Yard Ornament Couture In Sandy Hook

By Nancy K. Crevier

Jessica Buster and David Turkington gained a housemate, Charlie, when they rented their apartment on Riverside Road in Sandy Hook. At first, Jessica was not sure how she and Charlie were going to get along, but he has become such a part of their lives now, that she says she would really miss him if they were to move. And Charlie cannot move with them.

Charlie is an antique lawn jockey, a small cement statue about three feet tall, who has stood in front of the house for more than 50 years, according to the home’s owner, said Ms Buster. “And so far as anyone knows, he has always been called Charlie.”

Often disparaged as a racially insensitive lawn ornament, there are positive legends that have risen up around the statues, which are historically depicted as black groomsmen or black jockeys holding out in one hand either a lantern or a metal hitching loop. One legend tells that the lawn jockey originated in George Washington’s era. A young black man by name of either Jocko or Joque Graves wanted to join Washington’s troops. Too young to do so, General Washington instead asked the young man to hold a lantern to light the way as the troops crossed over the Delaware. When the troops returned, the boy had frozen to death, still holding out the lantern. It is said that General Washington later commissioned a groomsman hitching post to be placed at Mt Vernon, in the young man’s honor.

Other legends say that the lawn jockey was used to designate a safe house on the Underground Railroad, depending on the color of the ribbon tied to its arm.

The transformation from groomsman to a jockey dressed in silks may have occurred years later, either over confusion concerning the young black man’s name, Jocko, or perhaps to honor black jockeys, who rode the first 13 winners of the Kentucky Derby.

While none of the legends are corroborated, they continue to circulate, and have even been the subject of a 1963 children’s book by Earl Kroger, Sr, The Legend of Jocko. 

But Ms Buster’s and Mr Turkington’s connection to Charlie has grown out of a sense of fun. Since last Halloween, they have entertained themselves, their friends, their neighbors, and the children who ride by on the school buses by dressing up Charlie in various costumes.

“In the town I grew up in, the English teacher had two statues called Pig and Wolf that advertised fun events around town, and even traveled to special occasions. I’m hoping that dressing up Charlie brings some fun and a sense of community cohesiveness,” said Ms Buster, who is a teacher at Excel Learning in Newtown.

Charlie’s firsts appearance was in a dark, hooded robe, a vague reference to a video game, said Mr Turkington. It remains one of his favorite outfits for their static pal.

“He looked so good, we couldn’t take it off of him,” chuckled Mr Turkington.

But they did, and Charlie’s next walk down the cement catwalk was over the holidays, in a red robe trimmed with white faux fur, holding out a present in lieu of a lantern.

Since then, he has appeared as a dynamic skier, in Prince Charlie Scottish regalia (a nod to the couple’s college days in Scotland), in a Paddington Bear look-alike ensemble, and at the start of spring training, holding a bat and glove and dressed up in a Yankees jersey — with a Mets baseball cap.

“I think he is pretty popular,” Ms Buster said. During this summer’s LobsterFest at the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company’s main station, just across the street, Mr Turkington even found himself identified as “Charlie’s owner.” That was while Charlie was decked out in his fire gear, hose in hand. A friend of the couple, who brought Charlie board shorts all the way from Bali, then added sunglasses and a surfboard, putting “Surfer Charlie” together.

“I particularly like that we had salespeople from New York City come to our door one day and for the first five minutes, all they wanted to talk about was Charlie. They loved him. One of them even brought his supervisor by the next day to meet Charlie,” said Ms Buster.

Charlie as the Statue of Liberty, swathed in a green toga, topped with a crown, and extending a torch made from a cardboard tube and spewing flames of gold tinsel, is probably their all-time favorite get-up.

High summer found Charlie with a tropical look, as well as the athletic guise complete with bike helmet, running shoes and shorts, and a numbered T-shirt.

Most of Charlie’s attire comes from their own discards or the Goodwill store — he is about a 4 or 6 children’s size — or is fashioned by Ms Buster from various found objects and creatively placed material. Because Charlie is not at all flexible and is fastened to a cement base, his clothing needs to be carefully cut, pinned, and otherwise strategically placed.

“Everything has to be made to fit on his extended arm, too, and over the ring at the end of his arm, which is actually pretty big,” pointed out Ms Buster.

Most recently, Charlie has been nobly sporting a suit of armor.

“I studied medieval English at university,” explained Ms Buster, “so it seemed I needed to do something on this line.” The helmet was made from an oatmeal box covered in plastic wrap and tin foil, and Charlie’s shield was crafted from a thin, plastic cutting board.

On Wednesday, October 21, Ms Buster and Mr Turkington were busy dismantling “Crusader Knight Charlie” and getting him ready for Halloween. Yards of muslin strips wrapped and pinned about white T-shirts slowly but surely transformed the dashing knight into a scary creature of the season: The Mummy.