Bill Margiotta must have wished upon a star for all the
Pinocchio collectibles he could get his hands on. His first item was a simple
Pinocchio figurine from his father 15 years ago. After that, the collection
grew larger than Pinocchio's nose. His Bethpage apartment is loaded with
hundreds of pieces of Pinocchiana - ceramic figurines, a children's tea set,
drinking glasses, posters, production cels, even bedroom curtains. Margiotta,
45, a music teacher at Locust Valley High School, didn't pull any strings when
he spoke with Newsday staff writer Daniel Bubbeo about his severe case of
puppet love.
How did the whole collection get started?
I played Pinocchio in children's theater a long, long time ago.... I was at
a trade show with my father when we saw this one figure of Pinocchio with a
plastic feather. My father said, "You played Pinocchio; you should have that,"
and he bought it for me. And that pretty much opened the floodgates.
What's your favorite piece?
That's sort of like asking what child is your favorite. But there is one
Brayton Laguna ceramic figure of Gideon the cat [Foulfellow the Fox's sidekick]
that I bought at a shop in California. The woman who worked there didn't
really know what she had, and asked someone "How much is that little yellow
cat?" She said $75, but I talked her down to about $59. I have a friend who has
a Disney collectibles shop in Melrose, Calif., so I brought it to show him. He
said, "A collector would give you $1,500 for that piece."
Do you relate to Pinocchio because you got caught telling some sort of big
lie when you were a kid?
Happily not. I didn't even see the movie until I was in my late teens. I
enjoyed it, though I wouldn't say my life was altered. I thought of it as local
Italian boy makes good, which I identified with.
I bet kids who visit must love these things. Are they allowed to play with
them?
My nieces and nephews really enjoy the collection. My niece is now 15, but
when she was 2 she visited, and at the time I had things out on the counter. I
told her "You can look, but don't touch." A friend was over when she was, and
he started to look at a piece. She said to him [speaks in a child's whisper],
"Don't touch." She was well trained.
TELL US about your favorite thing in your home or garden. Send a brief
description of the object and what it means to you. Include your phone number,
e-mail address and a photo of the object, if available, to "My Favorite
Thing," Valerie Kellogg, Shelter Editor, Newsday, 235 Pinelawn Rd., Melville,
NY 11747; or e-mail kellogg@newsday.com.
