Original Jocks
Original Lawn Jocks are based on the historical, original oem Lawn Jockey design and color scheme from the late 1800's.
Almost like a miracle, now you can "travel back in time" and order online
an estate quality, real metal Jock almost identical to the Jock your great-great-great-great grandparents could have ordered
out of a mail-order catalog 130 years ago(telephones and the internet were not invented yet!).
After the civil war ended in 1865, all the iron foundries stopped beating plowshares into swords and started making
new products(mostly in the northern states- everything was destroyed in the south). The Champion Iron Company was established in Kenton, Ohio in 1876, and was the first to
take George Washington's original commissioned 1776 Lawn Jock designs made popular in the south, and reinvent them into the popular statue we see today. The irony of a "yankee" company
"stealing" an icon of the Old South and reinventing it is one of the more colorful aspects in the 3 century history of the American Lawn Jock.
Like it's Old South predecessors, the Champion statue was depicted as African-american.
The Champion Lawn Jockey was influenced by the patriotism of the US Centennial in 1876, and by the running of the first Kentucky Derby in 1875(with 13 out of 15 jockeys being black).
However, the statue's face was designed so it could be painted in both black AND white, foreshadowing the integration of American society over the next century.
The Champion design was the first to delete the "slave" features from George Washington's "Jocko" Lawn Jock, and add realistic horse-racing jockey features.
The sculpture was manufactured out of cast iron and went so far into detail as to include glass eyeballs!
The Champion Iron Company burned down in 1901, but the great success of the Champion Lawn Jockey directly led to the creation of a toy industry that transformed tiny Kenton, Ohio into the "Iron Toy Capital of the World" from 1900-1930. Along with Lawn Jockeys, these
iron toys from the turn of the century have recently experienced a resurgence in popularity as collectibles.
The exquisite design and of metal artistry of the jockey statue that captivated your forefather's imagination in the 1800's lives on in our Original Lawn Jock collection.
Although jockey silks and caps usually have 2 or more contrasting colors in the cap vest and sleeves(like our Traditional Lawn Jock Collection), most of these original jockeys ended up being painted all red. This was probably due to the huge popularity of the Lawn Jock in the
medical community(that still exists today), and influenced by the establishment of the American Red Cross in 1881. The Original Jock looks like a "red cross". Doctors with traditional residences in upscale
neighborhoods started a trend that helped transform the Lawn Jock into a universal status symbol of power and privilege.
Original Jocks come in 2 versions: the original black-face and the "updated" white-face. The white-face jocks are by far the most popular today.
These Original Jocks would make a great gift for any doctor, or collector of old-south, horse-racing or African-american memorabilia.
Our Original Jocks copy this design from the late 1800's.
Click on photo for larger view.
Each of our Original Jocks are artistically painted in heavy-handed brush strokes with thick, contrasting colors of paint. The statue arrives fully painted and fully assembled- just pull him out of the box and put him on the stoop!
A ring is included for the Original Jock's hand, but these Jocks also work well with our optional oil and solar lanterns(lantern sold separately- CLICK HERE for more information).
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