Lefty Ventriloquest Hand Puppet: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Known as Lefty, this glove or hand puppet is a replica of a white rabbit created by magician and ventriloquist Jay Marshall while touring with the USO during World War II. Originally made from a khaki glove, the glove was a creation of necessity as Marshall could not carry a full size dummy in a duffle bag. In 1946 he created his new rabbit using a white glove, button eyes, attached cardboard ears and a black inked mouth. Using his left thumb and index figure to manipulate the rabbit, Marshall used the figure as a dummy rather than a puppet and threw his voice into Lefty's mouth.

This duo appeared regularly in Las Vegas and on the Ed Sullivan television show, as well as on stages in England and Australia. Marshall retired Lefty in 1975 and donated him to the Museum in 1980.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1975
• user: Marshall, Jay
• maker: Marshall, Jay
• maker: Steinway and Sons
• Object Name: puppet
• Physical Description: cotton (body material)
• Physical Description: plastic (eyes material)
• Physical Description: black (eyes color)
• Physical Description: inked (mouth production method/technique)
• Physical Description: black (mouth color)
• Physical Description: cardboard (ears material)
• Physical Description: cotton (ears material)
• Measurements: overall: 8 1/2 in x 8 1/2 in; 21.59 cm x 21.59 cm
• place made: United States: Illinois, Chicago
• general subject association: Puppetry
• Subject: Television broadcasts
• Subject: Magic shows
• related event: World War II
• ID Number: 1980.0283.01
• catalog number: 1980.0283.01
• accession number: 1980.0283
• Credit Line: Jay Marshall
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.