Having been a ventriloquist since age 8, and pretty much seeing thousands of unique and odd ventriloquist figures and puppets out there, I found this amazingly life-like Elvid dummy. Apparently the seller had it custom made for about 5k! Starting bid is up there…I might just get it!
Notice the mouth, teeth detail, and absence of “slots” in the jaws. It uses what’s called a “living mouth” which looks more life-like, but while the bottom lip opens widely, the jaw remains static.
I had the Danny O’Day ventriliquist dummy when I was eight too. I won some talent shows and it was the official start of my show-biz career.
That’s a cool elvis puppet! creepy…yes.
I wonder if it comes with extra percodans?
My Vent dummy these days is a mime puppet. Much easier because the mime doesn’t talk.
That is what my nightmares are made of.
Here’s my collection: (notice the license plate!) The last one is a genuine “Jerry Mahoney” replica, with the mold taken from Paul Winchell’s original Jerry! He has brass mechanics with side to side eyes, blinkers, moving mouth and 360 degree head movement. The two Jerry’s directly above are from the late 50’s and sold originally for under $30 each. Today they are worth well over $500 each! The “Knuclehead” in the middle (very top pic) is exceedingly rare and worth about $500 as well.
This is a real ventriloquist’s dummy.
But which one do I mean?
A proper dummy is “obviously” mechanical (rather than a living mouth). That is part of the illusion.
Cool collection!
As you know the Danny O"Day doll I had was just like the top pic on the top right.
I hate to say but I destroyed probably six Charlie Mccarthy and Danny dolls as a prop in my act. I threw them around quite a bit and those plastic heads would break apart, I found them at thrift stores and antique stores. ( I would paint the faces like a mime as mentioned above)
I kinda felt bad decimating the old plastic dummies…but I guess it just makes a collection like yours worth just that much more.
One of my highlights of the Smithsonian in Wash DC is seeing the original Charlie McCarthy doll. (Odd that they put it there seeing as how Wash DC has enough wooden-heads.)
That licence plate…was that really yours? funny.
Not at all! In england, most professional vents used figures with “living mouth” mechanisms. Davenport & Insull were two world renowned makers of these types of figures. In the US, the “slot jaw” type is used much more frequently.
Funny you mentioned the Smithsonian! I happen to be pictured in an older issue when they did a story on the Vent Haven museum! http://www.venthavenmuseum.net/
It’s a long time since I’ve seen a “proper ventriloquist” except for Doddy. Most of the dummies I can recall from the old days had mechanical (slot) mouths. I suppose there are a few modern dummies with artificial rubber faces. Most of them are in Parliament.
To me as a member of the audience, the somewhat limited fun available from a ventriloquist’s show is in the entertainer bringing to life something that is very obviously a puppet. A rubber/silicone face with a living mouth would have no entertainment value at all, as far as I’m concerned. (Oooer, matron, that sounds ruder than I meant. 
)
I’m sorry to say that you are ill-informed. The face of these figures in question are not “rubber” or “silicone”. The only difference is that the mouth part is made with doe skin, and painted or dyed to match skin tone. Other than that, the head and and other moving parts are made the same way as the more traditional slot mouth version.
In the past there have been many legendary (now mostly unknown to younger gen) vents who used thses types of figures and made millions performing all around the world and giving command performances to kings and queens! Bottom line is not what the figure is made of, but the quality of the act!
You can have the best, most expensive slot jaw figure on the planet, but if you suck at performing, you will fail. It’s all about having great ORIGINAL material, flawless timing, excellent technique, and a unique character that an audience will relate to and love, i.e, Charlie McCarthy, Jerry Mahoney, and currently, Jeff Dunham and quite a few others make millions today selling out venues all over the world…so “limite fun available”? I wouldn’t mind making that kind of money from something with such a limited appeal lol! You’re funny Mike!
I had a Mortimer Snerd (I think that’s the name–a bit of an Alfred E. Neuman type; he’s in your first picture, Terry) and enjoyed mucking about, but never learned the trick of actually throwing my voice (if that term is actually still used). Thanks for bringing back that memory–hadn’t thought of it in years!