"JOHNNY SURGE" ADVERTISING STORE DISPLAY

HERE'S A RARE HARD TO FIND ITEM. JOHNNY SURGE STORE DISPLAY. - ** THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS FROM THE SURGE DEALER THAT WAS ONCE IN BUSINESS IN HARTINGTON, NEBRASKA) - - JOHNNY SURGE - A LIFE SIZE PLASTER FIGURE, THE SAME SIZE AS THE SURGE MILKING UNIT, WAS DEVELOPED IN 1947 WITH A COPYRIGHT OF 1948 BY BABSON BROS. COMPANY, CHICAGO, ILL, THIS PLASTER OF PARIS FIGURE WAS COMMISSIONED AS PART OF THE "LIVE COW MILKING SALES PROMOTIONAL KITS" THAT SURGE DEALERS COULD AS FOR TO BE USED AT LOCAL COUNTY AND STATE FAIRS IN THEIR SALES AREA. THE DISPLAY SALES KITS HAS FOLD-UP MILKING STANCHIONS AND COMIC BOOKS CALLED THE "STORY OF JOHNNY SURGE" THESE COMIC BOOKS TOLD THE STORY OF THE PINE TREE AND SURGE MILKERS OF WHICH THE PLASTER FIGURE OF JOHNNY SURGE WAS THE MAIN CHARACTER AND WAS INCLUDED AS PART OF THE SALES KIT. THE COMIC BOOK AND THE PLASTER FIGURE CREATED A BIT OF FANTASY IN THE SAME VEIN AS AESOPS FABLES GIVING THEM PERSONALITIES TO HELP TELL THE DOLLARS AND CENTS REASON WHY "SURGE" WAS THE MILKER ON THEIR FARM. LITERATURE FOR THE MILKERS AND THESE COMIC BOOKS WERE HANDED OUT TO KIDS TO HELP SELL "SURGE DAIRY EQUIPMENT" AFTER WWII. IN THOSE EARLY DAYS COUNTY FAIRS WERE EVENTS THAT DREW DAIRYMEN TO PARTICIPATE IN FAIR ACTIVITIES SUCH AS LIVE COW MILKING DEMONSTRATIONS TAKING PLACE UNDER A LARGE TENT. AS THE DISPLAYS DISAPPEARED, SO DID THE PLASTER FIGURES MADE. AS FAR AS THIS OWNER (EDWARD HOSCH) KNOWS THIS IS ONE OF THE ORIGINAL TWELVE PLASTER FIGURES MADE. AS FAR AS HE KNOWS THERE ARE ONLY TWO OF THESE LEFT. -- THIS ONE AND ONE THAT HE SAW FIFTY YEARS AGO WHEN I ATTENDED TRAINING CLASSES IN A BARN AT THE "PICTURE WINDOW PARLOR" TRAINING CENTER AT THE ILLINOIS LOCATION. THE JOHNNY SURGE PLASTER FIGURE ON DISPLAY A THE TRAINING CENTER IS NOW IN THE SURGE MUSEUM. HAVING TALKED TO BEN HAMBURG, THE NATIONAL SERVICE DIRECTOR FOR YEARS AT BABSON BROS. CO. I WAS TOLD THE HISTORY OF JOHNNY SURGE, AND EDWARD HOSCH, HAS HAD THIS ON ON DISPLAY AT THE SURGE DAIRY EQUIPMENT STORE IN DOWNTOWN, HARTINGTON, NEBRASKA ALL THESE YEARS --THIS PLASTER FIGURE MEASURES APPROX. 33" WIDE BY 18" TALL. -- IMPORTANT NOTE *** NO SHIPPING ON THIS LOT TO FRAGILE *** - IF BUYER REQUEST WE WILL TAKE TO "UPS" STORE FOR THEM TO SHIP. - OTHERWISE WILL NEED TO BE PICKED UP AT AUCTION COMPANY OFFICE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN THIS VERY RARE PIECE.