Kitschy Cool Cat
From the collection of: Nessa
Located in : Animals
, Beatnik, Music


 

I’ve had this thing for years. I flipped when I saw him, but I remember I got the dreaded look of “why would anyone buy that piece of junk” when I handed over the cash. Those dullsville opinions don’t bug this cool cat… he sits on my desk bangin’ his drum without a care.

He’s unmarked, except for a sticker that says “Made in Japan.” I should add a picture of his back, because his shirt is pretty detailed. He doesn’t weigh very much.. I’m not even sure that the base is solid wood, because it seems so light… maybe it’s balsa wood or something

What Allee has to say about this:
I love anything Beatnik but what I love most about this cool cat so proudly labeled “The Beatnik” is that there’s nothing Beatnik about him. Yes, he’s playing a drum but not the kind that Beatniks play which are bongos. He’s wearing a regular tie, something that all Beatniks rebelled against. I don’t see any beret, mustache or goatee. So other than someone trying to capitalize on the Beatnik craze by slapping that metal tag on the front, a hipster ain’t what this cat is. Which makes it, of course, perfect Kitsch.

What I really dig are the excessively long fingers. I guess they were trying to make him look like he was moving to the beat that he tapped on his Indian drum.

The fact that this weighs almost nothing, even including the wood base, makes this even Kitschier. Like wow, man.

Would love to see the detail on the back of the shirt. Maybe there’s something Beatniky about that. If you want you can e-mail it to me at [email protected] and I’ll insert into this post.