The Public Paperfolding History Project

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The Origamian - Volume 1 - 1958 to 1959
 
The Origamian was a newspaper published by Lillian Oppenheimer. All issues can be downloaded from the website of OrigamiUSA. This page simply provides a precis of the contents of each issue.

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Vol 1: Issue 1 - October 1958

As far as I know the sailboat logo of the Origami Center first appears in this publication. It is not clear from this picture alone which design this logo represents (see below). It could be either the Double Boat with Two Sails or the much simpler Sailboat, a version of which is the current logo of OrigamiUSA.

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Main Matters of Interest:

A dedication to Akira Yoshizawa, which reads: 'To Akira Yoshizawa we bow with reverent admiration for his unbelievably artistic skill with paper. With patient love, he has folded these past forty years with passionate intensity, he has considered the creases, the angles, the possibilities of paper. He regards the material to which he has dedicated his years as a living form and deeply respects all the effort and labour and love that others have put into the making of this lovely Japanese hand-made paper. The one thought he expresses over and over again is Peace for this world, and the devout hope that his Origami may in some way help to bring this about.'

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An explanation of the series of events that led up to the formation of the Origami Center:

'On May 15th 1958, Mr. Kanazawa, editor of the Hokubei Shimpo, published the first of three articles on Origami, giving the historical background of this ancient art. The second issue described Origami as a hobby of 30 years duration enjoyed by Mrs. Oppenheimer. The third publication reported the remarkable success achieved by Frieda Lourie with Origami in the Occupational Therapy Department of one of our leading hospitals. Mr Kanazawa's scholarly presentation attracted the attention of the Pullitzer prize-winning New York Times reporter, Meyer Berger, who subsequently wrote a charming piece about Origami in his column in the New York Times "about New York" on June 27th 1958. Two day's later Lillian Oppenheimer was on Jack Paar's TV show, and people who had never heard of Origami began writing in. Bill Leonard in "Eye on New York", Dave Carroway in "Today" and Arthur Godphrey, one after another, invited this hobbyist to tell about paperfolding and show some models,and enquiries began pouring in. So was formed The Origami Center, and we trust it will serve the good purpose of introducing this art to all who may be interested.'

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An account of the inaugural meeting of the Origami Center on Monday October 6th 1958, giving a list of attendees, and the designs that were folded:

Paul Duke, 'world-famous magician' entertained.

'Both Mr. Yoshizawa and Mr. Baggi were were acclaimed for their lovely creations'

Emily Rosenthal taught the 'waste-paper basket' and the 'flag'. I cannot identify these designs at present.

Other designs taught were:

The 'drinking cup' - probably the Paper Cup.

The 'little sailboat, which is the club's insignia' - either the Double Boat with Two Sails or the much simpler Sailboat, a version of which is the current logo of OrigamiUSA.

The 'star basket' - probably the Star Box.

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An account of the first evening meeting on October 20th, also giving a list of attendees:

Lester Grimes, 'a great magician', 'described some of his production illusions'.

'Giuseppe Baggi demonstrated some of his wizardry with paper and scissors'.

Frieda Lourie gave a report on her recent overseas trip: 'She touched on the highlights of her travels: her lectures to the C. T. Dept. of several London hospitals, her attendance at the C.T. Conference in Denmark, the Brussels Fair, Holland, Viena, etc. She stressed the universiality of Origami and how it transcends language barriers, for a box is a box, a bird is a bird, in any tongue.'

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Excerpts from letters from Gershon Legman critical of the name 'Origamian', promising to send 'on loan all the exhibition foldings of My Y's I still have' for display at the Cooper Union and:

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Extract of a letter from Ligia Montoya similarly promising to send 'a box with 20 flowers, 15 birds and 5 insects'.

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There is also mention of John M Nordquist.

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Diagrams included:

Animal mask by Louise Oppenheimer

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Flapping bird by Ligia Montoya

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Vol 1: Issue 2 - November 1958

Main Matters of Interest:

An account of the afternoon group group meeting on 20th October: The designs learned were:

'the bird that flaps its wings' - presumably the Flapping Bird.

