Jun 9, 2006 9:25 am US/Central
Local TV Nostalgia Goes Up For Sale
Treasures Available At Estate Sale Of Man Who Helped Build Garfield Goose Puppet
by Mike Puccinelli
AURORA, Ill. (CBS) ―
"Garfield Goose and Friends" was a television program that captivated Chicago children from the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s.
Now, you have a chance to buy a piece of the estate of the man who helped build the famed puppet. Tens of thousands of items are up for sale beginning today, June 9, when the estate of Bruce and Claire Newton, goes up for sale.
The sale is being held at the couple's historic home, at 247 West Park in downtown Aurora, beginning at 9 a.m. today and ending next Thursday.
In addition to items related to puppetry, there is a telephone owned by Henry Ford, Thomas Edison records, and a vast array of antiques collected by the Newtons over the past 50 years.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the avid collector or someone who is just starting," said estate sale conductor Douglas Golter. "There are antiques from floor to ceiling in every room. It's a piece of American history. Mr. Newton has been collecting since the 1950s; they've gone around all of America's heartland."
The house itself, which is painted red throughout, is also up for sale. The couple is moving from the house into an assisted living facility.
Frazier Thomas came up with the idea for Garfield Goose, but Bruce Newton helped build the puppet and worked behind the scenes as a puppeteer. Many of the original puppets will be donated to museums.
"He's impacted literally tens of thousands of people…. He was before 'Bozo'," Golter said.
CBS 2 was one of the many stations where Newton worked.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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