Pelham Puppet faces were all individually painted, so no two puppets were ever exactly the same. The style of painting changed over time, particularly the eyes, which by the 1970s were smaller than those painted in the 1960s.
The fabric used for dressing the puppets varied every week so outfits vary accordingly. This is true particularly with the colours and patterns used for the Clowns and the skirts made for Mitzi and the Tyrolean Girls.
Type SS puppets. This image is from the sales catalogue first published in December 1974. The style of face painting, the plastic hands and legs all show that these puppets were made in the mid 1970s.
Type SS puppets. You will see that Pinky and Perky are included in this price range by 1974 whereas they were originally listed in the Type SL price range after they were first introduced in 1960.
Type SS Puppets. The Dutch Boy and Girl image is from 1974 and the image of the Sailor and the Nurse is from 1979. The Sailor was reintroduced into production after about ten years. The Nurse first appeared in 1979. (Again, note the face painting and plastic hands and legs.)
Type SS Puppets. The Cowboys and Indians were reintroduced in 1979 when this photograph was taken and featured in the sales leaflet from that year. These characters were first put into production in the late 1950s but discontinued in the mid -1960s.
Type SS Puppets. Pictured are examples of puppet characters produced in the 1950s but were discontinued by the 1960s. The Russian Man has lead hands which indicates he was made between 1947 and 1949.
Type SS Puppets. Pictured are examples of the Cowboy and Girl made in the 1960s. The Cowboy has plastic ‘double-barrel’ legs, that is, they have wax linen thread threaded through them from the bottom body to the feet.
Type SM Puppets. These are puppets with moving mouths and have two additional strings, usually green. As with the type SS puppets, some of the Clown’s and the Farmer’s clothes would vary, the Witch would sometimes have blue patterned apron and scarf.
Type SM puppets. Four more very popular characters from this range as shown in the 1975 catalogue, including the banjo-playing Minstrel. The Old Lady’s clothes would vary every week, but she always had her mop & bucket! In the 1950s she was sometimes referred to as Mrs O’Blige.
Type SM Puppets. Most characters in this range had a large wooden, slotted ball for a head although some had moulded heads including these three. The Boy and Girl puppets, (later called “Mod Boy and Girl,”) kept up with the current fashions with a variety of clothes and the Pirate often had a change of shirt too.
Type SM puppets. In the earlier years, 1947 and through the 1950s, the Company produced a wide range of characters with moving mouths. These all had larger heads than the SS Type puppets and reflected the times in which they were made. However, by the early 1960s many were discontinued.
Type SM puppets. It may seem surprising today, but the Minstrel was a very popular character for over 30 years. No doubt his bright coloured outfits appealed to children at the time as well as the fact that he proved to be a very entertaining character with his banjo. Mrs MacBoozle and Dandy were discontinued by the mid 1950s.
Type SM Puppets. The 1950s King and Queen were replaced with moulded head puppets in 1963 as part of the SL range and the Huntsman was discontinued by the mid-1950s. “Baby Bimbo” was the only character in this range not to have a moving mouth. By 1965, he was included in the SL range and was listed simply as “Bimbo.”
Type JC puppets were made for younger children to use and play with and had a ‘T-bar’ control with six strings. In the early 1960s they were listed as “Jumpettes” and only had three strings but by 1970 they had six strings attached to a “T-bar” control. The Mother and Father were added to the range in the late 1960s.
Type JC or Jumpette puppets. There was a wide range of characters in the 1960s and included Noddy, Andy Pandy, a Golly and an Eskimo Boy and Girl as well as some animals, including a Reindeer, Calf, Donkey Unicorn and a Mother and Baby Giraffe. (These will be included in the list of animal puppets later, on this website.)
Jumpette Range Pelham Puppets. From 1966, five characters from the children’s TV series, the Magic Roundabout were included in the range. Dougal and Brian were single string puppets. The other three had a single bar control with 3-strings and had elastic thread for the head string, so they could bounce and dance.
WH Range puppets. These puppets had printed faces and varnished wooden oval heads and like the ‘Jumpettes’ they were 3-string puppets (with elastic head string,) although in 1979 they were included in the JC range with 6 strings and T-bar controls. A Golly, with felt eyes and mouth, was added to the set in December 1973.
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