http://www.pottstownmercury.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20116665&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=635483&rfi=609/11/2008
Laugh your butt off at Stoogeum
By Jan Feighner , Special to The Mercury
I am by no means a weight watcher.
Sure, I'm the typical woman concerned about those numbers, but certainly not obsessed with them. Occasionally I step on the scale, hoping for less but expecting more, and sigh that I no longer register 110.
However, I am atypical when it comes to fun. I love Monty Python, college football, grilling, digging in dirt and slapstick comedy, particularly the Three Stooges.
How do these things relate?
It's mainly the weight and those lovable scamps: Larry Fine; Moe, Curly, and Shemp Howard; Joe Besser; and "Curly Joe" DeRita, aka the four stages of Stooges.
The story is simple, albeit pleasantly surprising. It not only makes me laugh, but also Gary Lassin, curator of Spring House's Stoogeum at 904 Sheble Lane, the largest collection of Stooge memorabilia in the country. And it's right in our back yard!
I visited the Stoogeum during one of its six annual Open Houses, when there's no appointment necessary as is usual. Lassin chose to run the place on a part-time basis since he has a full-time job and no employees. He decided to let the public in free on certain days, the next one is Oct. 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with all the Stooge stuff you can imagine and all of it his.
Lassin started amassing Stooge collectibles about 30 years ago when he married his wife, Robin Solomon Lassin. She confessed of a famous relative during their first date, but hesitated to tell who it was. Turned out that her grandfather, Max Fienberg, was the infamous Larry Fine's (name changed for show biz) brother.
Lassin, a Stooge fan since his childhood watching the boys on Philadelphia's Sally Starr's "Popeye Theater" after school, was in heaven. He knew he needed to marry this woman. Love helped, of course, but he discovered that no one in the family preserved any of the trio's work for future generations.
He made it his mission, abandoning baseball cards of which he tired, to become a Stooge completist, or person specializing in all aspects of a subject.
During pre-Internet days he attended shows, placed ads, made contacts and phone calls, and left business cards with anyone who might help with his quest. He befriended Stooges' families and other Stooge collectors.
He acquired things at reasonable prices since few people seemed interested in such paraphernalia, and stored them at home in boxes, drawers, filing cabinets, and binders where they remained for almost 20 years.
"Collecting the Stooges was really fun because it cut across many different collecting hobbies (like) records, comic books, games, toys, statues, movie posters, autographs," said Lassin. "(But) I couldn't enjoy it in that form and neither could anybody else. I knew I had the quantity and quality of pieces that were museum quality and felt they deserved to be on display."
Several years ago he devised a plan for the Stoogeum, a three-floor modern complex filled with about 10,000 pieces tracing the boys' rise to fame from their early vaudevillian days with Ted Healy to their final appearances.
He worked with a Realtor who found his building, architects and their light and sound contractors, and museum consultants to construct the best format to display his wares. The non-profit institution officially opened in 2004.
Lassin packed the walls and Plexiglas showcases with records, comic books, games, toys, statues, movie posters, autographs, photographs, costumes, props, personal belongings, and more. He designed a comfortable movie theater in which to watch the many short films and added three flat-screen televisions on the bottom floor showing the same reels.
He began scouting the Internet 10 years ago and added artwork by famous and amateur artists to the third floor. The visionary created interactive tools like a slot machine, video game, and computer touch screens for all ages to enjoy and learn about some of the most influential comedic performers in American history.
The Three Stooges originated in 1925 vaudeville as part of an act with Healy as its headliner. Moses (Moe) and Samuel (Shemp) Horowitz knew Healy from their early years in their birthplace of Brooklyn, N.Y. They formed a team and added Louis (Larry) Fienberg, a Philadelphia concert violinist and comedic actor. The quartet received their big
break in 1930, starring in a major feature film, "Soup to Nuts."
Although the flick received little attention, the Stooges got rave reviews, which angered Healy. Eventually his rash behavior caused Shemp to quit the act, leaving a noticeable vacancy. Enter Horowitz brother Jerome (Curly) who shaved his long locks and handlebar mustache to become perhaps the most beloved Stooge, with his innate ability to become the "fall guy" to Moe's apparent aggression.
Shemp continued in film and the Stooges' fame increased, leaving Healy behind. They starred in countless shorts and full-length pictures, experiencing Curly's early demise in 1952 at age 48, and Shemp's return.
Following Shemp's death in 1955, the Stooges added Besser, a Missouri-born actor sought by radio and television personalities, whose credentials included the Jack Benny, Fred Allen, and Eddie Cantor shows, Tonight on Broadway, and Milton Berle's "Let Yourself Go."
Besser left in 1958 for greener performing pastures and Philadelphia's DeRita filled in. A seasoned performer with show biz parents, he was the last to appear as a Stooge before illness took its toll on the group. Shemp died in 1955 and Larry and Moe in 1975.
The Stooges left behind an unsurpassable legacy, which Lassin brilliantly and lovingly captures in his Stoogeum.
"I like seeing people leaving my building with smiles on their faces," Lassin explained. "That's a good feeling."
The weight connection? I stepped on the scale the next day and found that I lost two pounds. I truly laughed my backside off at the Stoogeum. My brother and I grew up with the Stooges, smart enough to know their seemingly violent antics were fake.
I can't wait to take him there.
Visit the Stoogeum online at
www.stoogeum.com. Contact Lassin at 267-468-0810 or garylassin@stoogeum.com to arrange an appointment.
