ORIGINAL DUFF TWEED DRAWING OF JOHN EAGLES, HEAD MAITRE'D OF THE FAMOUS MOUNT ROYAL HOTEL'S KON TIKI RESTAURANT IN MONTREAL, CANADA

Greetings and Salutations!

It has been a very busy holiday season.  Before we get started, we’re wishing each of you a wonderful and safe holiday.  Be well, be warm and be happy!

As readers of this blog, you know we tend to get a little excited over acquisitions of Duff Tweed’s carvings. *wink*   Heck, the entire blog is dedicated to his carvings!  With that in mind, you can imagine how excited we would be to obtain an actual drawing or illustration done by the man himself!  Quite a few of Duff’s carvings have illustrations on the back frame, typically of the Disney characters Goofy or Donald Duck.

What we have to share with you today is a drawing done by Duff Tweed prior to his employ with the Disney company.  This piece was available on Ebay and we worked out a deal with the seller to obtain it.  We paid significantly more than we do for a carving, but this is the first drawing we have from Duff and are proudly adding it to the collection.  We feel lucky and privileged to be able to share this piece with you today.  It is undoubtedly the oldest piece we have from Duffield Tweed.

Before we share the pictures of the piece, we thought you should hear from the seller, Nancy, in her own words.  First is the actual description placed in the Ebay auction:

ORIGINAL DUFF TWEED DRAWING OF JOHN EAGLES, HEAD MAITRE'D OF THE FAMOUS MOUNT ROYAL HOTEL's KON TIKI RESTAURANT IN MONTREAL, CANADA 

FROM BEFORE HE WORKED WITH WALT DISNEY AS AN ANIMATOR, DUFF TWEED WORKED FOR THE MONTREAL GAZETTE.

THE MOUNT ROYAL HOTEL WAS WHERE ALL THE US CELEBRETIES STAYED AND ITS MAITRE'D WORKED WITH THE FAMOUS AND HELPED OUT ITS GUESTS AND THE RESTAURANT'S CUSTOMERS, ONE OF WHOM WAS DUFF TWEED.

HE DREW THIS PORTRAIT OF JOHN EAGLES FOR AN ARTICLE ON HIM FOR THE GAZETTE.  MONTREAL WAS QUITE HOPPING IN THE 30'S.

"To John in appreciation of many favors.  Sincerely Duff Tweed"

John Eagles was the father of my Mom's first cousin (I knew her as Aunt Lucy).  I found this when she died 10 years ago.  Through stories that Lucy told me and from Mom talking about the article, I realized that this was connected with the Walt Disney animator of the 1950's.

While communicating about the purchase of the drawing, we received this reply from Nancy:

I have seen your blog and appreciate your enthusiasm for Duff Tweed's carvings. This portrait is a one-of-a-kind discovery for us here in Montreal. And there has been quite a bit of interest lately in Montreal's connection with New York in the 20's and the 30's. The Montreal Gazette just ran a story about our nightclubs back then.

My buy-it-now price would be $???. (Nope, not sharing that. *LOL*)

Are you interested?

Nancy

End of Nancy's commentary

We were extremely interested and jumped on the opportunity to add it to the collection.  Thank you Nancy so much for your listing of the piece, for working with us to make it a reality and for your patience throughout the process.  Nancy is a special person, and we mean that in the best sense!

Now, direct from Montreal, Canada . . .

Duff Tweed’s thank you to John Eagles of MOUNT ROYAL HOTEL'S KON TIKI RESTAURANT in Montreal:

 

JOHN EAGLES, HEAD MAITRE'D OF MOUNT ROYAL HOTEL'S KON TIKI RESTAURANT IN MONTREAL, CANADA

This is a fantastic piece.  We love the old feel and look of the drawing.  It’s obviously a period piece from around the 30’s and truly depicts caricature drawings from that time.

Making a huge SHOUT OUT TO NANCY for allowing us to share this piece with the world.  We are equally grateful for being able to add this beautiful piece to the Duff Tweed carvings collection.

Thank you for visiting our Duffy corner of the world and hope you will come back soon.

We may soon have another never before seen carving for the collection.  Let’s all keep our fingers crossed!

Wishing you health, happiness and prosperity now and for the coming year!  We're just full of positivity today! :-)  Thanks again Nancy!!!

All the best!

Joe

Robin of Pittsburgh is gifted: Early Set of Slaughterhouse Four and Seated Guitarist Lamp

Howdy Partners!

