Yesterday I had another great tour at the Tara façade and made a bunch of new friends. My wife laughs when I say some horrible thing about an errant driver and how “I hate people”…because the truth is I so enjoy meeting new folks and “visiting”. Yesterday was no exception as I made a bunch of new friends….and learned something new. Yes, that’s right,…I….Mr. Saving Tara will admit to a new thought and a an aha moment!
Today I will meet another group, “up at the gate” at 2:00 PM and presently I have a few spots open for those who may want to make a last minute reservation. If you will simply contact me via private message I will get you on the list for this afternoon’s tour. Now, as they say in television lets go back to the story.
Upon arriving back at my house after the tour, my brain was still buzzing and so I sat down and looked at a piece of material that has been identified as the original “brick” on the Tara façade. As I was looking thru Betty Talmadges files with her former secretary on Friday a couple of the bricks were stored there with a reminder of their fragility but nothing regarding their manufacture. So after yesterday’s tour I retrieved a piece of a brick still attached to Tara’s roofline and took it home to study…and the conclusion is that it is NOT as has been said, “made of paper mache”.
Paper mache is actually papier-mâché which in French means, “Chewed paper” and by definition it is a material that is made of paper mixed with water, glue, and other substances and that hardens … I have heard this as the description of the Tara facades fake bricks by many including my friend the late Fred Crane, who as Brent Tarleton, had an opportunity to see the walls up close in the opening sense of the movie. But in the photo I have included you will see that it is not paper that is mixed with glue but clay or adobe with stands of straw. Where the bricks of Tara made of California’s adobe and attached on large pieces of wood veneer and hung to the 2×4 skeleton? I believe it will take a little more study, but it is one more step in a long journey to restore the pieces of the Tara façade and learn many lessons along the way.
You can help by continuing to tell the story, purchase the books and for those who can,….come and see for yourself, for there is no better witness to the truth that one who has seen the work up close. There are only a few dates left to tour the Tara façade this year so please book your tour soon. I can still accommodate a couple of groups who want to set up a special time but once again it takes your contacting of me via private message to make that happen.
I look forward to our next chat with a hope of meeting you all, up at the gate.
Peter
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