Puppets - Love them or hate them
I know a lot of people dislike puppets, puppets give them the creeps. While I sympathise, I can't really say I understand why but I hope I can spread some of my passion for puppets through this and a few other lenses I plan on the subject.
I didn't have puppets when I was a child, yet it's from my childhood that my love of these little people (and animals) springs, and I can track it to one specific day in my life.
Puppets are wonderful, magical creatures, which only come alive in their operator's hands. They don't bite, they are never threatening, except perhaps Mr Punch but he always gets his comeuppance, and children can totally relate to them. More of that further on.
Just look at that beautiful face, how could anyone not like him?
Some of my collection
My Collection
In my adult life, I've always had a few puppets around, mainly for the children, but my children are all grown and flown the nest and now my collection is steadily growing.
Of course, I can't afford to go and buy new puppets so I buy on online auction sites and, being a true Scot, I'm the person prepared to get up at 4 in the morning to bid on that bargain, hence I seem to manage to get puppets at very competitive prices. I'm also an auction sniper ... sorry about that. I normally only ever put in a maximum of two bids, the first is the max I would like to pay, the second is the max I'm prepared to pay, yes, there is a difference. My bids go in within the last six or seven seconds, either I get the item or I don't. More often than not, I do get it.
The bulk of my collection is made up of string puppets. People will say the strings are very tangled in their descriptions, somehow, I have the knack of easily untangling them. If you are going to sell a puppet, please don't bother trying to sort out the strings or anything else, for that matter, leave it to the buyer.
Of course, I can't afford to go and buy new puppets so I buy on online auction sites and, being a true Scot, I'm the person prepared to get up at 4 in the morning to bid on that bargain, hence I seem to manage to get puppets at very competitive prices. I'm also an auction sniper ... sorry about that. I normally only ever put in a maximum of two bids, the first is the max I would like to pay, the second is the max I'm prepared to pay, yes, there is a difference. My bids go in within the last six or seven seconds, either I get the item or I don't. More often than not, I do get it.
The bulk of my collection is made up of string puppets. People will say the strings are very tangled in their descriptions, somehow, I have the knack of easily untangling them. If you are going to sell a puppet, please don't bother trying to sort out the strings or anything else, for that matter, leave it to the buyer.
Large hand puppet monkey
Hand puppets
Hand puppets come in all shapes and sizes. The monkey pictured above is one of the larger kind and you'll see that he has extra long arms. The arms go around your neck, the hands velcro together and that cheeky monkey face is where your operating hand goes.
A great deal of your arm also disappears inside the monkey but, by careful arrangement of you free arm, you can easily make it so that no-one really notices.
Inside the head is a squeaker and because the face is quite flexible, it only takes a little practice to totally animate this character.
The mouth is quite easy to manipulate and he is really half-way to being a ventriloquial puppet, it would certainly be an option.
A great deal of your arm also disappears inside the monkey but, by careful arrangement of you free arm, you can easily make it so that no-one really notices.
Inside the head is a squeaker and because the face is quite flexible, it only takes a little practice to totally animate this character.
The mouth is quite easy to manipulate and he is really half-way to being a ventriloquial puppet, it would certainly be an option.
Very simple finger puppet
Finger puppets
Finger puppets come in various sizes as well, from the very simple Baloo (free with Kellogs cereal some years ago) to the rather handsome Captain Hook pictured to the right.One of the fantastic things about finger puppets is that they're just perfect for making up story sacks and book bags and they are readily available online. Many finger puppets actually come with either the books (example Goldilocks and the 3 Bears) or with laminated story sheets etc. Absolutely ideal for making up into gifts for young children, though you must always be certain that the puppets are suitable for the age group you plan the story sack for.
Some are more expensive, and more complex, than others, so it's worth shopping around.
Hand puppet squawking crow
Medium sized hand puppets
Kids just love these. My grandson took this one out into the garden and was trying to converse with the crows, the squawk on this one is actually fairly realistic. He did in fact have a couple of crows come to see what the fuss was about but a giggling little boy was what they found.
If you look for him online you'll find there are almost always several available. I've often wondered whether this is due to a child's overuse of the squawk around the house.
If you look for him online you'll find there are almost always several available. I've often wondered whether this is due to a child's overuse of the squawk around the house.
