maine, between Boothbay Harbor and Camden. Open 10-4 Memorial Day to Columbus Day, shut Tuesday & Wednesday. From Columbus Day to Christmas, we open 12-4 Saturday & Sunday only. Additional information can be found on their website, http://home.gwi.net/~fawcetoy. John Fawcett can be e-mailed at fawcetoy@gwi.net.
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