Four Pillars and a Pair of Wings - Linda Walter

(Again, thanks to Nancy Kelly for permission to take and use photos of her book, Exploring the Model Horse Hobby.)

If Ellen and Simi are the grandmothers of the hobby and Marney the mother, then Linda Walter is the voice of the hobby.

Linda Walter (left) and Teresa Rogers, BreyerFest, 2017. (p. 91)

Like Marney, Linda was a prodigious letter writer, and we corresponded so much that I still have her home address memorized! But it was through another avenue that she made a significant impact on the budding hobby - her newsletter, The Model Horse Shower's Journal.

(p. 82)

While there were many newsletters being published in the late 1960s/early 1970s, they did not have the reach that Linda's did. Everyone read it. Why? It was more than just a listing of photo shows, or sire and dam lists, it had many personalized columns and such, like this one:

(p. 82)

Using a typewriter, the text was crammed on the pages in single spaced style with drawings added by Linda herself and some subscribers. Look closely and you can see two well known hobbyists contributed to this page - Liz (Isham) Cory and Nancy (Mongan) Falzone. Breyer's Chicago address is also printed in the text above. Linda further personalized the MHSJ by adding comments and such to the articles herself. (See the handwritten text at the bottom of the page?)

Another reason that MHSJ rose to the top was because of its reliability. Linda always published it on time, despite the challenges of printing in those early days of the hobby. You knew when it was time for the next issue to arrive and began closely watching the mailbox every day, and there it was, right on schedule.

Through Linda's journal the gathering of hobbyists accelerated. We got to know people from areas far flung from our homes and friendships began. "Did you read in MHSJ the article about..." were conversation starters as we sent letters back and forth to new hobby friends and discussed our ponies, tack making, photo showing, and such.

The Model Horse Shower's Journal was absolutely pivotal in bringing the hobby at large together, allowing us to connect with and share our love of collecting with others who lived in places hundreds and even thousands of miles away. It was THE hobby publication to read.

Heady days, and made possible through Linda's dedicated efforts. That is why I believe her to be the fourth pillar and the voice of the model horse hobby.

Tomorrow - so, who are the wings?