Viktor Schreckengost. Johnny Appleseed. Lakewood Ohio. 1954.
Lakewood High is being remodeled, notice edge of construction fence left. The painted terra cotta sculpture will be restored, currently 'bandages' are giving him a 'face lift'. Of course, he is Johnny Appleseed; but the local officials in charge thought Johnny a 'nut', so they called it 'Early Settler'. A lesson to the high schoolers, if they realised.
Schreckengost *1906, 2008† was an Ohio boy who worked most of his life in Cleveland. Also in 1954 he created two large terra cotta outdoor sculptures for the Cleveland Zoo. They were taken down from the Pachyderm building in 2008, and have been in storage. They are now to be placed on the Natural History museum, when their expansion is completed.
This piece was made by the Federal Seaboard Terra Cotta Company, based in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, and operated by Danish Americans. The factory since has been torn down. (I am a great-grandson of the company's founder, Karl Mathiasen.)
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