Philip Orlando's Daughter Joan shares her Memories of the her dad's studio and the building of the Basilone Statue

We moved to Plainfield, shortly after his return back to Raritan after getting out of the service. He had to find a large studio to build the statue. While I was between 2 and 3 but I do have memories of the studio. My parents found a loft, now the trendy place to have, on the third floor of a bank building, the corner of Front Street and Park Avenue. He needed this building because it had a 50 foot skylight. He needed the natural daylight in order to work on the sculpture. He was doing several commissioned pieces at this time. My mother was now pregnant with my brother, Rod. He and my mother built and partition off a kitchen area, a reception living room type area and a bedroom. There was one bathroom with a sink, toilet an tub. The tub was very important in the birth of the statue. Here is why in a short fast version: the armature is made with the wooden lath, the modeling clay is applied to the wood. The 200 lbs of clay had to be applied 1/4 inch consistent thickness all over the figure, then he created what you now see in bronze. When that had been completed he then needed to make a complete cast of the figure in plaster, to create a mold. I don't have any pictures of the statue in plaster. He had to create the mold of the body in several pieces. Those pieces sectioned off with thin pieces of tin so he could take it apart , in section, to create the mold. I remember him taking these pieces and placing them in the tub with something called "green soap", I can still smell it. He then washed the inside of the mold pieces. He then had to re-assemble the pieces, wrap the whole 8 foot figure in plaster soaked burlap then pour a thinner plaster back into the mold creating the plaster finished figure, that was about a 1/4 inch thick when finished. The statue was then removed from the studio through one of the front windows of the loft with a crane and huge truck. It was quite a trick, as I remember, all traffic was stop on Front St. Police and everyone watch this operation. I remember watching this whole operation as they lowered the statue. It was then taken to the Roman Bronze Foundry in Brooklyn. The foundry then turned it first into a wax version of the statue, and my father would then have several trips back to the foundry to "work the wax, because some of his details are lost during this process. After that it was cast into the bronze you see today. Now here's the amazing part to me. My father was about 5'5" tall and weighed about 125 lbs. He did every part of the 8 foot figure from start to finish. Most sculptors, do the modeling, but have other that do everything else. What my father did was a feat in itself. Then when the statue arrived in Raritan, it had to fit perfectly on the piece of granite. So his measurements had to be perfect. I didn't realize at 3 years old all that was going on but I do have some pretty vivid memories. People came to the studio from all over the world to see the statue, and take pictures. I remember Mr. and Mrs. Basilone coming to the studio. I remember how sad she was, my mother would send me into the studio to give Mrs Basilone some tissues and a glass of water. I remember wanting to cry because she was crying, but I didn't understand why she was crying, I just knew she was sad every time she came. But then she would give me a red charm lolly pop and she would smile and pinch my cheeks and then sit me one her lap. Later in life, of course I understood. The Basilone's where beautiful people. There were also Reporters from Life magazine, Look magazine, and all major newspapers, etc. It was a really big deal, because John Basilone was known all over the world. . Yes, I did attend the unveiling. I sat with my grandfather, Pasquale Orlando. My mother and father sat together, and my father spoke. What I remember most was how beautiful my mother looked, I remember her dress, and her black gloves and beautiful hat. My father was all dressed up in a suit. I remember my grandparents being so proud. I remember a lot of people shaking my little hand. I remember asking my parents for many days after, when they were going to bring the statue back to our house. We went to Raritan every Sunday, most of my childhood, to visit my grandparents. My Dad told me for almost a year he had to take me to see the statue, because I had to know it was safe and O.K.