Figure of the Month
January 2008: Junior

Figure Name: Junior

Created by: Finis Robinson

Used by: Robert Andrews

Trivia: 
1. Junior was used by amateur ventriloquist Bob Andrews, who was born on May 3, 1950.
2. According to Andrews' sister Susan, Andrews became interested in ventriloquism when he was seven and a half years old. Andrews received a Charlie McCarthy doll for Christmas that year and used the included instruction manual to teach himself ventriloquism.
3. Soon after, Andrews learned of Vent Haven founder W.S. Berger and began to correspond with him. In the correspondence, Andrews stated that he would love to see Vent Haven at some point.
4. In 1963, Andrews traded in his toy dummy for Junior, a professional figure created by Finis Robinson. He sent a photo of himself and Junior to Berger, who wrote back that "You are a fine looking young man and Mrs. Berger bragged about how nice you look and your companion likewise."
5. In June of 1966, Andrews was finally able to visit Vent Haven with his parents. He wrote to Berger afterward, "Thank you so much for the wonderful time you gave me and my parents at Vent Haven. None of us will ever forget your warm hospitality. This trip was especially meaningful to me. I had heard so much about you and your museum and I really could not believe it. Now I still find it rather hard to believe."
6. Andrews goes on to say that his mother liked Muzz's Monkey the best of all of the figures. He also thanks Berger for the performance advice Andrews received from him.
7. Andrews also created his own figure, Draco the Dragon, which was a sock puppet (Draco can be seen resting on Junior's left shoulder).
8. Andrews died of accidental drowning in 1999. In his will he bequeathed Junior and the rest of his ventriloquist items to Vent Haven Museum. Junior joined the collection in the summer of 2000.
9. In the letter accompanying the donation, Andrews' sister Susan wrote, "A vibrant, talented man, he had much life still to live. He didn't have time to review his life before it ended. Had he had that time, I'm sure he would have given Junior a starring role on the acknowledgements page of that review."
10. Junior is on display in Building Two of Vent Haven Museum. He is visible in the second QuickTime Virtual tour of the building. After the page loads, "turn" to your right and look into the other side of the building. Junior is one of the first figures visible in the room (his right shoulder is partially cut off by the doorway).

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.