The Baxter Springs Historical Museum in Baxter Springs, Kansas, is holding an exhibit of a deceased local artisan who made unique tiny sculptures from peach pits, called “Pitt Pets.”
Duane M. Lee, who died at age 65 in 2005, made an estimated 10,000 of his Pitt Pets, according to his son Don, and gave them to travelers along Route 66 in Kansas. An exhibit of Lee’s works will be on display at the museum until August.
KSN-TV reported:
Mary Billington, Baxter Springs Historical Museum, says, “He would spend time at Riverton at the Marsh Arch Rainbow Bridge, and greet guests from all over the world. So, we know these have traveled quite a bit, and it would be kind of fun to see where some of them have been, since they left Cherokee County. So, we put them on our Facebook to share with everybody, and we hope that we’ll get a few replies on where some of these ended up.”
Here’s the video:
The museum asks anyone who has any of Lee’s Pitt Pets to post a picture on the museum’s Facebook page and share their memories of him.
Though Lee hailed from Kansas, his work was a throwback to folk art you’d see in the Missouri Ozarks.
I’ve found only one story online about Duane Lee and his peach-pit creations. It’s from a 2004 road-trip diary when western-swing band Cow Bop did a tour of Route 66:
Crossed an old concrete arch bridge, the last one on the old route, I think it was called the Spring River Bridge, built in the 20s, and met an interesting artisan, Duane Lee. He makes peach pit figurines, mostly animals, hens with little eggs under the nest, cats, of course: turtles, sells him off the back fo his truck. He’s also a banjo picker with an unusual invention: the pan-jo. He’s taken an aluminum pan, set a 2 x2 for a neck with primitive frets, and adorned the back with peach pit decor in a sunflower pattern. It sounded good too. We jammed a few tunes, I tried my hand at it then Cow Bop headed our way to Tulsa.
Cow Bop also posted a few pictures online of Lee, including a table covered with dozens of his Pitt Pets.
Other than that, that’s all I’ve found about him. If you recall any encounters with Lee before his death 15 years ago, let us know in the comments section. And make sure you let the folks at the museum know, too.
(Image of some of Duane Lee’s Pitt Pets at the Baxter Springs Historical Museum via Facebook)