Welcome back and it’s great to be back here sharing some great Duffy carvings.  Hope all of you had a wonderful remainder of your summer.  Winter is quickly approaching (here for some of you already) and with it, we are seeing a lot of Duff Tweed activity.

This entry is solely dedicated to Robin in Pittsburgh, PA.  Robin is a true collector of Duff Tweed carvings.  What does that mean?  Well, many folks inherit carvings that were simply passed down to them.  They accept them passively from the preceding generation of family or friends.  Robin actually loved these carvings and lamp for years and finally was able to obtain them through her in-laws by expressing her love of Duff’s work.  We actually think she saved them from being discarded and can’t wait for you to see them below, for we think they are fantastic too! 

Before we share Robin’s story, please take some time in reviewing her set of the Slaughterhouse Four.  Each carving is on a separate frame.  Note how different these frames are than most of the ones displayed in this blog.  Then look at the backs of each carving where Duff wrote a small description of each character he carved.  We believe these to be a very early set of the Slaughterhouse Four.  The double colored wood/stain, the different facial expression of some of the band members and the hand written description placed directly on the wood backs, make this a special set indeed. 

Immediately following the Slaughterhouse Four compilation of photos, we have a seated guitarist lamp also carved by Duff Tweed.  We have only seen one other seated guitarist lamp and our fellow collector friend over in Simi Valley obtained that same piece over 20 years ago.  So we know there are at least two of them out there.  

Collecting Duff Tweed carvings is like going on a treasure hunt.  When you find a new piece or that he carved more than one of a particular carving, you get that same excited feeling you got the first day you discovered Duff and his work.  How many things in life make you feel this way?

Here’s what Robin had to say in her own words:

“Dear Joe,

My 80+ year old in-laws were downsizing and getting rid of many things.  I had long coveted these carvings and some of their furniture that seemed to match.  So they gave them to me with their downsizing and I started to research them.

I came across your blog and was thrilled to find out their history.  It appears that I received a set of the Slaughterhouse Four, all apparently hand signed by Duff Tweed.  I also have a carved lamp that is in excellent condition.

My mother-in-law said she received them from her father-in-law, Paul T., who was a toy salesman in the 50s, 60, and 70s.  I'm guessing they were obtained in the 50s.  Don't know any other history than this.  But I think they are so cool and wanted to share.

If you want to, I'm happy to talk about them if you have more information.

My cell is 555-555-5555. (Sorry, have to protect my fellow collectors so we used that old movie telephone number)

Sincerely,

Robin T.”

Without further delay, we proudly present Robin’s Slaughterhouse Four . . .

First there's Fat Henderson . . .

Then Old Dad Peterson . . .

Next we have Slim Reese . . .

Just love his Disneyesque facial expression - different from other Slim's we have seen.

And last but not least, Dusty Harris . . .

Note the cigarette in his mouth. Early versions have the cigarette.

What a wonderful collection of the Slaughterhouse Four!

Now for the only once before seen Duff Tweed’s seated Guitarist lamp . . .

Such a cool lamp.  We want one too! *laugh*

We are making a super big shout out from West Coast to East Coast to Robin.  We love her carvings!  We love her enthusiasm for Duff’s carvings and we love that she shared her collection with the world.  Thank you Robin!  May you enjoy your wonderful set and lamp for many years to come.

All the best!

Joe

Duff Tweed's Stocky Golfer Purchased on Ebay for $10

Welcome back Duffy lovers!

July 2013 is shaping up to be one of the biggest months we have had related to Duff Tweed carvings discovered, purchased and shared.  We thank all of you who have shared and shown interest in the carvings discussed.  

We even had two different Facebook comments from FB friends, one asking how many Slaughterhouse Four sets of the four carvings actually exist.  We guessed that the number may be close to 15 sets in total. 
Folks, that is a 100% guess, but it does come with a bit of knowledge.  We own three full sets plus one individual unframed member dated 1960 on the back. (THAT'S 3)  There are at least three other people who own the set of four all on one frame, then there's the set my friend in Simi Valley purchased from the Roy Rogers museum (signed by Duff to Roy, HOW cool!) (THAT'S 7) and finally a set shared with me of all four on individual frames which were two tone in color and very beautifully waxed finished. (THAT'S 8) Now, we realize there are quite a few people who have researched Duff Tweeds work, but the single most common comment we receive is that the owner of the carvings researched them years ago and found nothing.  Then on a whim they decided to try it again and WHAM, they now find five to six full search pages on the internet covering Duff Tweed and his carvings.  There are one or two blogs that display some of his illustrations when Duff was with Disney.  With that said, we are sure there are quite a few other owners of Duff Tweed carvings that simply have not started or revisited their search. We'll be here when they do!

