OOPS! Puzzle
In 2017 I came across the vintage brand Frozen Moments on eBay while searching for fake food props. The first one I found and bought was the glass water spigot which my family and I came up with a theme song for, reminiscent of the "Reading Rainbow" tune. Back then there was not a lot of info about the brand online apart from an old blog post on badcatrecords.com. At that point there were very few being recirculated.
I told my good friend Taylor at ODDEYE NYC (who also has a deep love for fake food) about the brand and he quickly became an expert, learning anything he could. He was somehow able to track down several pieces and is now the leading vintage dealer for the brand. It's been fun to see all of the different designs come out of the woodwork as they start to gain more notoriety.
When we decided we needed to have a Frozen Moments puzzle, Michael tracked down Geoffrey Rose the original creator of the brand and we were able to interview him about it. He's an Aussie who sold the brand to Aspen Enterprises in the early 80's and left the world of props to focus on his new passion of laser entertainment! That's right, not only did he create the genre of spilling fake food but he's a grandfather of laser dance entertainment! He is seriously the coolest! Check out our interview with him below.
Above: Alistair's personal collection of Frozen Moments!
Above: A BTS image of our OOPS! shoot, The official Frozen Moments logo and a close up of the classic Moment, Cracking Eggs.
When we decided we needed to have a Frozen Moments puzzle, Michael tracked down Geoffrey Rose the original creator of the brand and we were able to interview him about it.
Check out the OOPS! PuzzleLe Puzz / Geoffrey Rose Interview
Le Puzz: When did you start making Frozen Moments?
Geoffrey Rose: I started making them in 1972.
LP: How did you get the idea?
GR: I was living in London at the time and I noticed a company called Concrete Catering that was making ice cream sundaes in tall sundae glasses using scoops of colored plaster, straws, sprinkles and things on top. I noted this process and thought that it was excellent! It was then that I began playing with expanding foam, which you recognize as the tops of the milkshakes.
LP: Yes! So the milkshakes were the first pieces?
GR: Yes, it started with the milkshakes and cans with foam on top of them. From there I started thinking about suspending things in the pouring department, which led to all the others. The most interesting ones are the ones where you have suspension of disbelief. More than anything they're a celebration of the moment. To me they're like Zen sculptures. A shared moment that everyone experiences, whether it's toothpaste or milk. This is not a significant moment but when you make a sculpture out of it, make it last forever, then it becomes more significant.
LP: So for you it was about freezing a universal action?
GR: Yes, and there were three basic laws that I always applied: One, they had to be simple, daily events; two, they had to be life size; and three, they had to have nothing except the actual event itself.
LP: Which Moment is your favorite?
GR: I think it would either be the cracking egg or the paintbrush. The paintbrush was inspired by a Roy Lichtenstein painting from the 1960s.
LP: Love that one! When did you stop making them?
GR: I sold the company to Aspen Enterprises in the early 1980's.
LP: What did you end up doing after you sold the company?
GR: I got really interested in lasers and laser entertainment! It became a complete obsession and also a very busy life. I was traveling all over the world doing shows. I actually invented the original Laser Harp which has been knocked off thousands of times since. Now I'm retired from lasers and basically play drums the whole day.
LP: Wow, you're the coolest.
