Disneyland Silhouette Studio 1961 LOTTE MARKAY Main Street USA Walt Disney Prod

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Disneyland Silhouette Studio 1961 LOTTE MARKAY Main Street USA Walt Disney Prod
Disneyland Silhouette Studio 1961 LOTTE MARKAY Main Street USA Walt Disney Prod
Historic Disneyland Auctions by Saturday's Toys presents...
a scarce 1961 - 1962 original silhouette by artist Lotte Markay... from the Disneyland Silhouette Studio on Main Street, U.S.A.
Measures approximately 7" x 10.5"; good condition; featuring a young woman... and including the insignia of "by Lotte" directly beneath the silhouette.  Circa 1961 - 1962.
Alex DeGonslar and his business partner, "Nemo" (aka Joseph Markay) along with Nemo's wife Lotte Markay... each had their own customized presentation card for their silhouette cut-outs... that was until Disneyland required that individual artists in the shop no longer be identified with the souvenir art form. Unfortunately... the anonymity of the artist was considered to be of paramount significance to the end product.
After decades of experience at world's fairs and expositions, in 1956 Alex and Nemo joined together in launching their own Silhouette Studio on Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland.  Two years later they would be featured on Walt Disney's "Disneyland" anthology series (April 30, 1958)... on the episode titled "An Adventure in Art."
Throughout those early years, if one were to visit their silhouette studio at Disneyland (216 N. Main Street; replacing opening day merchant, "Grandma's Baby Shop") one of three individuals would likely be on duty:  Alex DeGonslar, Joseph "Nemo" Markay, or Nemo's wife, Lotte Markay.
De Gonslar and Markay were both seasoned veterans in the vanishing art of silhouette cutting having applied their trade for world's fairs, exhibitions and amusement enterprises throughout the globe. The two men were well acquainted and had previously worked together at New York's Coney Island (source for several of the carousel horses that were brought to Disneyland in 1955).
In particular, Joseph "Nemo" Markay had created silhouettes for President Franklin D. Roosevelt (when FDR was serving as Governor of New York) and also for Winston Churchill (when he was serving as Prime Minister of England.  Nemo was born in Hungary and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and a graduate of Academie Julien.  While trained as a sculptor, Nemo had practiced the craft of silhouette art for 25 years before arriving at Disneyland.  In an unfortunate turn, a failed back surgery left Nemo confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.  When he died, his wife was noted as Tove M. Markay, an immigrant from Denmark who later died in 1970.
Though several generations of Disneyland artists have continued the tradition since "DeGonslar" and "Nemo" left the stage, Disneyland's historic Silhouette Shop owes much of its success to the art form embraced by these early Disneyland entrepreneurs.
Offered here, is one of the rare first-generation Disneyland silhouettes personally cut by Lotte Markay at the Silhouette Studio on Main Street, U.S.A... and featuring the unique signature imprinted on the card.
Good condition with some wear noted from prior handing and subsequent long-term storage; Walt Disney Productions.
(additional image for illustration only; not included with auction)
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Saturday’s Toys and Disneyana Auctions
was founded in 1994 by Southern California author and Disney historian, Dave Mason. Soon after eBay's launch the following year, Saturday's Toys was among the first Disneyana specialists to strategize in embracing this rapidly developing technology. Having delivered over 10,000 coveted Disney treasures since then, Saturday's Toys is pleased to partner with researchers, collectors and friends throughout the world with a shared interest in the preservation of authentic and accurate Disney history.
Today, online offerings of archival Disneyana keepsakes are presented in celebration of the extended times that allow for family, friends and neighbors to join in memorable gatherings that nurture the strong connections that bind a community together. These treasures are affectionately known as "Saturday's Toys." In that light we present our adopted motto (with a tip of the cap to the Sherman Brothers):
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