Figure of the Month
September 2007: Champagne Charlie

Figure Name: Champagne Charlie

Created by: Frank Marshall

Used by: W.S. Berger

Trivia: 
1. Champagne Charlie joined the Vent Haven collection in February of 1938
2. Vent Haven founder W.S. Berger purchased Charlie new from renowned figuremaker Frank Marshall.
3. Champagne Charlie is a life-sized walking figure.
4. Charlie's other special features include moving eyes, a walking cane, a top hat, and a smoking mechanism.
5. Berger had great difficulty with the walking mechanism Marshall created. In a letter to Marshall, Berger wrote, "I don't seem to make him walk properly--I raise the pins that extend down when I walk him, but if I am not careful he is so drunk he collapses."
6. Marshall wrote back, "You are having the same trouble that most every one else has with a walking figure. You will get the knack of the balance and then say well, I'll be D******. It's just getting the balance."
7. In the end, though, Berger was never able to master the Marshall walking mechanism. Berger had figuremakers Glenn and George McElroy remodel the walking mechanism.

Do you have additional information about this figure? Do you have a suggestion for a future Figure of the Month? Is there a figure maker whose work you would like to see featured? Let us know by emailing the Vent Haven staff.