Ventriloquial puppet
Ventriloquial Tiger
This is a beautiful, plush full bodied, but very simple, ventriloquial puppet which is ideal for a child's hands. You can see from the picture on the right that my hand really is too large and I have small hands. Only a child can really operate this puppet with ease.You might think that this is a drawback but it actually makes it ideal for certain purposes.
Quite frequently, when a child is upset about something, they can be unable to tell an adult but using the puppet as their voice, they may be able to tell what the problem is. Quite how children do this, I am unsure, but they are able to detach and let go of their worries, allowing the puppet to voice them.
Of course, it's no use the adult talking to the child direct, the adult must talk to the puppet, preferably without looking at the child at all, only looking at the puppet. It's a technique which works well, especially with children who have been told to keep something not very nice a secret. The puppet allows them to tell without breaking the promise, they are not telling, the puppet is doing the telling.
Small hand puppet monkey
Little monkey
This is a puppet which requires an extreme of manual dexterity. You can see that there's somewhere for each finger, what a clever idea ... but not terribly well thought through.
First, there is a limit to the size of hand which it will fit. Too small and you can't work it, too large and your hand just won't fit. Then there is the problem of actually operating the arms legs and head together, trust me, it isn't easy to get independent movement of the limbs. Just try holding your hand with the middle finger straight up and the rest pointing at you, imagine the thumb and pinky are feet ... the only finger you can easily move independently is your thumb.
It looks great but it's a real challenge to operate. Beware of buying puppets which are awkward to use.
First, there is a limit to the size of hand which it will fit. Too small and you can't work it, too large and your hand just won't fit. Then there is the problem of actually operating the arms legs and head together, trust me, it isn't easy to get independent movement of the limbs. Just try holding your hand with the middle finger straight up and the rest pointing at you, imagine the thumb and pinky are feet ... the only finger you can easily move independently is your thumb.
It looks great but it's a real challenge to operate. Beware of buying puppets which are awkward to use.
The lens picture
Wayang Golek
Just look at that beautiful face, how can anyone say they don't like puppets? These Wayang Golek puppets are beautiful in display and I now have about half a dozen of them. They are still available to buy new and I'm sure they are probably available in many tourist destinatons in Indonesia, even the new ones are a good purchase as they are basically made in the same way.
Occasionally you'll see one which has a different character to these, more of an everyday character look to the face. Being more unusual, these can fetch high prices online, eventualy I may be able to snag one in the wee small hours, if I'm lucky.
These are spectacular Indonesian puppets which you can see in use in one of the videos linked to below.
Occasionally you'll see one which has a different character to these, more of an everyday character look to the face. Being more unusual, these can fetch high prices online, eventualy I may be able to snag one in the wee small hours, if I'm lucky.
These are spectacular Indonesian puppets which you can see in use in one of the videos linked to below.
Wayang Golek Puppets
I almost forgot ...
... I promised you a story
Back at the beginning of this lens I promised to tell you about the day I fell in love with puppets and puppetry. I was just seven or eight years old and we had recently moved to the north-east of England, not all that far from Manchester. As with most folks, we occasionally explored something in our new area and one day we went to visit Manchester zoo.
Now, I'm sure they had animals in Manchester zoo back then (1959/60) but I don't remember any of them, which may seem a shame but my memories of that day are wonderful nevertheless.
I was suddenly aware of a young man with a ventriloquist's dummy and he was talking to me. The dummy, that is. I was absolutely mesmerised and, although I knew that it was actually the young man talking, all that I could see was a sort of quivering of the skin under his chin and, if it hadn't been for the viewpoint of my own diminutive stature, I would certainly not have seen even that.
The young man was Ray Alan, one of the greatest ventriloquists of modern times and his vent dummy, Lord Charles. I could have stayed for hours, just watching how he did it and I was hooked.
I never did have a puppet as a child but my mother would often burst into my room to see who I was talking to and I won't tell you what she used to say about me because I "talked to myself in different voices" but I'm sure you can guess the basics there. I never fell out of love with puppets either and had some simple ones for my children, most of which were worn out over the years of play.
