All black & white mannequins photographed by Man Ray
In the summer of 1969, Mike and Mack were
brand spanking new baccalaureates.
Both boys had just graduated
from Hunter College in Manhattan.
Both boys had AVN Degrees.
AVN stood for Avoiding Viet Nam.
Instantly, they found jobs with Package Expresso.Mack was the "trucker." Mike was the "truckee."
They delivered valuable "packages"
all over Manhattan.
Salamis imported from Italy were delivered
to Park Avenue penthouses.
Bamboo furniture from Brazil was destined
for a Sutton Place townhouse formerly owned
by the Vanderbilt family.
Many mannequins from God knows where
were dropped off at the loading platform
of Saks Fifth Avenue.
For a most efficient delivery, an extra
mannequin leg was given to
Mack & Mike as a gratuity.
That day, the college grads were so efficient,
their work day ended at 2pm.
was returned to Mr. Expresso in his garage
on 10th Avenue & 58th St.
Mack wanted nothing to do
with the mannequin leg.
Mike insisted on taking it home
to his invalid aunt.
They rode the subway home
but it was not rush hour.
There were just enough peoplein the 57th Street subway station
to be amused, confused, or just
plain shocked by the prosthetic leg
carried by Mike, to the the chagrin of Mack.
But not enough people for anyone to lose
their temper or balance.
All seats were taken but there was
no sardining bodies crammed into
the lead car of the Brooklyn-bound
BMT subway.
No one said a word to Mike
or his mannequin until they boarded the lead car.
A replacement conductor pointed to the leg
and said, "I used to date her sister."
The conductor who exited the control booth
of the train, also pointed to the leg.
He said "Oh no, not her again!"
He exited the train before it left the station,
which the BMT subway would not do
for five minutes.
Mack & Mike stood as close as possible.
to the conductor's booth.
A young lady, seated and reading a Russian novel,
chuckled audibly in response to the two comments.
Mack held onto a overhead strap for support
despite the fact that the train was not yet in motion.
With his other hand, he held a book into which
his nose was buried.
Coincidentally, the book was Crime & Punishment.
The trucker wanted nothing to do with the truckee.
Mike used the life-size mannequin leg as if it
were a walking stick, triangulating for support
on a stationary vehicle.
He was inspired to impersonate Peter Lorre
from the film version of the Doestoevski novel.
My name is Raskolnikov
I am smart but I am poor
My college degree I do deplore
A girl I did adore
Was thrown a penny on the floor
By the pawnborker I utterly abhor
My mind was of a dichotomy
For how that old lady got to me
Either I have a lobotomy
Or a serious crime be commit by me!
Mike had a target audience of one,
which was not his fellow baccalaureate.
It was the girl who had visibly chuckled.
Unfortunately, her reaction to
the Peter Lorre impression
led to a yellow stream
descending from
between her legs.
She ran off the train in
a fit of crazed laughter.
To Be Continued if and only if Man Ray requests we do so.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Footnotes
All black & white mannequins are the copyrighted property of the Man Ray Estate.
MIKE'S MANNEQUIN STORY is the copyrighted property of LCSoL.
 |
| © Oliverio Friendship Beach, Rocky Point (1975) |
A much larger version of this
not exactly B&W mannequin
is featured in the
WALL-2-WALL
photo gallery.
It is presented here
to provide a perspective
of the New York City subway system.
This page may or may not be regarded
as another deferential equation.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment