Perhaps a hundred people assembled one evening, May 15, 1876, at the time when the country was celebrating the hundredth anniversary of its political independence.
The puppet characters were combinations of people I had known and to some degree aspects of my own personality. Weird was based on someone I knew in Chicago. Dirty Dragon was based on a good friend I had in Indianapolis.
| Traian Basescu, Politician (1951) |
| Trishelle Cannatella, Celebrity (1979) |
| Art Carney, Actor (1918) |
| Puff Daddy, Musician (1970) |
| Stephen J. Field, Judge (1816) |
| Luis Figo, Athlete (1972) |
| Ruth Handler, Businesswoman (1916) |
| Daisy Bates, Activist (1999) |
| Humphrey Carpenter, Author (2005) |
| Gilles Deleuze, Philosopher (1995) |
| Eugene Field, Poet (1895) |
| Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Artist (1894) |

