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October 31, 2015 by tomdalzell

Boy with a Leaking Boot

 

Gabby had gotten briefly focused on photographs of statues of the Boy with a Leaking Boot.  He was drawn to them because of the swirl of stories about its origin.

Some say it was a young Italian newspaper boy who drowned.

Some say it was an a drummer boy in the US Army carrying water to wounded soldiers.

Some say it was a young firefighter passing water along a bucket brigade in his boot.

All claims are backed with passion.  None with facts.  That is exactly the type of controversy that Gabby loves.

The photos he sent my friend:

Fresno

Fresno

Stevens Point, Wisconsin

Stevens Point, Wisconsin

El Paso

El Paso

El Paso

El Paso

Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire

Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire

Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Wawarsing, New York

Wawarsing, New York

Wallingford, Vermont

Wallingford, Vermont

Wadsworth, Nevada

Wadsworth, Nevada

Santa Clara, Cuba

Santa Clara, Cuba

Santa Clara, Cuba

Santa Clara, Cuba

Sandusky, Ohio

Sandusky, Ohio

Sandusky, Ohio

Sandusky, Ohio

Houlton, Maine

Houlton, Maine

Houlton, Maine

Houlton, Maine

Hershey, Pennsylvania

Hershey, Pennsylvania

The Most Wonderful website Roadside America has another 15 or 20 that Gabby missed.  No shame in Gabby’s game though, his hat’s off to Roadside America.

In addition to the photos, Gabby sent my friend two figures.

Boy with Boot figure 2 boy-with-boot-figure-

boy-with-boot-thimble A220

And a photo of the Leaking Boot pub in England:

The_Leaking_Boot_pub_sign

And last and certainly not least:

Unknown

A copy of Mary’n Rosson’s book.  She wrote book after the favorable public reaction to an article she wrote in True West Magazine.

My friend was settling in for an afternoon read of Rosson.I had an inkling what my friend would say about the photos and ephemera that Gabby had sent him.  Just to be sure, I asked:

IMG_3677

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