Let's get to the topic of this post already!  The Stocky golfer, or as the seller on Ebay listed him "Old Mean Golfer" is not a carving.  He is a chalkware or resin copy of Duff's carving.  We own the carving several times over in wood as well as in this chalkware/resin material.  He is rather heavy and seems to always be painted in the same yellow, green and orange colors.  This makes us believe they were all made by one company/manufacturer and definitely had Duff''s approval as mentioned in a previous post in this blog.  

Being a collector, buyer, researcher and ever so often reseller of Duff Tweed carvings, we are tickled when we actually find such a great deal.  Normally we pay the highest price in the market for these carvings, but it has allowed us to amass a well rounded collection of Duff's work that truly displays his interest in the Depression era (Hobo's and Drunkards), multiple sports and leisure activities, Western characters, and musicians.  Our research has found a fully carved seated guitarist lamp and a full carved figure of an old man balancing two buckets of water over his back on a long stick (one on each end).  We still do not know if Duff commissioned a company to make these or he simply hired someone to make the copies and he then sold them.  If you know, we'd love to hear from you.

T   H   E       S   T   O   C   K   Y       G   O   L   F   E   R

Not the most handsome golfer you've seen!

Below you can see how they formed the metal hanger directly into the material virtually guaranteeing the piece would not fall when hung. (Well, except in California when we shake, rattle and roll!)

Purchased 7-17-13 on EBAY for $10 + $15.67 shipping and handling.

Really just want to say thanks to my fellow collectors: "Love when you share, it shows that you care and even though we're apart, we appreciate the same Duffy art!"

All the best!

Joe

The Low Bidder Wins Duff Tweed's "The Low Bidder" - Say Whaaaat?

Wow!  We cannot believe we are back again and in the same day!  It’s feast or famine when it comes to Duff Tweed and the collectors of his carvings.  Months of nothing and BAM, three posts in a day!  Our minds must all be on the same wave length!!!  Going to get a little mystical on you here.

Earlier today we were on the phone with a friend who wished us to seek out a specific Duff Tweed carving already in our collection.  I have always told this friend (Mark) that if he wants something, he has to put it out into the universe.  So he calls me and makes his requests out loud.  Please be patient with me, this is leading somewhere good…

There is a somewhat obscure and hard to find book called The Game of Life and How to Play It.  When read it discusses the power of the spoken word.  Some may see it as religious in nature, but we read the book in a purely practical manner acknowledging a higher force, but not attempting to name that force.  The practice works and does so extremely well, so, just be careful what you ask for!  I used the practice to get parking spots when I was in sales or make little miracles happen, but nothing greedy or harmful to others.  Part of the realization of miracles is being aware that they are happening and not letting them blindly pass you by.  My sister-in-law Sheryl actually located the book at the same exact time I had been looking for it, unbeknownst to either of us.  My wife Andrea happened to be speaking with her that day and learned her sister had spent hours in the library copying this book as they would not loan the book out of the library.  There is a great deal of unexplained phenomena around how I came to find this book and the teachings within. Enough said. . .now to make sense of all of this.

Once in the past my friend Mark “put out his request” to the universe for a specific Duff Tweed carving of a Beer Drinking Fisherman.  The very next day I was contacted by a seller with that exact carving and several others.  Mark now owns that very cool carving.  Duff Tweed Carvings owns a carving of it as well.  We have only seen this particular carving once before and the seller would not part with it.

Today I spoke with Mark again.  He says to me, “Where is my Duff Tweed carving?”  I laughed and replied, “You have to put it out into the universe if you really want it.”  So he did and we said good bye and hung up the phone.  About one hour later I was contacted by Patrice and she shared the exact Duff Tweed carving Mark “requested”.  Now, this is not to say Patrice will sell her carving to Mark, but you have to marvel at how quickly the piece he sought out revealed itself.  You can tell me this is wild coincidence once, but not twice.  And further, it has worked for me personally for over 15 years on a daily basis. 

Now to address the title of this blog entry.  It turns out Patrice actually won this Duffy carving in a silent auction and she was the low bidder, thus The Low Bidder Wins “The Low Bidder”.  She shares her story below:

“Hi Joe

I recently came across a Duff Tweed carving that I bought at a silent auction a few years ago.  It was a charitable event for breast cancer and although I had never heard of Duff Tweed, I thought it was a unique piece.  Obviously, no one else was as impressed as I was because there were no other bids on it and I won the auction for $35.  The friends I attended with asked where I would possibly hang something that ugly (apologies to Mr. Tweed) and even though I didn’t agree with their taste, I never did find a spot for it.

