Posted: 6/13/07
Rush City visited by native Munchkin
 Never seeming to tire of looking at the photo of the 124 Munchkins, including herself, Ruth shared the photo once again with her niece Wanda Danzel in the lobby of the motel Wednesday morning. That's me with my mouth open, she said. |
By MaryHelen Swanson
One hundred twenty-four Munchkin faces have peered out at movie goers for decades in the popular children's movie "The Wizard of Oz."
One of those faces belonged to a Rush City native, and last week, at age 89 and still under five feet tall, she came to visit her hometown and relatives who live there.
A reception was held in her honor at the Rush City high school Wednesday afternoon sponsored by the Rush City Area Chamber of Commerce. As the Chamber board planned a reception for her, snippets of the Wizard's melodies, such as the Lollipop Guild song, slipped out and memories of the childhood fantasy crept into the conversation at every turn.
Not surprising, noted Ruth Robinson Duccini, one of the 124 Munchkins, during an interview in a North Branch motel lobby last Wednesday morning.
Traveling around for a number of years, as one of the last nine living Munchkins, she has found the ones who are most enthusiastic about the movie are the 40 something folks.
Perhaps it was the novelty of a hometown girl turned celebrity or perhaps there are more Oz enthusiasts than elsewhere, but last week they poured into the high school commons area to enjoy this special event - and meet a diminutive celebrity.
Duccini is not shy about sharing a special photo of the Munchkin group and quickly points to one, herself, noting that she's the one with her mouth open.
Once a Munchkin, apparently always a Munchkin, and Duccini is proud of the accomplishment, but during a pleasant conversation last week, she confessed that she is even more proud of the work she did during World War II.
A tiny, young woman, she worked for Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica as a Rosie the Riveter. "A lot of us little ones could get in spots on the inner wing of the C54 transports where others couldn't," she said of her work as a riveter.
To this day, she belongs to a Rosie the Riveter organization.
Still, she admitted, being in the Wizard of Oz was a big part of her life.
How do you go from a small town like Rush City to the glamour of California movie-making?
Well, Duccini was short, always shorter than the other kids in school at Rush City, and after high school (she graduated in 1937) she joined the Harvey Williams Midget Troupe. They sang and danced and traveled around the country.
When they were looking for short people for the filming of the Oz, it was a natural for Duccini.
Leaving Rush City in cold November, she arrived in Los Angeles and found it to be a beautiful place. It was 1938, they were filming "Gone with the Wind" at the same time as the Wizard of Oz.
"It was lot of fun," Duccini said. She also appeared in a number of other movies, she added.
In 1943, Ruth Robinson married Fred Duccini in Los Angeles; they had a son and a daughter.
Memories of Rush City
Duccini fondly remembers her life growing up in Rush City. In school, of course, she was the shortest, always, but the other kids were never mean to her, she said.
Sure, they called her "PeeWee" but it wasn't to be mean. She has nice memories about making tie-dyed table cloths in school, too. One visitor at the reception also noted the school never made a short desk for her either.
As a girl growing up in Rush City, she enjoyed ice skating, roller skating and playing in the snow. She chuckled, however, remembering one roller skating incident when she fell while out on the floor.
The kids behind her didn't want to run her over so they all put on the brakes causing a big collision. "No one would speak to me for two weeks," she mused.
Duccini's mother was the chief telephone operator in Rush City, doing her work out of their home. Duccini, herself, worked the switchboard while in high school, earning $11 a week and she has always had a bank account, she said.
Commenting on the popular phrase that it takes a village to raise a child, she said, "That applies to me."
Filming the movie
The 124 Munchkins lived in various places during the filming, but MGM set up a tent where they ate meals during the day.
She doesn't remember the work being particularly strenuous.
There are people (even a book written) who can find many mistakes in the movie, she noted. Someone even believed there was a death in the picture. Duccini said every day after they shot, they watched the rushes.
Apparently what someone thought was a hanging person in the background was a bird that had flown in from a nearby zoo.
Duccini said she never personally met Billie Burke, who played Glinda, the Good Witch, closely associated with the Munchkins at the beginning of the movie.
And she barely met the 16-year-old star of the show, Judy Garland.
One day we all paraded through her trailer and she gave us a picture," she said. The young Garland was being tutored during the filming.
Remarking on the red shoes, Duccini noted that recently she was at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. and the building in which the shoes (or one of the pairs of red shoes) is on display was being renovated. The shoes had been moved to the aerospace building.
Duccini's interest apparently moved from red shoes to the excitement of seeing Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis hanging from the ceiling in that building. She was very impressed.
The real riches in life
Moving into a more serious conversation, Duccini talked about how concerned she is for the kids of today as they face so many different challenges. She was worried about the children in the Rush City schools even though she knows not one of them.
In her own life, she has four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren and because of them she feels rich. "That's how you measure rich in this world," she said.
She said she has seen many people with money and they're still not happy.
The visit home
Duccini lives in Arizona today. She was accompanied to Minnesota by her son Fred who also lives in Arizona.
While here, she visited with family members, most of whom she barely knew. Her escort was Mike Robinson who lives in Rush City. On Wednesday, before the reception at the high school, Mike took her around town, and to a local cemetery where Duccini visited her mother's grave. They also stopped to see her childhood home which is for sale. M. Robinson said she told him that she was sad that she could not be a nurse because of her height, as she had wanted to be. But other than that, her size didn't seem to be a problem. She even had a car adapted so she could drive and did for many years.
Not knowing what to expect at the reception, Mike Robinson said Duccini was very pleased with the turnout. She politely visited with everyone who stopped by and obliged those who wanted to be photographed with her.
Comment from Dick Sherman, 6/22/07
Nice yarn, MaryHelen. I was only 2-years old when Ruth graduated from RCHS, so I don't remember her. But her mother, Robbie, the telephone switchboard operator, was special.
Comment from jerrol anderson, 7/3/07
I, and others, I'm sure, would have appreciated having Ruth's family identified. It's always warming to make "old connections."
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