The E. M. Viquesney "Spirit of the American Doughboy" Database
SPENCER, INDIANA'S "PHANTOM" DOUGHBOY
Besides all the locations of E. M. Viquesney's "Spirit of the American Doughboy" documented on this website, there may have been one more. After Viquesney moved to his new studio in 1938, it was known there was a full-size Doughboy statue inside for some of the time, perhaps as a sales display. It's pictured at left in a very poor microfilm reproduction from the Indianapolis Sunday Star, February 11, 1940. Apparently it was lent out to other towns to feature in patriotic holiday parades such as July 4, Memorial Day, and Armistice Day (now Veterans Day). We suspect this because of a photo we received from Stanley Griffith, who grew up working in Viquesney's Tivoli Theatre. Stan sent us a 1939 photo of this same model Doughboy mounted on a truck parading down Sale Street in the town of Ellettsville, Indiana - except Ellettsville doesn't, and never did have a "Spirit of the American Doughboy". Since Ellettsville is just few miles from Spencer, it's very likely this is the Doughboy that stood in Viquesney's studio and was out on loan for whatever Ellettsville was celebrating that day.
Whatever became of this Doughboy isn't known. It may have ended up at any of the six locations of this version that are known to have been placed after February, 1940, and through most of 1946, the year of Viquesney's death.
It's also known that if a sales deal fell through, Viquesney would offer the unsold Doughboy at a discount to the next customer; in the meantime, it may have stood on display in his studio, like this one.
There is also evidence that this Doughboy, or one like it, survived unsold until at least February of 1951. At that time, Viquesney's successor, Frederic L. Hollis, may have had it in his American Art Studios in Gosport, Indiana. In a letter from Raphael Groppi Studio, Division of Chicago Statuary Company, Mr. Hollis is advised that if he was "not using the Doughboy of World War I ... we can melt this for the Fighting Yank" (as a source of zinc, which this later model of the Doughboy was made of, unlike the earlier pressed copper version).
Whatever became of this Doughboy isn't known. It may have ended up at any of the six locations of this version that are known to have been placed after February, 1940, and through most of 1946, the year of Viquesney's death.
It's also known that if a sales deal fell through, Viquesney would offer the unsold Doughboy at a discount to the next customer; in the meantime, it may have stood on display in his studio, like this one.
There is also evidence that this Doughboy, or one like it, survived unsold until at least February of 1951. At that time, Viquesney's successor, Frederic L. Hollis, may have had it in his American Art Studios in Gosport, Indiana. In a letter from Raphael Groppi Studio, Division of Chicago Statuary Company, Mr. Hollis is advised that if he was "not using the Doughboy of World War I ... we can melt this for the Fighting Yank" (as a source of zinc, which this later model of the Doughboy was made of, unlike the earlier pressed copper version).
Below: Stan Griffith shot this interesting picture of a 1939 photo on display inside a historic building window in the town of Ellettsville, Indiana (you can see reflections in the window glass). It had us going for a while, thinking perhaps this was an undiscovered Viquesney Doughboy. But it's probably the one Viquesney kept in his Spencer studio as a sales display, and lent out for nearby towns like Ellettsville to feature in patriotic holiday parades.
Viquesney's Doughboy parades down Sale Street in Ellettsville, Indiana. Photo: Stanley Griffith, Bloomington. Indiana.
Below: A letter to Frederic L. Hollis, who continued marketing Viquesney's creations after his death. Note the last sentence regarding the possibility of recycling an unused zinc ["Spirit of the American] Doughboy of World War I" into a ["Spirit of the] Fighting Yank".
Also mentioned in the letter are Viquesney's ["Spirit of] Americanism" plaque, and "the small Doughboy at rest", believed to be a reference to the artist's rare "Resting Doughboy".
Also mentioned in the letter are Viquesney's ["Spirit of] Americanism" plaque, and "the small Doughboy at rest", believed to be a reference to the artist's rare "Resting Doughboy".
