Fritz
Fritz is The Fourth of July in a state of shock. A firecracker about to "pop." An homage to Fred Astaire doing his fire-cracker dance in the 1942 Irving Berlin film, Holiday Inn. Fred is a national treasure. I adore Fred Astaire.
Fritz’s torso is made from many spools of antique gelatin sequins arranged on threaded rods into a tube... a “fire cracker”... made from all that concentrated antique material which, ironically, would melt if brought in contact with water. (Gun powder being also compromised by water, I find this similarity a fortunate metaphor.) He has long blue silk arms and legs, and stands pigeon toed, with hands held out as if he’s about to explode. He wears a fire-cracker hat, almost as tall as his body, made from an old paper tube covered with silver tinsel. The firecracker sparks are blown glass beads that suggest those light bulb garlands strung across summer street fairs, like Little Italy’s “Feast of San Gennaro.” Fritz is old Italian street fairs and side show barkers. Fritz is the biggest darn toy you ever imagined when you were an amusement park drunk like me at 7 years old. I adore old amusement parks. Are there any left in this less enchanting world of franchise & branding?
Fritz stands in a rocket ship straight out of every tacky sci-fi movie I ever saw a million times at night on TV. It’s 10 1/2 ft. tall which is really big to have in your living room. It stands ready for take-off, so very home made ready, like a tin can go-kart effort by Spanky and Alfalfa in some desperate, last minute, Our Gang competition. Fritz's knees are buckling, braced for impact! Ready? Set? Let go of the rubber band, Alfalfa!
Fritz stands a slim & nervous 7 1/2 ft tall inside his 10 1/2 ft tall Si-Fi splendor.