Featured Figure:
Tommy Baloney

Date Created: 1910

Created by: Louis Grannat

Used by: W.S. Berger

Trivia: 
1. Tommy Baloney is the first figure that W.S. Berger, founder of Vent Haven Museum, ever owned.
2. Tommy was purchased by Berger in 1910 while Berger, then a youthful 32 year old, was on a business trip in New York City.
3. While on that business trip, Berger saw a performance by Harry "The Great" Lester, and this performance peaked his interest in ventriloquism and persuaded him to purchase this figure to try ventriloquism for himself.
4. After a short time, Berger's interest wore off. Tommy was put away and almost forgotten about until Christmas of 1930, when Berger got him back out and used him to perform at a Christmas party at his factory. It was at this point that Berger began his ventriloquial collection in earnest.
5. Berger occasionally spelled the figure's last name as "Bologna," but usually spelled it "Baloney."
6. Tommy was one of Berger's favorite four figures. As such, he has a place of honor in the collection along with the other three figures. They are displayed together in Building One of the museum, and are not visible on any of the Quicktime Virtual Tour pages.

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.