Summary

Pair of dark brown leather child's size shoes with a brown rubber sole, brown cloth laces, and red leather innersoles with a gold logo printed on them.

These shoes were made in Perth by Regina Shoes for ventriloquist Ron Blaskett to use on his doll Gerry Gee circa 1965. They were used on him until the 1980s. They were purchased by the donor at an auction of items from Ron Blaskett's collection in 1992.

In 2006 they were exhibited at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, in a display celebrating early television in Melbourne, as part of the 'On the Box: Great Moments in Australian Television 1956-2006' commemorating 50 years of Australian television.

Physical Description

Pair of dark brown leather child's shoes with brown rubber textured soles, There are three pairs of brown metal eyelets along the front of each shoe, which is threaded with a brown woven lace with a brown metal aglet on each end. The shoe is constructed with white and brown machine stitching. The shoes have white cloth and black leather lining, with a red leather innersole, printed with a gold logo depicting Gerry Gee's head.

Significance

These shoes are significant due to their connection to iconic Melbourne TV personalities ventriloquist Ron Blaskett and his doll Gerry Gee. Blaskett commissioned the doll from Frank Marshall of Chicago, USA (who also made the famous Charlie McCarthy doll), for the opening of Melbourne's GTV Channel 9, for which Gerry Gee was named, in January 1957. They appeared as one of the lead acts on the Happy Show, later renamed The Tarax Show to reflect their main sponsor, which ran from 1957 to 1965.

After the program was axed, Blaskett and Gee appeared for several years on local children's television in Perth in the mid 1960s, followed by two tours of Vietnam, as part of a group of entertainers sent there to entertain Australian and American troops. During the 1970s and 1980s, the duo made regular appearance on programs such as `Young Talent Time' and `Hey Hey it's Saturday', as well as performing at pubs and sports social nights, where they present more `adult' material.

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