Robert Zimmerman (later known as Bob Dylan) and his ventriloquist dummy Peco’s Pete, Christmas 1950.
An accompanying handwritten letter includes this paragraph:
“AT CHRISTMAS OF 1950 I scored really big! I not only got an HO gauge Peco Train Set, I also got my ventriloquist dummy that I named “Peco’s Pete”, that’s us on the left. He and I wore almost-matching flannel shirts. Sadly, or maybe for the better, my ventriloquist act didn’t go over too well: Pete was getting all the laughs, so I decided to break up the team and let him go his own way. The last time I heard from him, Pete was somewhere in Verona, Italy playing a benefit at a retirement home for old ventriloquists.”
An anonymous high school friend of Robert Zimmerman has put a number of items up for auction with full provenance, a certificate of authenticity, and a letter of authentication. This photograph is an example made public to publicize the sale of some 42 unreleased items. These new artefacts will be digitized and made available for viewing at mnhs.org on 1 April 2018
Would Bob Dylan be given the Nobel Prize if his act had stayed as a ventriloquist? Hard to say.
Will he revive his first stage act? Information that the Verona concert will not have the band make us wonder if it will be Bob alone on that stage or will Peco’s Pete return to make him once more surprise his fans. Expect the unexpected!
Peco’s Blues [Song for Pete on the CBS Discos Studios Recording Sheets, the Tape Boxes and the CO Cards]
17. Peco’s Blues [Song for Pete] (Take 1) 50:58
18. Peco’s Blues [Song for Pete] (Take 2) 51:44
CBS Discos Studios, Mexico City, Mexico (20th January 1973)
Rumours that Bob fell in love with the cameraman on his televised ventriloquism children’s show make more sense in the light of this photograph.
Arlene Mardel [later Arlene Schnitzer] 1951
Both Bob and David had Peco model railways, given in different years. They did not merge their sets.
“PECO model railways has always been a forward-looking family company with a long tradition of innovative thinking. The business started trading in 1946 and is now in its second generation. Although the history of the company is of considerable interest, the present management does not dwell on the past but uses the knowledge as important inspiration for the development of the future. Many famous people have had a Peco model railway set, too many to name”
This sheds light on many comments and events in Bob Dylan’s career – an interesting early discovery!
In the November 1977 interview with Ron Rosenbaum for Playboy, Burbank Califoria. Printed in the March 1978 issue of Playboy, Bob Dylan reminisced about his days with Pecos Pete.
Bob Dylan: No, You know you can do anything with your voice if you put your mind to it. I mean, you can become a ventriloquist or you can become an imitator of other people’s voices. I’m usually just stuck with my own voice. I can do a few other people’s voices.
www.edlis.org/word page 549.
Of course, Dylan did try to regain his youthful connection with Pecos Pete. This is the interview where Dylan has his puppet Finian (a.k.a. Charles Laughton) to hand, which he introduced as a “religious symbol”.
It was the day before Dylan’s 25th birthday. May 23, 1966.
An account of the final press conference of the 1966 World Tour appeared in Datebook magazine (For and By Teens) Vol. 5, Issue 9 published for October 1966. This is as seen through the eyes of two French school children who were lucky enough to get inside the Hotel George V in Paris. Dylan’s questions and answers were interpreted by Jacques Hess, a pop-music journalist of the time.
www.edlis.org/word pages 385-386.
And Robbie Robertson recalled Bob Dylan and the ventriloquist dummy in his memoir ‘Testimony’ – also recalling the Paris news conference.
Photograph below – Bob Dylan holds Pecos Pete replacement Finian (Charles Laughton) at the Paris press conference. 1966-05-23.
The 1950 Christmas pic is also available in this uncirculating colour version.
Before leaving with twenty close friends who help him to carry his puppet and the despair of the world, the nice young man revealed that he sleeps with one hand under his leg and the other under his left ear.
Barry Feinstein included some of the photos from this particular press conference in his exhibition “Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present,” which opened at the Brooklyn Museum about five and a half years ago (October 30, 2009–January 31, 2010). The curator, Gail Buckland, quotes Feinstein in the catalog about this particular puppet reference, saying:
‘”In the morning we went to the flea market and Bob bought this puppet. Every time one of the journalists asked him a question, he put his ear to the puppet’s mouth and pretended to listen to the answer. Then he would tell the press. It drove them nuts. They didn’t understand him.”
Here’s how the press conference went:
Reporter: What did you think of your first night in Paris?
Dylan: It was very dull.
Reporter: Why is the puppet here?
Dylan: It followed me.
Reporter: Is it a mascot?
Dylan: No, it’s a religious symbol.
Reporter: What religion?
Dylan: It’s a symbol of the religion of tears.
Reporter: How much are you getting paid for your concert in Paris?
Dylan: 350 million dollars.
Reporter: Tomorrow is your birthday – how do you feel about that?
Dylan: It’s a crime to talk about it.
Reporter: Why do you sing?
Dylan: Because I like to sing.
Reporter: Do you want to express something with your singing?
Dylan: No.
Reporter: What do you think about death?
Dylan: Very exciting.
Reporter: Which song will you open with tomorrow night?
Dylan: ‘Hello Dolly.’
Reporter: What did you think of the American intervention in the war in Europe in 1944?
Dylan: Do you think that’s an easy question?
Reporter: Yes.
Dylan: Well, I don’t answer easy questions.
Reporter: What do you enjoy doing?
Dylan: Smoking and eating.
Reporter: What interests you in life?
Dylan: Nothing.
Reporter: What makes you happy?
Dylan: A bowl of soup. Being kicked in the ribs by a friend.
Reporter: Are you happy?
Dylan: Yes. As an ashtray maybe.
Source