In the toy chest of any ’70s child, one would most likely find “GI Joe,” “The Weeble People” and of course, “Mr. Potato Head.” These popular Hasbro toys found their forms through the hands of many artistic and technical engineers. Jack McCabe of West Kingston was one of these creators. McCabe’s young-looking, Irish face looked mischievous as he evaded dating himself in saying he “worked at Hasbro a year after the wildly successful Inch Worm was marketed.”
With a little detective work, one could find that the “Inch Worm” was first seen in the early 1970s. McCabe was hired as a model maker apprentice in 1973 by simply presenting his portfolio at an interview. At this time he could not afford full-time college; however, his night classes at Rhode Island School of Design and lessons in sculpture and mold making with Doug Corsini proved his expertise with plaster casting. Such knowledge made for an easy transition to the rubber molds this industry uses.
During his time as a Hasbro employee, McCabe constructed the “Weeble People” airplane. This blue and white propeller plane comfortable seated five of the wobble egg-like creatures and their designer luggage constructed by McCabe. The Weebles’ checkered airport roof, radar antenna and personal plane were also his constructions. Though the Weebles don’t have parachutes, luckily, “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down.”
Perhaps McCabe’s greatest achievement with Hasbro was the GI Joe Adventure Team Training Center. This 3-foot-tall tower was designed to be a challenge for the then-11-1/2-inch tall GI Joe. McCabe alone molded, glued, painted and built two of these tall metal-like towers from blueprints and personally delivered one to the toy show in New York City. Because of McCabe’s previous experience in truck driving, he was asked to deliver Hasbro’s 1973 toy show models.
McCabe found work with the brand-new National Railroad Passenger Service, more commonly known as Amtrak, in 1974. He began as a clerk in New London, where he made playful caricatures of his co-workers. It wasn’t until McCabe was relocated to the beautiful Victorian, yet neglected, Kingston Train Station that again his artwork appeared commercially.
Pen-and-ink drawings by McCabe of the inside and outside of the then-100-year-old building and its younger partner, the tower, appeared on postcards and full size paper. Printed on cream-colored paper with a linen texture, these illustrations have proved popular for more than 20 years and are still available by McCabe on request.
In 1986, McCabe enrolled in the University of Rhode Island to get his bachelor of fine arts degree. This chance to be creative and learn more about other art forms excited him, and he took every opportunity offered to him. He accidentally stumbled upon computer art, a fresh but misunderstood medium. He “still doesn’t know where computer art stands in the fine arts world,” McCabe was also able to explore his love of film. In many films, he made use of his Bell & Howell 16mm camera found at a yard sale during his high school years. His experimental films, “Dance,” “Imaginary Prisons,” “Gotta Catch that Train,” and “Farewell to a Good Friend” featuring his daughter, Elizabeth, were shown on a public access cable television show moderated by Judi Scott in 1988.
McCabe’s artistic endeavors with his daughter grew to include her friends. He realized there was a definite “void at the time of art classes for children in South Kingstown.” Thusly, he created “Learning to See,” an experimental children’s art class which was offered through the newly created South County Center for the Arts in West Kingston.
“Learning to See” was so popular that it evolved into three levels. The third level involved painting canvases. Graduates of all three levels were very enthusiastic and wanted another class. An old Dodge van was lent to McCabe, and the graduates participated in painting it “with fantasy images of fish and mermaids. This van is still seen cruising the streets today!” McCabe finds it “satisfying to see the names of these kids [his former students] in the newspaper and on the honor rolls, knowing that [he] might be a part of that.”
More conventional art classes were offered by McCabe through the Neighborhood Guild of Wakefield. These classes that dealt with perspective and tones were also popular and by his insistence made more affordable. McCabe said he was “mostly involved with art classes because of [his] daugher and [their] concentric interests at the time.” Elizabeth, then 13, acted as a teaching assistant in these classes.
McCabe has always encouraged an artistic point of view and thinks “being an artist is more about how you think and live and how well you infuse ideas into your life rather than being the stereotypical poor, starving artist.” His idea of restoring the Kingston Station after the fire in 1988, and his continued support, time and energy helped in giving our community a picturesque station we can be proud of. From constructing the Hasbro toys to the restoration of the Kingston Train Station, where he is currently employed, McCabe practices the lifestyle he preaches.
Elizabeth McCabe, South County Independent (Rhode Island), December 1998.
That’s a great bio! Your Dad seems like an awesome guy! The apple sure doesn’t fall far from the tree, either.
I used to play with Weebles…and I even remember playing with that Weeble airplane!! Pretty cool. 