Record Details

Possum Trot Figure: Liz

Artist Calvin Black ((1903–1972))

Artist Ruby Black ((1915–1980))

Date1953–1969

Place/RegionYermo, California, United States

MediumPaint on redwood and pine with fabric

Dimensions33 × 10 × 7"

Credit LineGift of Elizabeth Ross Johnson

Accession number1985.35.8

Photo CreditAdam Reich

CopyrightCopyright for this work is under review.

Description

In 1953, Cal and Ruby Black moved to the Mojave Desert in California where they opened a rock shop. Soon afterward they began to create "Possum Trot," a miniature amusement park that they hoped would attract customers to their business. The premier entertainment at Possum Trot was the Bird Cage Theater and its "fantasy doll show" starring approximately seventy figures carved, painted, and operated by Cal and dressed by Ruby.

Elizabeth V. Warren and Stacy C. Hollander, "Possum Trot Figures: "Liz" and "Blond Girl"," Expressions of a New Spirit: Highlights from the Permanent Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art (New York: American Folk Art Museum, 1989), 125