'the shallow box' - ?

'the butterfly' - ?

'Mrs Glantz showed us how she folds a shallow tray out of aluminium foil with which she broils her breakfast ... She learned the fold from her apothecary husband who uses many folds in his profession ...'

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An account of the third afternoon session on November 3rd:

'We folded a turkey, a glamorous clutch bag and its accompanying change purse, and appropriately enough, learned some dollar bill folds.'

'Each talbe (sic) had an arrangement of original paper-folded flowers' (sent by Ligia Montoya as a contribution to the planned Cooper Union exhibition). 'It is a feat indeed to create flower forms out of a piece of paper without cutting, allowing oneself only to fold or crease.'

And 'Miss Montoya was the only one able to solve the mystery of the Kanomado Dragonfly dated c1850'.

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An account of the second meeting of the evening group on November 4th:

'we learned the turkey, the blow-up ball (the Waterbomb) ... the shallow box, the high box and the butterfly.'

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There is a list of the 35 people Lillian Oppenheimer has made 'Honorary Members' of the Origami Center. This includes, inter alia, Martin Gardner, Shari Lewis, Jay Marshall, Robert Neal (sic), George Rhoades (sic), and Thok Sondergaard (ie Thoki Yenn).

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There is an advertisement for Maria Gilbert Martin's 'Pasteless Construction'.

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Diagrams included:

A boat with sail by Thomas Kruskal, aged 10.

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Christmas Angel by Ligia Montoya (simplified by Guiseppi Baggi) in which a circular halo with a slit cut in it is added to complete the design.

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Vol 1: Issue 3 - December 1958

Main Matters of Interest:

There is an account of the fourth afternoon group meeting on November 17th. Designs mentioned are:

The Saltcellar / bonbon dish / nosepincher / color-changer / Heaven or Hell. Thence 'basket', 'bird that eats', 'and finally it is the puppet that Shari Lewis, famous and talented ventiloquist, showed us how to make'.

The 'talking fish' - probably the Talking Fish design as subsequently published in 'The Art of Origami' by Samuel Randlett in 1961.

'the Spanish man we call the dancing couple'

A paper aeroplane by Spencer Muns.

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An account of the 5th afternoon group meeting on December 1st. Designs mentioned are:

'Maria Martin's famous shuttle fold' - probably the Magazine Cover Box.

'the jumping frog' - the Blow-up Frog.

'the blow-up ball' - presumably the Waterbomb.

'the blow up bunny or pussycat'

'Will Blyth's altar piece' - the Fold and One Cut Latin Cross.

'Mr Grimes ingenious strip puzzle'

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An account of the third evening meeting, held on December 2nd. Designs mentioned are:

'the change purse' - ?

'the clutch bag' - ?

'we folded a crisp dollar bill into the letter M or W, and another into a picture frame, which stands on its own easel, showing George Washington's face' (Both these designs are probably the 'Double 'U'' and 'The Picture Frame (with Washington's face in the centre)' from 'Bill Folds' by Al O'Hagan, which was published by George Snyder's Magic Shop of Cleveland, Ohio in 1945.)

There is also mention of 'our famous magician friend, Mr Lester Grimes' and his 'ring of five-pointed stars joined together, which he makes with one cut'. He also 'prepared 75 paper tubes ... and taught us the trick of turning the paper tube inside out with just 3 folds' (which sounds very like the Flexatube).

'We folded Dr Montero's delightful man'. 'Mrs Lourie suggested inserting a paper dolly in such a manner so that when the figure stands it simulates a dancing couple.'

'the frog that jumps when you stroke its back' (The Blow-up Frog)

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There is mention of a column by John J Crimmins Jr, which in turn mentions the Origami Centre, in 'Hugard's Magic Monthly' (for October 1958) , which was in fact a review of Isao Honda's recently published 'Origami: Japanese Paperfolding - Fuji Book' and 'Origami: Japanese Paperfolding - Sakura Book' as shown here: (Information from Edwin Corrie)

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There is a section about Victor Frenkil and his ability to fold the letters of the alphabet, a quacking bird, and a combination bowtie and framed portrait of George Washington:

The 'combination bowtie and framed portrait of George Washington' is most probably the 'Bow Tie (with Washington's face in the knot)' from 'Bill Folds' by Al O'Hagan (althogh there are other similar designs). This leaflet also included a way of folding the letter 'w' from a dollar bill (but not the rest of the alphabet).

