Newest Addition to the Duff Tweed Collection: The Hotdog Hobo: The Low Bidder

Hello again!


As we said in our previous post, it has been a busy June 2011 at Duff Tweed Carvings.


We were so excited to add this never before seen (in this blog or anywhere online) Duff Tweed carving we're affectionately naming The Hotdog Hobo.  It did cross our mind to call him the Bratwurst Bum, but we do not say "bum" because is denotes an entirely different feel and meaning versus hobo.  My daughter's "Community of Caring" would be so proud! *laugh*  We found this carving through Todd S. in Pasadena, CA who was selling it for his friend's grandmother.  Apparently, Todd's friend's grandfather was either buddies or business associates of Duff Tweeds and this carving was either part of a business dealing or a thank you gift.  Duff conducted his work in such a personal manner.  Oh, for the old days!


So without further adieu, introducing The Hotdog Hobo . . .

Don't you just love how Duff incorporated so much action in a carving?  This Duff Tweed carving is in excellent shape and it's from 1969 making it 42 years old. We're still amazed how excited we get over a new Duffy find.  Just when we think we know every carving Duff carved, a new one pops out of the woodwork!  


Here's a couple of close-ups for you to enjoy:

 


O.K., so you would be pretty excited to find this carving, right?  Well, how much more excited would you be to find this personal dedication from Duff Tweed including his illustration of Donald Duck?

We love how Duff drew it as if Donald was thanking Dick and Jay.  Man, did he have some personality!  


A big shout out and our gratitude goes to Todd in Pasadena for allowing us to add this wonderful piece to the Duff Tweed Carvings collection.


Until next time (which won't be long, I promise) . . .


All the best!
-Joe

Duff Tweed Sheds a Little Light on the Subject

June 2011 is heating up fast!


Temperatures are rising throughout the country and so are the number of available wood carvings by Duff Tweed.  We have been contacted by more sellers than in any previous month since the blog was born.  


Before we get to the recent additions to the Duff Tweed Carvings collection which will be posted in a subsequent blog entry, we wanted to share a really neat Duff Tweed carving which comes to us from Gary at the Rust Trap Ranch.  From our extensive research, we know Duff made carvings of self standing figures.  One we know of from a written article was of a man holding two water buckets over his back with the aid of a stick.  Gary has been collecting Duff's work years before we were even aware of his existence, so Gary took advantage of an opportunity years ago to pick up one of his first pieces.


Take a look below and check out this cool cowboy/musician lamp carved by none other than Duff Tweed:

We normally crop pictures, but the background at the Rust Trap Ranch looked so Western, the lamp just fit right in!  This piece definitely falls into the Slaughterhouse Four era (see older posts).  Who knows, this lamp may pre-date the creation of the Slaughterhouse Four wood carvings.  The only way to know for sure would to have one of the family members of Duff's estate contact us and let us know.  We suspect Duff carved all kinds of different topics with particular interest in Hobos, Golfers and Cowboys.  We now know from this piece and some others we have researched that Duff also carved self standing figures.


Here are a few more pictures of the Cowboy Lamp . . .

As you can see, the figure on the lamp looks just like the other carvings from the Slaughterhouse Four.  What a great find!

A big heart felt thank you goes out to Gary at the Rust Trap Ranch.  Thank you for sharing your unique Duff Tweed carving lamp with us and the countless readers who will find this blog over the years to come.

All the best!

-Joe

P.S. We had just under 3,000 page views as of last month.  Thank you for your interest, sharing stories and being a part of the Duff Tweed collecting community.

June Gloom? Not! Two Duff Tweeds Added: Double Jigger Jack Grant and The Frustrated Golfer

Welcome back.  


Glad you could take a moment to view two already seen carvings, but newly added to the Duff Tweed collection. We thought June might continue to be a slow time at Duff Tweed Carvings, but it is promising to be a great month! 


Just acquired today from Lee in Palm Springs, we're proud to present Double Jigger Jack Grant and The Frustrated Golfer.  This is actually our third carving of Double Jigger Jack Grant or Charlie Briley depending on which version you believe. Additionally this is our second copy of The Frustrated Golfer.


First let's take a look at this Duff Tweed carving of The Frustrated Golfer:

As you can see, his golf club is missing the head and a piece of the broken shaft in his right hand is missing, but the carving is in excellent condition.  We also noted that it is painted in exactly the same colors as our first frustrated golfer carving.  As always, the facial expressions are different. Lee from Palm Springs shared that his grandmother had owned these and was the neighbor of an old Disney animator when she lived in Pasadena, CA.  We can only assume that neighbor was Duff Tweed himself.  Lee found the carvings in his grandmother's attic and we met in Los Angeles while he made a day trip here.  A big shout out to Lee for contacting us and taking the time to personally deliver them.  Thank you kindly Lee!
  
What is really neat about this carving is not what's on the front, but what was added on the back:  

Not only did Duff sign the back with his address and telephone number, but he drew a Goofy/Pluto figure as well.  You can see in the photo how pristine the paper and handwriting is on this piece.  A real Duffy find!


Here's a close-up of the Goofy or Pluto character:

So coooooooool!


Now let's take a look at our third Double Jigger Jack Grant carving:

We just love the checkered/plaid jackets Duff painted.  This carving is in almost pristine condition with a small chip in his hat and a scrape on the "Old Mule" bottle, but they truly are minor details.  Often we have discussed the fact that Duff hand carved each carving.  Hard to fathom when you see how many carvings are out there, but once again we have included three different carvings below of Double Jigger Jack Grant for comparison purposes.  You be the judge.

The carvings look the same, but look closely and you'll see variations in the eye brows, eyes, ears, etc.  These look so much better in person.  These pictures do not do Duff's work justice.

Hoping to have more Duffy tales to share in the weeks to come.

All the best!

-Joe