JACOB HAAS AND “LITTLE MASTER BOBBY”

Jacob Haas and his dummy, “Little Master Bobby” are on display in the Civil War Gallery of the Sigal Museum at 342 Northampton Street. Jacob, son of Mary and Henry Haas, was an apprentice harness maker in Easton when he became interested in ventriloquism. This ancient art of throwing the voice dates from the 6^th Century B. C. and earlier when the practice was common in religious rites and practices all over the world. During the 19^thcentury, ventriloquism became a performance art in vaudeville.  The expertise of the practitioner in not moving his mouth or his lips was more important than any humorous content of the material.

Little Master Bobby

Jacob Haas became quite adept at throwing his voice. At the age of nineteen, Haas made his dummy “Master Bobby” and began entertaining locally. “Bobby”, made of papier mache and wood measuring between thirty-four and forty-two inches, fits the parameters for professional dummies of the period. Beginning in 1850, Haas took his “Bobby”  show on the road for eleven years traveling through the New England and Middle Atlantic states.

Then in August 1862, Haas enlisted for nine months in the 129^th Volunteer Infantry. He began keeping detailed diaries of his days as a soldier in the Civil War. He wrote of the cold and the hunger, the long marches, and the endless canteens of coffee. He chronicled the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He was discharged from the Army in Harrisburg in May 1863.

Within a few months in February 1864, Haas re-enlisted in the 51^st Regiment, Company B,  9^th Army Corps of Pennsylvania Volunteers. He fought in several major battles as the war wound down. In his diary, Haas noted the Confederate reconnaissance balloons observing the Union Army positions. He was present at Lee’s surrender at Appomattox and mustered out in Virginia on July 27, 1865.

Haas returned to Easton and resumed his ventriloquism career. His expense accounts indicate that in January of 1866, he returned to show business where he was known professionally as “Professor.”  He performed with several different circuses traveling across the country to California and later to Canada.

When he could no longer travel, Haas returned to Easton and performed throughout the surrounding counties with his “talking dolls” and Punch and Judy show. His last public appearance was in Bangor, PA in 1908. Jacob Haas died on March 23, 1921 in Easton in his 89^th year.

-Submitted by Elaine Greek