The quacking duck is also described as 'a little caricature of a duck, with beak, wings and tail. When he pulls the tail the wings flap, and there is the sound of quacking from the duck'. This description suggests the 'quacking duck' is in fact the Flapping Bird (which is also in O'Hagan's leaflet). The quacking noise may have been produced by a tiny squeaker which Frenkil concealed in his hand when making the 'duck' flap (and he may have called the Flapping Bird a duck for this reason).

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There is mention of a story, not about origami, in 'With Frances in Magicland' by Frances Ireland Marshall, said to be illustrated by Thoky Yenn (sic).

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Diagrams included:

Santa Claus by Giuseppe Baggi.

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Angel (with a five-pointed star for a head) - said to be Japanese. (The same two-part design that was published by Robert Harbin in the Observer newspaper on 20th December 1959 where no origin was given.)

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The Fold and One Cut Pentagram.

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Vol 1: Issue 4 - January 1959

Main Matters of Interest:

An account of the first afternoon session of the New Year on January 5th: Designs mentioned are:

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An account of the fourth evening meeting on January 6th. Designs mentioned are:

The Saltcellar / bonbon dish / pinch-nose / cootie catcher / fortunetelling or number game / color-changer / eating bird / puppet.

'the talking fish' - probably the Talking Fish design as subsequently published in 'The Art of Origami' by Samuel Randlett in 1961.

'the blow-up ball' - presumably the Waterbomb.

'the blow up bunny'

'couch, chair, piano and fox-puppet, all from the same basic fold' (ie from The House)

'the bench and side chair from Marie Martin's book and her famous shuttle-fold'

'the dear little three-dimensional whale Mr Yoshizawa shows in his latest book'

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There is also an article about Victor Frenkil's attempt to fold a five-pointed star from a dollar bill (not very successfully) and a picture of the result.

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Lillian Oppenheimer replies to a reader's letter to say that some standard diagramming conventions are to be adopted:

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'Akira Yoshizawa enclosed a newspaper clipping showing three new Xmas Origami creations'.

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Diagrams included:

'Gatito' by Ligia Montoya, an action design.

'Original Moth' by Ligia Montoya, from an equilateral triangle.

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Vol 1: Issue 5 - March 1959

This issue states that it is the 'fifth and last' issue of the Origamian. No reason for the discontinuation is given, although the original subscription was for 5 issues for $1.50.

Main Matters of Interest:

Lillian Oppenheimer explains her planned trip to Japan to meet with Akira Yoshizawa.

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She also previews the exhibition at the Cooper Union museum. It is to open on May 30th and 'to run all summer'.

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An account of the 'last meeting of the evening group ... at the Japan Society', in February. Designs mentioned are:

Yoshizawa's Butterfly

'G Rhoades (sic) made his inimitable and intricate dog'

'star baskets' - probably the Star Box.

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Meyer Berger's death is reported. This occurred soon after he wrote a column about Giuseppe Baggi.

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There is mention of 'Paper Magic' in a reader's letter.

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Other people mentioned:

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There is mention of a meeting with Pauline Johnson, author of 'Creating with Paper'.

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There is mention of an article by Sidney Field in his 'Only Human' column in the N Y Mirror. John Smith's 'A Bibliography of Origami in Education and Therapy' gives the details of this as: 'She brings Origami into the fold', New York Mirror. February 5th 1959. An article on Lillian Oppenheimer which mentions the work of Mrs. Frieda Lourie, a therapist who made use of Origami. (I have not been able to find a copy of this article.)

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Diagrams included:

'Original Table' by Ligia Montoya - From a 2x1 rectangle.

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'Sea Horse' by Neal Elias.

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'Mouse' (Heavily Cut) by Samuel L Randlett.

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