Tuesday, April 14, 2009

You Always Knew Hummels Were Creepy

When my brother was about 4 he was probably the funniest person on the planet. He was small, what with being 4 and all, but he could knock the socks off of any comedian out there. In fact, Johny Carson probably should have staved off retire just a bit longer to give my 4 year old brother the chance to host the Tonight Show - then at least we might not be faced with all this Jay Leno Talk Show crap. Anyway, at 4 this kid was a comedic genius. He was also great at amusing himself. He could watch TV, draw a comic book, or stage himself a birthday party to keep himself occupied to no end. I've always felt that these are all good qualities in a child under 10.

My Aunt Ann used to watch him once a week while my Mom worked. Not having children, her house was not exactly childproof, but Bob was not exactly a baby. One day she hoped in the shower while he was there. She figured he'd just watch cartoons, but instead he found something that really seemed to get his imagination going...her partner's Hummel Collection.

Now Hummels are a bit weird to begin with is you ask me. What's funnier is that the Hummel collection seemed very out of character for Ann's partner. Never in 100 years would you think that she would find those doe-eyed cereamic statutes even remotely interesting. Alas, she had several of them on a book shelf. If you have ever picked up a Hummel you've probably noticed how strangely fragile they are. Perhaps this is why I gravitate to Fiestawear which is nearly indestructible. I tend to break stuff.

As Ann tells the story, she was getting out of the shower and heard Bob chatting up a storm as little kids often do. She opened the door to the bathroom and heard, "And then HIS head popped off, too". Throwing on a towel she came running out to livingroom to find Bob surrounded by decapitated Hummels.

This always makes me laugh, thinking of this little kid, trying to entertain himself and suddenly finding himself surrounded by decapitated ceramic figures and a shocked woman in a towel.

And of course what made me think of this? Well, it was these pictures of this guy in the UK who reconfigures old and new figurines into hoodlums and miscreants. My first thought: I wonder if Bob would have decapitated those figures or would he have left well enough alone? I wonder if anyone will post these on the c-space. I sure hope so.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

ugh!
Our first house came with a Hummel.
My parents hung it over the doorway to the kitchen and it used to scare the be-esus outta me.
Can I hire Bob to make it disappear?

Melissa said...

I am sure Bob would put that Hummel out of its misery for you. Of course, he is 18 now and his rates may have gone up :)