But now I am older I can indulge myself and surround myself with puppets ... of course, they need me to animate them and I need to get myself some proper rails to hang them from so that I can do them justice, the space is coming together for them though.
I still would like to thank Ray Alan for those precious minutes of inspiration he gave me so many years ago. A puppet in the right hands is a magical creature.
Now, I'm sure they had animals in Manchester zoo back then (1959/60) but I don't remember any of them, which may seem a shame but my memories of that day are wonderful nevertheless.
I was suddenly aware of a young man with a ventriloquist's dummy and he was talking to me. The dummy, that is. I was absolutely mesmerised and, although I knew that it was actually the young man talking, all that I could see was a sort of quivering of the skin under his chin and, if it hadn't been for the viewpoint of my own diminutive stature, I would certainly not have seen even that.
The young man was Ray Alan, one of the greatest ventriloquists of modern times and his vent dummy, Lord Charles. I could have stayed for hours, just watching how he did it and I was hooked.
I never did have a puppet as a child but my mother would often burst into my room to see who I was talking to and I won't tell you what she used to say about me because I "talked to myself in different voices" but I'm sure you can guess the basics there. I never fell out of love with puppets either and had some simple ones for my children, most of which were worn out over the years of play.
But now I am older I can indulge myself and surround myself with puppets ... of course, they need me to animate them and I need to get myself some proper rails to hang them from so that I can do them justice, the space is coming together for them though.
I still would like to thank Ray Alan for those precious minutes of inspiration he gave me so many years ago. A puppet in the right hands is a magical creature.
Ray Alan with Lord Charles
powered by Youtube
I hope you have enjoyed this brief introduction to my puppets. There will be more lenses coming soon in which I will go into more detail about some of the string puppets I have and puppets which make me wish I could win the lottery so I can buy them.
Ventriloquism and Puppetry
A few interesting videos from YouTube on the subject of ventriloquism and puppetry
curated content from YouTube
You might also enjoy
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Modern Puppet Makers
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There is a surprising number of modern puppet makers, some of whom are in the mass market and produce very good puppets for children to use, but in this lens, I am not concerned with them. The puppets here are probably not ones you would give to a c...
How do you feel about puppets?
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- ChapelHillFiddler ChapelHillFiddler Sep 11, 2009 @ 7:18 am
- By the way, that hypnotizing devil-bubble below has me in stitches. I want to watch him all day. I'm getting sleepy... sleepy... Oh, wait, that's because I stayed up till 1:00 am working on my latest lens... am I getting punchy?
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- ChapelHillFiddler ChapelHillFiddler Sep 11, 2009 @ 7:17 am
- I lensrolled this to six of my puppet lenses. Wait, six? How did I get so obsessed with puppets when I didn't even own one before? Why is this happening???
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- stargazer00 stargazer00 May 29, 2009 @ 11:50 am
- Did you ever see Captain Kangaroo? He had Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose and a few others I thing. I always liked those. Interesting lens.
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- a_willow a_willow May 29, 2009 @ 10:17 am
- I love puppets! And so does my baby girl! She enjoys her mommy and daddy preparing little plays for her! :)
Blessed by an Angel!
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- Ramkitten Ramkitten May 27, 2009 @ 8:05 pm
- I had a few marionettes (sp?) as a child. It was "The Sound of Music" that turned me on to them. I remember putting on some shows in the living room for neighborhood kids, using a "theater" my father made for me. Until I read your lens, I hadn't thought of that in a very long time. I really enjoyed this.
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- Laniann Laniann May 27, 2009 @ 2:47 pm
- I liked all the marionettes hanging together. They look like they are waiting to go on the stage. Maybe people don't like puppets because of Chucky. Some puppets come to life and are very evil. 5*
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- Stazjia Stazjia May 27, 2009 @ 10:55 am
- What a lovely lens about puppets! I remember Ray Alan and Lord Charles too and he made me laugh.
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- LindaJM LindaJM May 27, 2009 @ 12:08 am
- Your squawking crow is my favorite! You are full of surprises... I had no idea you had such a beautiful collection. I'm always impressed when I see a woman has amassed a collection. There's something special about having dozens of an item rather than just one or two isolated items. That picture of all your marionettes hanging together mesmerized me. Thanks for the intro to your puppet world! 5* and a blessing!
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