Four Little Shavers (Ice Cream Emporium)
The Four Little Shavers are an animatronic cabaret act used in Pizza Time Theatre restaurants.
They appeared in 5 known locations, these being the Pizza Time Theatres in Tampa (Carrollwood), Florida, San Antonio, Texas, Brandon, Florida, Clearwater, Florida[1], and Daytona Beach, Florida.[2] They were first installed in August 1981 at the Tampa (Carrollwood), Florida location. They appeared in a room named the Ice Cream Emporium which was an Ice Cream bar, a concept tested by Pizza Time Theatre Inc. at the time. The show was fully phased out of these stores by the mid 1980's. All 5 sets were presumed to be destroyed, but one set has been discovered, restored and now performs at the Volo Auto Museum in Volo, Illinois.
There were 4 members of this band, Nolan (holding the towel), O'Nolan (holding the cup), Curly (the bald man in the chair) and McNolan (holding the broom). They were similar to the Beagles/Beach Bowsers in terms of mechanisms and general appearance.
Placement
In the standard installation of the show detailed in the Pizza Time Theatre Theatrical Standards Manual, the characters would stand in a line, the order being Nolan, O'Nolan, Curly, McNolan (from left to right) in front of a barber shop themed scene. This featured a desk, bottles, mirrors and a barber pole at the back. However one of the locations had a different design, which had a black and blue backdrop with shelving and bottles painted onto it and a sign reading 'Lou's Place', and had Nolan moved to the far right of the stage.
-
The aforementioned location with the black and blue backdrop, with Nolan moved to the right.
-
The characters in their standard setup, as specified in the Theatrical Standards Manual.
-
Brandon, FL, also using the standard setup for the characters.
Showtapes
No showtapes have been found yet for the Four Little Shavers. However the Theatrical Standards Manual details that they would sing songs from the Buffalo Bills and some other Barber Shop Groups.
Movements
The known movements on the Four Little Shavers are as follows:
| Curly | O'Nolan | Nolan | McNolan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mouth | Mouth | Mouth | Mouth |
| Head Up | Body Sway | Body Sway | Body Sway |
| Head Right | Head Right | Head Right | Head Right |
| Head Left | Head Left | Head Left | Head Left |
| Arm Up | |||
| Right Arm Twist | |||
| Left Arm Twist |
Their Body Sway movements are accomplished using the exact same assembly used by the Warblettes, except with only the middle head used. It starts with them tilted left and the cylinder will push them over so they are tilted to the right. Only Curly has mechanical arms which can move, the other three have tubes that connect to props (e.g. McNolan's arm tubes connect to his broom) which can move about as they move to give the illusion of there being arms.
Curly is supposed to have 3 total arm movements but at the Volo Show, only one of them seems to be operational (Right Arm Twist). The Arm Up movement is nonoperational, possibly from a bad cylinder. The Left Arm Twist movement is entirely absent, with the left arm being made of foam and thin metal strips.This movement was possibly added after Volo's Curly was produced.
They are very similar to the Beagles/Beach Bowsers mechanisms since they use the same design and system.
Gallery
-
One of the five sets made
-
One of the five sets made
-
Brandon, FL
-
The set restored and placed at the Volo Auto Museum
-
The Four Little Shavers after they were found. This set is now at the Volo Auto Museum.
-
Another photo of Brandon.
-
The Volo Shavers during installation.
-
The Shavers at corporate. You can spot two of them to the right of Nolan Bushnell in this picture.
