City Dfferent
The buzz around town
renato rodriguez, courtesy the history detectives
Taking on history’s detectives
Andrew Baron, 47, a paper engineer (or, the guy who puts the pop in pop-up books), knew he’d lucked into a significant and highly coveted artifact of musical history. Just to be sure, though, he figured he’d have it vetted by the experts of The History Detectives, PBS’s second-highest-rated program (behind Antiques Roadshow). His question to the Detectives: Was his Theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments ever made (between 1929 and 1939), and which he’d purchased on eBay in 2007, actually one that Léon Theremin himself constructed?
A precursor to the Moog synthesizer, and popularized in films such as Spellbound and The Day the Earth Stood Still and in the Beach Boys’s 1966 hit, “Good Vibrations” (technically, an electro-theremin), the Theremin has an eerie, ethereal sound that’s produced not by touch but when a Theremin player moves her hand around the two antennae that are attached to a wooden box resembling a dais. It was Theremin’s story, as much as his instrument, that grabbed both Baron (the 1994 documentary Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey, was what hooked him) and the Detectives. “A Russian spy who shows up during the Roaring 20s, bringing with him an instrument that will lead to a revolution in rock and roll,” effuses Eric Slade, a Detectives producer. “What more could you want?”
Baron, who restores antique electronics, had already built his own Theremin in 1997 and owns another one (an RCA-manufactured model, not one purportedly built by Theremin). He’d hoped the Detectives would determine if his newer Theremin is what he thinks it is. (Their verdict? Watch for the segment in June.)
“We’re always looking for some way to tell a story about American history,” says Slade, whose experts have investigated ledger drawings, passports, and the American flag, among other interesting objects. “I’d never heard of a Theremin before, and this was one of the most passionate groups we’ve ever profiled.”
Not that the Detectives’s judgment will sway Baron one way or the other. “Beyond a doubt,” he says unequivocally, “mine was made by Theremin.” —Devon Jackson
Camino de Cocoa
Move over, green chile. The Chocolate Trail is here, giving foodies another delicious reason to eat their way through town.
More a marketing concept than an actual footpath, the Chocolate Trail links four downtown Santa Fe chocolatiers. C. G Higgins (847 Ninita), selected as the official candymaker for Santa Fe’s 400th Anniversary celebration, offers rich chocolate truffles, fudge, and caramel corn in flavors like lavender caramel. The ChocolateSmith (851 Cerrillos) is known for its handmade dark chocolates, some with regional ingredients like chile and lavender. Kakawa Chocolate House (1050 E Paseo de Peralta) specializes in all-natural chocolate elixir drinks made from historic European and Mesoamerican recipes. And Todos Santos (125 E Palace) features handcrafted chocolate milagros—Mexican good luck charms—decorated with edible 23-karat gold and silver leaf.
The Chocolate Trail’s name came from a 2008 story in the Houston Chronicle, in which travelers were encouraged to visit several of Santa Fe’s sweet shops in succession.
“We’re normally competitors, but we came together as co-marketers to promote this,” says ChocolateSmith owner Jeff Keenan. “We each have our own niche, so you get a different slice of the chocolate world at each stop.”—Julia Martinez
The Pliner things in life
Internationally known shoe designer Donald J. Pliner—who will appear at Goler Fine Imported Shoes on February 20—is a longtime fan of Santa Fe. “I’ve been coming here since the early 1970s,” he says. “I always thought I wanted to be a cowboy.” Pliner collects art by two local painters—Carole LaRoche (see story on page 30) and Ethelinda—and has incorporated the City Different style into the design of his six eponymous “concept stores,” in New York, California, Texas, Florida, and Nevada. “I have antlers in all of them, and furniture that I have custom made in Santa Fe.” While Pliner’s high-end shoes, boots, and handbags are sold at other stores around the world, 2010 marks the twelfth year he’ll make time to visit Goler, where he’ll preview his new spring line. He’ll also announce the winner of the 2010 Peace Boot Design Contest, which he sponsored with the local shoe store. “Some of my best public appearances have been at Goler,” he says. “The clientele that follows me in Santa Fe . . . it’s mind-boggling. I see some of the most incredible, creative people in the world.”
