Frank Marshall's Rolling Eye Winker

I was asked recently about the rolling eye winker and how it worked. I thought that would be something everyone would like to see so here you go.

frankmarshall-winker-011S

frankmarshall-winker-012S

This is a Frank Marshall figure’s inside of the head from the 1930’s. As you can see the mechanics are not very complicated. Marshall used glass eyes which he filled with plastic wood. he would the drill a horizontal hole through for the eye ro rotate downward upon then attached the string and spring to the back of the eye.

This was a simple yet very effective was of doing a winker. Also if you look you can see that the original cord is still attached showing that if done right cord is just as good as any direct linkage and maybe even better.

 

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2009 by Dan Willinger

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This entry was posted in Frank Marshall Figure (Dummy), Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central, Ventriloquist Figure (Dummy) Makers, Ventriloquist Figure Building. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Frank Marshall's Rolling Eye Winker

  1. Bill Smith says:

    Dan & Steve,

    Thanks so much for sharing this!! I’ve always WANTED a good view inside a Marshall head, & finally got one! The only pro figure I’ve owned was a Lovik {wish I hadn’t sold him. STUPID!!} which had cords for the side to side eyes & a rod linkage for the mouth. I think cords WOULD be better. I would think they would have a smoother feel to them, & wouldn’t eventually kink up or bind like metal rods might. I do not speak from experience on this, so I may be TOTALLY in error. I just know I DID like the feeling of the cords for the eyes over the rod for the mouth on my Lovik. I’m glad that first photo is of the inside of the head & not the outside! SCARY!! HA! Thanks again guys!

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