Dick Schnacke of Wetzel County, West Virginia’s preeminent maker of
folk toys, is featured in an article in the latest issue of GOLDENSEAL magazine,
now on sale. The article, titled “Whimmydiddles and FlipperDingers: A
Visit with Toymaker Dick Schnacke,” by Catherine Moore, recalls Schnacke’s
rise as a toymaker and entrepreneur, and his involvement in the West Virginia
craft movement of the 1960s and ‘70s.
According to the article, Schnacke gave up a successful engineering career 40
years ago to produce folk toys. His Mountain Craft Shop in Proctor employed
15 people at one time and produced 45,000 toys annually.
A founding member of the Mountain State Art & Craft Fair, Schnacke has remained
involved with the annual event near Ripley since it was started in 1963. The
2003 fair was dedicated in his honor. He is also still involved with the state
Arts and Crafts Guild, which he helped organize.
His first book, American Folk Toys, has sold more than 100,000 copies since
it was published in 1973. Although he has recently sold the Mountain Craft Shop
to neighbors Steve and Ellie Conlon of Thistle Dew Farm, Schnacke remains active.
In addition to consulting for the Conlons, he is completing two more books on
folk toys.
Also in this issue of GOLDENSEAL are an article on Fairmont’s Sagebrush
Round-up country music show; the recollections of 94-year-old Marie Robinette
of Matewan, an eyewitness to the infamous 1920 Matewan Massacre; and an account
of a pioneering organization for black women, the Charleston Woman’s Improvement
League.
GOLDENSEAL is West Virginia’s magazine of traditional life and is published
quarterly by the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History in Charleston.
The magazine sells for $4.95 and is available at Witchey’s Shop &
Save in New Martinsville and Peoples News in St. Marys or by calling (304)558-0220,
ext. 153.
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