Name/Title
Pee-Roo-Lee ManEntry/Object ID
2022.02.0004Description
Wood carving by Mario Sanchez depicting the Pee-Roo-Lee man, a regular character featured in Sanchez's works, who sells candy to neighborhood children.
The caption written by Sanchez reads, 'The colorful vendor got his name from the sound of his metal whistle. At the shrill sounds of his call, 'Pee-roo-lee, Pee-roo-lee, Pee-roo-lee,' the children of old Key West came running to buy his bright colored caramels for a penny apiece. The candy had to be eaten fast or it melted. Everyone liked him. Who doesn't like the candy man? Bakeries made small cakes with guava jelly but chocolates or other candies were a rare treat. He made the rounds of all the neighborhoods passing by our house several times a week. His entire family helped him. In those days women worked at home. His five children made the candies every day. My brother and I always had a little money for candy from shining shoes and making deliveries for our uncle, the pharmacist. The handmade candies were cone-shaped, about two inches long and poured into colored papers for the different flavors of orange, grape, strawberry and vanilla. A toothpick, placed in the caramel before it hardened, served as a peg to hang the treat on a wood post about three feet high. It looked like a candy Christmas tree!'Type of Sculpture
ReliefArtwork Details
Medium
Oil, WoodSubject Place
City
Key WestState/Province
FloridaCountry
United States of AmericaContinent
North AmericaCounty
MonroeCollection
Mario Sanchez CollectionMade/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Sanchez, MarioRole
ArtistDate made
circa 1960Time Period
20th CenturyPlace
City
Key WestState/Province
FloridaCountry
United States of AmericaContinent
North AmericaCounty
MonroeInscription/Signature/Marks
Type
SignatureLocation
Bottom Right CornerTranscription
Mario SanchezLanguage
EnglishMaterial/Technique
PaintedLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
IntaglioNomenclature Primary Object Term
SculptureNomenclature Class
ArtNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsDimensions
Height
31 inWidth
9-1/2 inDepth
1 inCondition
Reason for Exam
At AcquisitionOverall Condition
Very Good