Well, I came across it yesterday while cleaning my spare closet and decided to Google the name to see if anyone else was familiar with his work.  That was how I found your blog page and was surprised to see that DT had carved some other pieces called ‘The Low Bidder’ (although, as you can see from the attached pictures, mine is a little different.)  Anyway, I cleared a space on the wall in my den and hung it up.  Guess what?  I still like it!

Thanks for all the interesting tidbits about this artist’s creative work.  Hope the pictures are clear enough!

Patrice”

Patrice, the pictures are wonderful and thank you for sharing them along with your story.  Here is a huge and appreciative shout out to Patrice for sharing her less often seen Low Bidder carving!  We love it! Thank you!!!

  I love Patrice's comment about how ugly her friends thought the carving was.  I said it to her and I'll say it to all of you, it takes a special person and a keen eye to recognize the talent in Duff's work.  Sure they look neat, but there are a few of us that just fall in love with Duff's carvings.  They are Disneyesque yet still unique in nature. Duffy enthusiasts, please see Patrice's pristine carving of the Low Bidder in a barrel below:

Patrice also included the bio taped to the back of the piece. We have seen these quite often taped to the back of Duff's carvings.  I learned in recent years that Duff himself included them on the back of his later pieces. Patrice's paper and carving look extremely well preserved or the bio could be a reprinted version to replace a tattered version.  

Auctioneers! Uugh! Hehehe.

One more appreciative shout out to Patrice:  

THANK YOU PATRICE!  Thank you for sharing your story and truly Duffy carving with the world.  May The Low Bidder be good company to you for many healthy years to come! :-)

All the best!

Joe

“Glendale Greg’s” Duffy Collection – Two Cowboys and Double Jigger Jack Grant

Howdy Partners! 

We’re baaaack. . . and sooner than expected! We’re so excited to get this story out because it includes two rare Duff Tweed carvings.  In our search for Duffy excellence, we have come across cowboy carvings in the form of The Slaughterhouse Four (multiple sets),  Two Cow hands with a Kicking Cow, a Seated Guitarist Lamp and a Single Gunslinger.  All may be seen here in previous blog entries.

We’re making a huge “shout out” to Greg who we have affectionately named “Glendale Greg” for sharing his collection with the world.  Greg, thank you for taking the time to share your Duffy story with us and the world.  We definitely appreciate it!   Before we share Glendale Greg’s collection, here is Greg’s story in his own words:

“I'm really glad I found this site. I always wondered about Duff Tweed and these carvings.  My father worked for and eventually co-owned a car dealership in downtown LA through the 1970's into the early 80's.  He had these I believe in the cafeteria at work. When they sold the business my dad ended up with these Duff Tweeds. No one in my family wanted them, so I took them recently because I always thought they were cool.
They are all dated and signed on the back 7-11-72. 
I guess they are about to turn 41 years old.

That's my story. I hope you enjoy them.

Greg
Glendale, CA”

Below we are sharing pictures of a cowboy only seen once before and a second cowboy not previously pictured at Duff Tweed Carvings.  The third carving is of our old familiar friend, Double Jigger Jack Grant.  The carvings look a bit dusty, but in perfect condition.  

Giddy up and check em out!

Below pictured first is the carving we named The Gunslinger.  We had received a note a couple of years ago telling us that this carving is actually modeled after Roy Rogers.  As a matter of fact, Mr. Rogers (“Won’t you be my neighbor?”- No, not that Mr. Rogers!)  commissioned Duff years ago to make him a set of the Slaughterhouse Four.  That set is now owned by a fellow collector here in Southern California (see previous blog entry).  We’re not sure if the piece below is actually modeled after Roy, but there are some similarities. For fun, we threw in a picture of Roy side by side with the Gunslinger.  We LOVE this carving!!!

The next cowboy carving is new to our virgin eyes.  Never before have we seen or pictured this carving.  We started combing through online files of cowboys pictured with Roy Rogers, but none looked as mean as this guy below.  Great carving!  Would love to add it to the collection in the future.

Finally, we’ll finish off with everyone’s friend, Double Jigger Jack Grant.  Jack has been carved in multiples and painted in several different color schemes. We have most often seen him in the same Black and Red jacket he is wearing below. Sauced as usual on his favorite hootch, Old Mule! Hehehe.

We hope you truly enjoyed your visit.  We will do all we can to not let too much time pass until our next Duffy tale.  One more shout out to the man, Glendale Greg!  Thank you so very much Greg.  You have some special carvings by D.T.!

