Fred Waring – CARLI Digital Collections Featured Image

Slightly out of scope for the collection, this featured image comes from inside the front cover of the souvenir program for "The Magic Music of Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians," circa 1965-1966. It's a caricature of the bandleader, signed by artist Richard Payne. Waring was a collector of cartoons and comic strips, so an image along those lines seems a most suitable selection.

Caricature being the likeness of a person with certain features exaggerated or distorted for humorous effect, I'm not sure what to make of the sharp concavity of the subject's left cheek. But would you look at the hands! About half the picture is given over to those hands, spindly boneless fingers outstretched and splayed.

As leader of the orchestral dance band/choral singing ensemble The Pennsylvanians for more than 60 years, Waring appears to have conducted both with and without a baton. Photographic documentation further reveals that Waring typically wore a suit and necktie or, when opting for a more formal tuxedo, favored a dark bowtie and light-colored jacket--the inverse of what's shown here.

So I pose to you that, with perhaps a dash of Leon Mandrake for sartorial inspiration, the gesture of the hands combined with the as-yet-unmentioned hypnotic gaze signify that this caricature depicts Waring simultaneously as conductor and magician--performing his magic by mesmerizing audiences with his music. Abracadabra, a la peanut butter sandwiches, and all that jazz.

Written by Ellen Corrigan, Associate Professor, Cataloging Services, Booth Library, Eastern Illinois University

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