The running joke in our house is that I’m spatially retarded. I can’t capture spatial concepts well, nor can I picture things in my mind. (Thanks, neuro problem.) 😡 So when I came across this article from the December 7, 1956 edition of The Milwaukee Journal, I was totally unable to get my head around the description provided.
Child Jams His Foot in Dad’s Saxophone
Los Angeles, Calif.—AP—Randy Koral, 2, watching a television program, got so excited that he jammed his foot into his father’s alto saxophone.
His mother tried melted butter and warm salad oil, but Randy’s foot was really wedged. She called firemen. They removed some of the keys and, with pressure from the other end, [emphasis added] worked the boy’s foot out of the bell of the instrument.
One of the firemen then asked Randy what he’d like for Christmas.
“A saxophone,” he replied.
His father would like a new one, too.
Huh? … with pressure from the other end… 
Did the firemen treat the saxophone like a tube of toothpaste? I don’t get it.
No wonder dad wanted a new sax for Christmas. His horn probably looked something like this went the firefighters were done with it…
I wonder if Randy Koral ever took up the saxophone. Hey Randy, if you’re out there, and you ever read this, please chime in here and let us know. Or drop me an email privately.
One thing Randy can be thankful for, his foot in bell incident happened long before video recorders, or cameras and phones with video recording capabilities were around. You just know that this would have been submitted to America’s Funniest Home Videos, or uploaded to YouTube. 😆
Yes i am Randy Koral !
and yes i got my foot stuck in my dads sax when i was 2 years old.
the news reporters didn’t quite get the story right.
the real truth is i dropped a tangerine down the sax bell and figured i would go in feet first to get it.
when my mom & dad couldn’t free my foot mom call the fire department. (no 911 back then) when our busybody neighbor
saw the fire truck she call the news. must have been a slow news day. my dad (Dan Koral) had a professional musical career as a sax
player with Big Bands and studio orchestras in 1945. and was in Mel Torme’s first band called The Meltones.
I am 60 years old now and never took up the sax. i played guitar in bands during the 80’s and 90’s.
my dad passed away a few years ago and i just sold one of his old saxophones last week.
I’m a graphic designer/photographer and thought this should have been a Life magazine cover story so i made one myself…LOL
(see attached) I still have that news paper clipping (very yellowed now) from 1956.
how funny to find your blog. thanx for the little trip down memory lane!
best regards
Randy Koral
Hi there Randy! Welcome to my site.
Thank you so much for chiming in, and telling us the real story on what happened. Thanks also for sending me the extra image that my site wouldn’t let you upload. I’ve uploaded your version of what would have made a funny Life Magazine cover story with my comment.
How did you sell your sax? Was it through eBay? Through some other online source? Is there a link to the auction somewhere that you could share either here, or send me via email?
Thanks for stopping by Randy. I’m glad that my story brought back some fond memories for you.
Kind regards,
Helen