All the best!

Joe

Recent Sale of Duff Tweed Carving on Ebay - June 13, 2013 - The Happy Golfer

Welcome back!  

Hope you had a great Independence Day!

We’re so glad to be back with fresh information to share with you about recent sales of Duff Tweed carvings.  There has not been a great deal of activity recently with Duff’s work online. There is a set of three golfers on one frame up for sale for $250.  That piece has been on Ebay for months!  We have picked up a few pieces locally and still seem to be the highest paying collectors for Duff’s work. With that thought in mind, we’re sharing the latest sale on Ebay which occurred on June 13, 2013.

The piece up for auction was this smiling fellow pictured at the bottom of this entry; The Happy Golfer.  In the past, we have shared pictures and stories of previous Happy Golfer carvings, but this one is being discussed for a different reason.  

There were four separate bidders for this carving.  For the past 5 years, I and a friend have done most/all the bidding with the occasional third bidder offering next to nothing in value.  However, this single carving sold for $54 plus $15 shipping and handling.  The piece has scrapes in the mid section as well as scrapes to the frame, but is in overall very good condition.

The table below shows how the Ebay bids grew:

Bidder	Bid Amount	Bid Time
l***g( 567)	US $54.00	Jun-13-13 21:11:16 PDT
k***1( 1295)	US $53.00	Jun-12-13 08:30:29 PDT
x***6( 402)	US $40.00	Jun-11-13 16:02:47 PDT
k***1(1295)	US $36.00	Jun-12-13 08:07:21 PDT
g***s( 605)	US $23.99	Jun-10-13 11:01:10 PDT
Starting Price	US $19.99	Jun-03-13 21:11:22 PDT
DUFF TWEED CARVING – THE HAPPY GOLFER - EBAY

Now, $54 may not seem like a lot for the carving and in our estimate it is not.  However, we have been seeing maximum offers of $43 to $47 for a set of three golfer carvings, so the $54 sale price for a single golfer carving is significant in that it displays a large percentage growth in the sale price of recent Duff Tweed carvings.  Another contributing factor to the higher sale price is the increased interest from existing and new Duff Tweed Carving collectors.  Just before uploading this blog entry we took a look at the blog statistics and see it now has around 9,500 page views primarily in North America.  Not bad for a rather obscure collection of work. Duff's carvings speak for themselves.

OK, here’s what you really wanted to see . . . DUFF TWEED’S The Happy Golfer!

Nice to see an individual carving with small damage to the carving and frame sell for $50+.  Let’s hope this is a sign for rising demand for Duff Tweed carvings.

Keep those Duffy tales coming our way and we promise to share them with the world.

All the best!

Joe

Duff Tweed. . . Through The Generations: Three Great Carvings

Hello all. So glad to have a nice reason to post, and this is a good one.  Often we are contacted by persons who have inherited their Duff Tweed carvings from parents or relatives.  Each story shares the enjoyment the people get from owning and displaying Duff’s work.

I was contacted by Debbie back in December of 2012.  She had just Google searched “Duff Tweed” and found our blog and the many posts we have made these past few years.  We continue to get the same type of feedback from other people who have inherited Duff Tweed carvings.  Each can recount how their mother, or father, or cousin had them hanging in their office or home.  More importantly, they were the pride and joy of the room, and in some cases, the home.

When Debbie wrote to us, here is what she shared in her own words:

My father died in 1979. As long as I can remember behind his office desk were three Duff Tweeds, hobo's with Wall Street Journal Backgrounds. When he was dying he said, don't let anyone get the Duff Tweed's (meaning people who worked for him). I still have all three. The dates on the Wall Street Journals are from 1973. My father must have bought them from him personally as they were always the only personal items I ever remember him caring about, he always talked about how Duff worked at Disney. For years I tried to find out about Duff and never could seem to find anything, until today for some reason I googled his name!

We normally post the pictures of Duff's carvings first, then say thanks, but today we’re switching things up.  

Here is a huge shout out to Debbie for sharing such a personal moment in her and her Dad's life with all of us in Duff Tweedland. AND for sharing the three very cool Duff Tweed carvings pictured below.  

One you have never seen before and another is painted unlike any other we have shown in this blog.  We have posted them below with no commentary.  We want Debbie's words to speak for the pieces!

We love them! Is that commentary? Hehehe. As always, thank you for visiting the blog.  Hope you are all well and fair well throughout this winter.  

We'll be back as soon as we have something interesting and Duffy to share!

All the best!

-Joe