Richard Neagle (American, born 1922). The Bamboozler (Child's Clothes Tree), ca. 1953. Wood, metal, 44 1/8 x 18 1/4 x 20 1/4 in. (112.1 x 46.4 x 51.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1993.6. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 1993.6_SL3.jpg)
Richard Neagle (American, born 1922). The Bamboozler (Child's Clothes Tree), ca. 1953. Wood, metal, 44 1/8 x 18 1/4 x 20 1/4 in. (112.1 x 46.4 x 51.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1993.6. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1993.6_transp546.jpg)
Richard Neagle (American, born 1922). The Bamboozler (Child's Clothes Tree), ca. 1953. Wood, metal, 44 1/8 x 18 1/4 x 20 1/4 in. (112.1 x 46.4 x 51.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1993.6. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1993.6_bw.jpg)
The Bamboozler (Child's Clothes Tree)
Decorative Arts and Design
On View: Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
Like the Hang-It-All, The Bamboozler uses atom-derived, space-age shapes to “bamboozle” children into thinking that hanging up their clothing is fun. The designer, Richard Neagle, marketed The Bamboozler through magazine and newspaper ads that claimed: “Small fry might suppose it’s a convertible spaceship what with the revolving hat rack at the top. . . . [It] has been carefully designed so that your range rovers will find it quite a problem to knock it over.”
DESIGNER
Richard Neagle, American, born 1922
MEDIUM
Wood, metal
DATES
ca. 1953
DIMENSIONS
44 1/8 x 18 1/4 x 20 1/4 in. (112.1 x 46.4 x 51.4 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Decorative Arts and Design
ACCESSION NUMBER
1993.6
CREDIT LINE
Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Whimsical clothes tree for children, called "The Bamboozler," made of painted wood and metal parts. Main pole comprised of four painted wood cylinders joined end-to-end in alternating red/white colors, standing on conforming circular black metal platform from which extend four black metal tubular legs at right angles; the legs extend straight out, then angle toward the floor, terminating in yellow wood ball feet. Surmounting the main pole is a platform or shelf made of three concentric black wire rings. The four wooden cylinders that comprise the main pole are fitted with various types of "appendages" or pegs, from top to bottom: (1) yellow wooden rod inserted perpendicularly through cylinder with a blue crescent-shaped form attached at one end and, at the other end, a black metal rod inserted perpendicularly with yellow wooden ball at either end, and a hanging black metal rod with a semicircular wooden form attached to its end; (2) a black metal rod with yellow wooden ball at either end inserted through cylinder to form two pegs ; (3) blue wooden rod extends from cylinder to form one peg; (4) two metal rods project perpendicularly from cylinder in a V-shape and then turn straight up, terminating in blue wooden balls.
CONDITION: Good; a number of wooden balls are loose, vertical crack in surface of main pole
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
CAPTION
Richard Neagle (American, born 1922). The Bamboozler (Child's Clothes Tree), ca. 1953. Wood, metal, 44 1/8 x 18 1/4 x 20 1/4 in. (112.1 x 46.4 x 51.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1993.6. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 1993.6_SL3.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 1993.6_SL3.jpg.
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
