NEW ORLEANS ( WGNO ) — There are different versions of how Mr. Bingle came to be, and puppeteer Harry Ory can tell you how he remembers the birth of a New Orleans Christmas legend.
It was April 1948, two 19-year-old puppeteers Ray Fredericks and Ory were featured in a Times Picayune article that caught the attention of another puppeteer, Edwin Harmon “Oscar” Isentrout.
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“He had the idea of having a show presented in the Maison Blanche window,” said Ory.
By September of ’48, Ory and Fredericks designed a Christmas show on paper and Isentrout secured a meeting with Maison Blanche store manager Herbert Schuartz and the display director Emile Aline.
“And they liked it so much that we signed the contract to do it and we only had two months,” said Ory.
Besides performing, Fredericks and Ory built the marionettes and Isentrout provided the voices and created the soundtrack. Soon, a change in the snow was ordered by Aline.
“He sent Oscar in there while we were building the first show. Oscar said Aline would you to change the character. He would like this little snowman,” said Ory
“I wanted it to appeal to kids. I wanted to be flexible so that we could tie into all of the displays. So, I thought of the ribbon, I thought of the ornaments, the holly leaves and the mittens of course,” said Aline.