WEBVTT 1 00:00:24.420 --> 00:00:29.980 Now we're not headed for Egypt, but for the workshop of Rex Werner, Kansas City artisan. 2 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:37.960 Art director for TWA, Mr. Werner creates dioramic or three-dimensional scenes to illustrate some of 3 00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:45.160 his company's publications. Here out of balsa wood, razor blades, pins, and airplane cement comes a 4 00:00:45.160 --> 00:00:51.660 Lisbon fishing fleet. The diorama completed, he will photograph the scene in Kodachrome. Ooh la la, 5 00:00:51.800 --> 00:00:56.660 it's Gay Paris. Well, Mr. Werner knows the best places to go and he makes sure there's plenty of 6 00:00:57.480 --> 00:01:03.360 get us there. Flowers for Madame? A stickler for detail, our artist in miniatures, calls in 7 00:01:03.360 --> 00:01:08.320 the neighborhood children to criticize his work. Relentlessly they point out missing items and Mr. 8 00:01:08.440 --> 00:01:14.400 Werner rectifies his mistakes immediately. Well, here we are at an Arizona resort. Besides piles 9 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:21.780 of balsa, 20 packages of razor blades, 1,000 pins, and 60 tubes of airplane cement went into this 10 00:01:21.780 --> 00:01:28.840 Arizona diorama. 400 toothpicks were used in the making of one cholla tree. One customer at the 11 00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:33.040 resort complained of the sun in his eyes, so Mr. Werner obliged him with a pair of sunglasses. 12 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:40.120 You know of any resort that offers better service? But he still isn't satisfied that his customer is 13 00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:45.820 comfortable, so he's going to make him a shade tree. It's really very easy. A few branches, 14 00:01:45.820 --> 00:01:52.880 some pieces of sponge, years of experience, and anybody can do it. The trees are small 15 00:01:52.880 --> 00:01:57.920 potatoes for this artist. He's made San Francisco cable cars, the Grand Canyon, 16 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:04.680 a goddess of liberty, Ireland, Paris, Rome, Egypt, and India. He's even made our nation's capital, 17 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:10.800 as it would appear from the air. Mr. Werner has certainly traveled a long way since he made his 18 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:21.480 first diorama, an intricate winter scene for a family Christmas card. Hey, what now? He's filling 19 00:02:21.480 --> 00:02:26.620 this spray gun with flocking, which is nothing incidentally but ground-up rayon. With this 20 00:02:26.620 --> 00:02:33.500 mixture, he's created knitted socks, grass, hair for carriage horses, suede for a tiny shoulder 21 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:40.660 bag, and now a lawn under the shade tree. The best part is that no dandelions will grow here, 22 00:02:40.660 --> 00:02:49.160 and there's absolutely no attraction for gophers. From Arizona via Werner Magic to Rome and a famous 23 00:02:49.160 --> 00:02:56.140 Colosseum. Well, those tourists seem eager enough, but that driver's plenty bored. An example of 24 00:02:56.140 --> 00:03:02.240 Werner's thoroughness, the top of the carriage actually folds down. Mr. Werner has carved figures 25 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:08.160 ranging from one-eighth of an inch to 11 inches tall. This fall, he'll journey to Europe, where 26 00:03:08.160 --> 00:03:32.220 for the first time, he'll view some of the actual scenes he's created in his workshop. All we can 27 00:03:32.220 --> 00:03:38.340 of Kansas City ever wants to know it in a hurry, he's have to be in trouble. The 1,200 clocks and 28 00:03:38.340 --> 00:03:43.260 watches in his collection might prove a little confusing, especially since every one of them 29 00:03:43.260 --> 00:03:50.820 that runs is kept wound by Mrs. Hardy, and they don't all keep quite precise time. They come from 30 00:03:50.820 --> 00:03:57.620 all ages and all countries. Mr. Hardy has watches and clocks everywhere in the house. This one was 31 00:03:57.620 --> 00:04:03.560 found on a French battlefield in 1918. In the favorite cuckoo clock, telling a hand-carved story 32 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:08.700 of Aesop's fable of the fox and the grapes, that little fellow on the left chirps four times first, 33 00:04:09.060 --> 00:04:14.160 and then the one on the right gives forth with the hour. And this is how it all works, as seen 34 00:04:14.160 --> 00:04:23.920 from behind. This old double bell German alarm clock really woke them up. About 1440 saw these 35 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:30.500 first run through their 15-minute cycle. Hand carving has long been associated with fine 36 00:04:30.500 --> 00:04:36.260 clock making. This old pendulum and chain type is one of the best. Watches have varied quite a bit 37 00:04:36.260 --> 00:04:40.440 in size through the centuries. These are the smallest and largest in Mr. Hardy's collection. 