OREGONSCAPE

Abstract

BUD DIETLEIN’S Haceta Head on Oregon Coast Highway animated diorama, pictued in the image above, was first displayed at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco (1939–1940). Dietlein, an artist based in Vancouver, Washington, took three months to complete the project. The diorama measures thirteen feet wide and five feet tall and consists of a featured seascape with a foreground, middle ground, and background. It also includes a patented “wave action” mechanism to produce an ocean spray effect using a series of rollers and cut out celluloid. The diorama was an instant success — with some noting at the time that it was the best part of the large Oregon exhibit. During the years after the Expo, Dietlein continued to work on the diorama ­ — including adding the sound of crashing waves — and in 1947 it premiered in the Northwest at his Vancouver art studio. OREGONSCAPE Fifteen hundred people lined up to see the contraption on the opening day. The Oregonian reported on March 6 that Eleanor Roosevelt, in town to attend the Pacific Northwest College conference at Reed College, also made time to visit. According to a March 2, 1947, Oregonian article, Dietlein travelled east in April to exhibit the diorama, although no specific itinerary was noted. Dietlein unfortunately passed away unexpectedly in 1964, and the current whereabouts of the diorama are not known. The Oregon Historical Society would love to know if readers have any information on the diorama’s whereabouts. If so, please let us know so we can work to get it up and running, possibly for the first time, here in Oregon. — Matthew Cowan, OHS Moving Images and Photography Archivist ...