Not much is known about the production of these mid-century puppets. They seem to be forerunners to later productions of the more famous Pelham Puppets. They are quite basic in form and structure under their clothes and the bodies appear to be made from a flat wooden block - the feet are also carved wood - and again very simplified. More attention has been applied to the features and vinyl moulded head and hands of each marionette. The strings are fine and attached to a simple wooden bar.
Documentation on their history is quite hard to find - and they were possibly made by a gentleman from the Barnsbury area of Islington in London - a puppet theatre was established there called the Little Angel Theatre in the early 1960s. So there is a possible link with these items being made there in the building's workshop before this date. There seems to have been a history of toy and model production in the Islington neighbourhood.
This puppet is in excellent vintage condition - and comes with its original box and I will pop in a photocopy of the original instruction sheet taken from my monkey puppet.
The model is called Angelina on the side of the box. I would not have thought of her to be a girl if it did not have the name printed - a lot of the female characters seem to be quite androgynous in nature - especially when wearing quite masculine attire such as heavy denim dungarees. Gender identity issues for me - are nothing new!
A most interesting vintage puppet - and in excellent vintage condition. My price reflects the relative rarity and the fact that he comes with his original retail box and instructions leaflet. It is a fair price for this model.
Probably more of an item for the specialist puppet or toy collector. Please also see my other one in my store.
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