An unused Marshall figure!

Many thanks to my friend Dan Christopher for adopting Eddie Garson's backup Chico Chico dummy. Here's Dan's selfie at Vent Haven after he adopted this amazing dummy at the 2017 Vent Haven convention.

Dan said of Garson and Chico Chico, "Eddie Garson worked in the Ice show that was a fixture in Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach for many years. It was a Vegas style production - on ice! (that was the novelty of it..an Ice show in tropical climate...) I replaced Eddie in that same show and worked the Specialty Act spot for the last 5 years of its run. Eddie came in and was very complementary of my act and we would talk for hours swapping show-biz stories (he had lots..he used to tour with Xavier Cugot and his orchestra - producing Chico from a conga drum!). Because of my association with Eddie, Chico Chico (II) seemed the perfect dummy for me to adopt!"

Eddie Garson (1928-2012) was an accomplished ventriloquist as well as a composer, musician, and writer. After seeing Garson's vent act, one reviewer wrote that Garson was, "...one of the best ventriloquists ever to play Las Vegas, whose deft three and four-part split-second voice changes are not even attempted by most performers of this kind."

Vent Haven's Chico Chico was donated November 8, 2012, by Gary Garson, Eddie's son. This backup dummy is in pristine condition and its hands are still wrapped in what are likely the original protective tissues used by maker Frank Marshall when he would ship dummies from his workshop. It doesn't have a wig or clothes and probably remained in the shipping box or a suitcase. How lucky we are to have this unused Marshall figure. Thanks for adopting him, Dan!