38 00:04:41.940 --> 00:04:48.120 And when it's time for bed in the Hardy household, his last act is to light this old-fashioned night 39 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:54.320 clock and then drift off to sleep, calmed by the ticking of timepieces of all ages. 40 00:05:03.260 --> 00:05:09.500 There are many and varied ways and means of picking up a little extra cash, like finding a 41 00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:15.300 shiny new dime on the sidewalk or with a good day at the races. However, one of the surefire 42 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:21.100 methods is that of turning a hobby into a money-making proposition. Exactly what veteran 43 00:05:21.100 --> 00:05:27.500 Thomas Clifton had done with his production of plastic jewelry. In his handy basement workshop, 44 00:05:28.040 --> 00:05:34.540 equipped with a circular saw, grinding wheel, buffer, and a fine hand drill, Tom wiles away 45 00:05:34.540 --> 00:05:40.920 his spare hours fashioning small blocks of clear plastic into beautifully designed earrings, dress 46 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:48.460 pins, belt buckles, and other items that complete the lady's costume. Easy to do? Yes, it is for 47 00:05:48.460 --> 00:05:55.200 those with skilled hands and a great deal of experience with a tiny hand drill. But one slip 48 00:05:55.200 --> 00:06:03.120 of the burr and the intricate internal carving of the small plastic block is ruined. Tom's an 49 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:10.660 old hand and many patterns are formed by his artistic fingers. To distinguish them, each crevice 50 00:06:10.660 --> 00:06:19.040 is filled with a different colored dye, the rose petal of red, the leaves of green, so that the 51 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:29.400 finished product resembles the bloom itself. With nothing gone amiss, the last touch is added, 52 00:06:29.820 --> 00:06:38.540 the cementing of the metal clip to another bit of female adornment. And the highly polished piece 53 00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:45.240 is displayed with others of its kind to add another type of jeweled adornment to the lady's beauty. 54 00:06:52.940 --> 00:06:56.480 Seeing Hubert Reagan and his wife standing in front of their place in Wyandotte County, 55 00:06:56.780 --> 00:07:00.680 you wouldn't suspect they were the sort of folks who would be raising bears in their backyard as 56 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:06.780 pets, but they sure do. Four of the woolly young characters that Reagan picked up as cubs on several 57 00:07:06.780 --> 00:07:13.360 hunting and fishing trips into Canada call 4612 Mission Road home. The cage was built at the 58 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:17.700 request of police officers after the youngsters had taken to roaming around the neighborhood a 59 00:07:17.700 --> 00:07:24.540 little too much. But they still get taken out once in a while to stretch a leg and look over 60 00:07:24.540 --> 00:07:31.820 the cows that make up Reagan's dairy. Nobody tries to make the bears and the cows get long 61 00:07:31.820 --> 00:07:39.620 with each other, so they don't. Hubert and his wife don't plan to train the growing up cubs, 62 00:07:40.060 --> 00:07:44.440 the Reagans just happen to like bears and get a kick out of having them around. 63 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:59.360 Did you ever achieve your childhood ambition to build something that really worked? Warren 64 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:05.220 Taylor, a model steam tractor built on the scale of two inches to one foot. It took him better than 65 00:08:05.220 --> 00:08:11.580 three years to complete, spending an average of five hours per day. Every tiny shutoff valve and 66 00:08:11.580 --> 00:08:16.320 knob to the steam boiler was tooled in Mr. Taylor's basement, and every part is workable 67 00:08:16.320 --> 00:08:23.680 and performs a certain function. Proof of the pudding? Well, here it is. Steam pressure up, 68 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:32.160 the throttle open, every miniature part goes into action. For the benefit of our snapshots 69 00:08:32.160 --> 00:08:37.220 cameraman, Mr. Taylor made the demonstration as realistic as possible by lighting a charcoal 70 00:08:37.220 --> 00:08:42.660 fire in the firebox. For convenience sake and hobby showings and the like, he has rigged it 71 00:08:42.660 --> 00:08:48.680 to operate on compressed air. However, this is only half of his ambition, for Mr. Taylor has just 72 00:08:48.680 --> 00:08:53.540 about completed a scale model threshing machine that will work in conjunction with his tractor, 73 00:08:53.540 --> 00:09:00.820 and actually will do the job of blowing straw into stacks and the grain into trucks. Of what 74 00:09:00.820 --> 00:09:06.720 practical use are these miniatures? Well, none claims Mr. Taylor, just a hobby and the self 75 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:14.600 satisfaction of completing a boyhood desire. Our opinion is that anyone who can do a job like this 76 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:22.340 should keep right on making them. Besides, who doesn't like to watch wheels go round? 77 00:09:33.380 --> 00:09:40.240 A cat is always a kitty, at least so the nursery rhyme says, but Fluffy is nothing short of unique 78 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:46.160 among her feline brethren. Fish, why she turns up her black button nose at the mere mention of 79 00:09:46.160 --> 00:09:55.720 the word, much preferring a slice of watermelon. Grapes too, peeled or not, are a delectable part 80 00:09:55.720 --> 00:10:02.440 of her peculiar diet. Yes, strange as it may seem, Fluffy cares for nothing heavier than perhaps a 81 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:11.240 tasty malted milk tablet, a true vegetarian in every sense of the word. There are days, however, 82 00:10:11.280 --> 00:10:17.440 when watermelon just isn't the answer to this Persian's palate, but she isn't a bit averse to 83 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:24.880 cantaloupe or even a cool slice of honeydew. Now we all know that a hearty meal, be it vegetable 84 00:10:24.880 --> 00:10:32.400 or mineral, requires a short after-dinner walk to settle things. Fluff is no exception, but she'll 85 00:10:32.400 --> 00:10:39.480 never admit she's had enough. She just can't resist a nice tender leap for dessert. What a cat!