Vent-O-Gram Nov-Dec 1970

When the Berlin Bros, Walt and Greg, ceased publication of the Vent-O-Gram, a team of vents from the Chicago area introduced The NEW Vent-O-Gram ventriloquist newsletter.  The year was 1970.  This is the Issue number 4, Vol. 1.  29 pages, 8.5 x 11" including ad pages.  (It contains a full page Maher Studios ad I didn't even remember.)  The officers of the International Ventriloquist Assoc. (IVA) are pictured on page two of this issue and were responsible for publication of The New Vent-O-Gram.  They were Col. Bill Boley, Bob Neller, James Stukel, and John Osborne.

This issue has articles and reports by: W. S. Berger, Col. Boley, Miss Terry Loncaric, Charles Hook, Cal Vickers, Mark Hellerstein.  There is a comedy dialogue by Col. Bill Boley.  And a most interesting eight full page article (Pt.2) titled "The Revival of Ventriloquism In America" by Kenneth Warren Deutscher.  After a lengthy discussion of Edgar Bergen's career, the article ends with this paragraph:

" Bergen may die--But Bergen's will specifies that Charlie must live forever, and a $10,000 trust fund has been established for the purpose.  Once a year, after Bergen is gone, Charlie will be taken from a New York vault and lent to some deserving ventriloquist.  'I guess Charlie won't be quite the same then,' Bergen says mournfully, 'but at least he will always be there, doing someone some good.'" 

Evidently the will was changed or has been ignored, because I haven't heard of Charlie making an annual appearance from his vault.  Punxsutawney Phil gets more annual publicity - (Happy Groundhog's Day, by the way!)
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This issue of The New Vent-O-Gram is now up for eBay auction here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290665502613