Louis “Louie” Mikedes was not the designer, sculptor, or artist of the
Mickey Mouse telephone that you have in your possession, and he is not
a celebrity figure. He was, however, the previous owner of the item
and inscribed his name on the bottom when he owned it.
Here’s how I came to my conclusion:
I conducted an Internet search on the telephone you mentioned and
found no reference to a designer, artist or celebrity by the name of
Louie Mikedes. I then search variations of the name and found several
references to one “Louis Mikedes” on “The Wakefield High School
(Arlington, VA) Thespian, Drama, and Plays Nostalgia Page”. The site
is a tribute to the small troupe of amateur play actors, including
Louis Mikedes, who graduated from Wakefield High School, Arlington
Virginia in 1968. He is credited for his performances in the following
amateur productions:
- The Mouse That Roared (Fall, 1967)
- Guys and Dolls (Wakefield's FIRST musical, Spring 1967)
- George Washington Slept Here (Spring, 1968)
On a hunch, I visited a web site called “Wakefield Class of 1968
Picnic, 25 Year, and 30 Year Reunion Activities” and lo and behold, I
found Louis Mikedes’ smiling picture there. This established that he
was most likely alive and well and it prompted me to contact the
site’s webmaster (and former Wakefield thespian himself), William
“Bill” Kaffenberger, to see if he still had contact with Mikedes. Mr.
Kaffenberger responded and forwarded my inquiry to Mr. Mikedes. In the
meantime, an Internet search turned up a telephone number and address
for Louis Mikedes, and of course, I called it but got a business
recording. So, to make a long story short, I had to wait (with my
fingers crossed of course) for his email to arrive.
During my wait, I occupied myself by scrounging up a few interesting
tidbits about your telephone. Here is what I learned:
The original 1976 American Telecommunications Corporation 15" Mickey
Mouse telephone is a rotary dial model depicting Mickey holding the
yellow receiver in his right hand. The phone is marked "Walt Disney
Productions" on the rear of his red shorts.
There were also others. A later model became available with
pushbuttons. It also was available with a single or double 3-way lamp
attached to the back of the base and with white pleated lampshade(s).
The versions of this telephone/lamp combination were used in Disney
Hotels. A time later four other characters were produced using the
same phone - Mickey Mouse, Snoopy, Kermit the Frog, and Winnie the
Pooh.
Now, back to your question…Since I had already established that
“Louie” Mikedes was NOT the designer of the phone, nor was he a
celebrity or someone whose signature will significantly impact the
value of it, I began to suspect hat he was simply the phone’s previous
owner and that he had signed his name to the bottom of it for whatever
reason to indicate his ownership (in much the same the character
“Andy” in “Toy Story” marked the bottom of his friend “Woody’s” cowboy
boot). I surmised, perhaps, that he merely intended to put a unique
mark on the item in the event that it became lost, stolen or
accidentally mixed with someone else’s belongings. The good news is
that if your telephone has any value at all as a collectable,
verifiable provenance is often taken into consideration when
evaluating a collectable and this sometimes leads to an increased
value over a similar item with little or no provenance.
I decided to give the phone number one more try. VIOLA…I reached Louis
Mikedes at his place of business. He not only confirmed that the phone
was his in the 1970’s when he was a college student in Richmond,
Virginia but the signature was indeed his. Mr. Mikedes is would also
like you to contact him because he would like to have the phone back.
He said it was discovered missing from his collection some 30 years
ago and he believes it may have been stolen. How you proceed with this
issue is up to you. He gave me his home phone number and asked me to
pass it on to you in hopes that you would call him, or you can get a
contact number for him yourself through the search mechanism below.
I'm sorry that your collectable isn't worth a fortune but I hope my
research helps to satisfy your curiosity and put the matter to rest
once and for all.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
The Wakefield High School (Arlington, VA) Thespian, Drama, and Plays
Nostalgia Page.
http://members.tripod.com/%7ENIPWfield/wakethesnos.html
- The Mouse That Roared (Fall, 1967)
http://members.tripod.com/~NIPWfield/mouseroar.html
- Guys and Dolls (Wakefield's FIRST musical, Spring 1967)
http://members.tripod.com/~NIPWfield/gydlpg.html
- George Washington Slept Here (Spring, 1968)
http://members.tripod.com/~NIPWfield/gwshpage.html
Wakefield Class of 1968 Picnic, 25 Year, and 30 Year Reunion
Activities
http://campus.fortunecity.com/rutgers/360/wkgal3.html
The Farmer’s Novelty Telephone Notebook
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Museum/1192/telm.html
Switchboard.com
Search terms: Arlington, VA, Louis, Mikedes
http://411.to/Arlington/VA/Louis/Mikedes |
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