April 14, 1936 - July 2, 1938
Handmade volume with cardboard covers, unlined paper
9 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches
February 17, 1938-
Took “Christmas Morning” to Albright Gallery for the Carnegie Show (one-man show of my work). While waiting for a receipt, I noticed a curiously cut piece of round wood; it had been halved in a zig-zag fashion, but in a way I find it impossible to describe; it was obviously done mechanically, but how could such an intricate twisting cut be done? The two parts fit together perfectly. When I asked the attendant about it, he said that a Mr. Balk had made it, and would introduce me if I wished. So we went to his work room. After we had shaken hands, he explained that he did the curious cutting by means of jigsaw, which he softened and formed into a corkscrew shape. He showed me a piece of brown stick that he had cut into two corkscrew shapes which screwed into each other, so perfectly made they could be reversed. He told of cutting a man’s autograph through a piece of wood in such a way that either side would read correctly. When I told him that my boy was interested in mechanical things he invited me to bring him around; and he told me of a jig-saw he had seen in a second hand store which he thought I ought to buy. We parted with the agreement that he was to call me up about it.