Photo Shoot: The newsroom holiday legend of Puffy the plastic toy soldier
Frosty, Rudolph and the Grinch have all arrived on the scene for another holiday season on the front lines. But there is another yuletide icon, much less known, who also awakens in the last month of the year.
Puffy the plastic toy soldier.
Standing about fifty inches tall, he was a newsroom yule time fixture for years. This is his story, as best as I can tell through the hazy lens of time.
The year was 1998, mid-December, President Bill Clinton’s impeachment was in the news. Former Reporter Paula Peters and I were dispatched to Main Street Falmouth for “man in the street” interviews. Basically, walking up to people on a busy street, asking their opinion, the reporter takes notes, the photographer, a photo. The Cape Cod Times had a Main Street bureau in Falmouth, which was near a toy store.
The old Chevy station wagon delivery vehicle was our transport for this trip, with its giant Cape Cod Times decal across the side, and was parked behind the bureau. An employee from the toy store was heading to a dumpster with this giant Playmobil soldier, his helmet broken and a jagged piece hanging in the back. The timeworn warrior’s sword was missing, but he still had a smile on his face. I asked if he was being trashed, and the answer was yes, too dangerous with the broken pieces. My follow-up question was, could we adopt him? Again yes. He was loaded into the station wagon along with his broken helmet, heading for a new home, the Cape Cod Times newsroom.
During the holiday season, the publisher would have a decorating contest among departments, and the prize would be a breakfast assortment for the best decorated. Most years this award was won by theCirculation and Advertising departments. The rough and tumble newsroom, its piles of paper, blaring police scanners and overflowing desks was a hard place to decorate. Some years, a Charlie Brown Christmas tree decorated with headline clippings was offered up as a theme.
But 1998 would be different. We had a centerpiece, named Puffy Boy for his portly physique, and with both arms up in the air, he took on the look of an exasperated editor after a tough round with a reporter. Lights were brought in; his open arms held a newspaper, and a star topped his head if memory serves correctly. Unfortunately, no photos still exist, this was the film era.
Alas, once again, the Ad Department took us out with a stylish and sophisticated presentation. Puffy then found residence in the photo department before finally heading home to live with the Heaslip family. He stands sentry year-round at our front door, baffling delivery people and confusing our relatives. Every December, he puts on his holiday finest and joins us in the family Christmas card. A Christmas miracle, saved from the dumpster to live happily ever after, always smiling no matter what life brings through our front door day after day.
Steve Healsip is the Times' chief photographer. Follow him on Instagram: @cctphoto.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Photo Shoot: The newsroom holiday legend of Puffy
