The Bamboozler (Child's Clothes Tree)
1 of 3
Caption
Richard Neagle (American, born 1922). The Bamboozler (Child's Clothes Tree), ca. 1953. Wood, metal, 44 1/8 x 18 1/4 x 20 1/4 in. (112.1 x 46.4 x 51.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1993.6.
Designer
Title
The Bamboozler (Child's Clothes Tree)
Date
ca. 1953
Geography
Place manufactured: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Medium
Wood, metal
Classification
Dimensions
44 1/8 x 18 1/4 x 20 1/4 in. (112.1 x 46.4 x 51.4 cm)
Credit Line
Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund
Accession Number
1993.6
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
We were wondering if this is a wardrobe?
It is a child's clothes tree and was whimsically called "The Bamboozler". It was designed around 1953 by Richard Neagle and uses atom-derived, space-age shapes to “bamboozle” children into thinking that hanging up their clothing is fun. Neagle marketed The Bamboozler through magazine and newspaper ads that claimed: “Small fry might suppose it’s a convertible spaceship what with the revolving hat rack at the top. . . . [It] has been carefully designed so that your range rovers will find it quite a problem to knock it over.”
Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at