How The Puppets are Made

There are many processes involved in making string puppets as anyone who has tried to do so will tell you. The new Pelham Puppets are no exception and since every component for every puppet is hand made and painted, it is a very time consuming and labour intensive operation.

Hands are shaped

First of all the wooden components, bodies, limbs, feet, control bars are all cut to shape and size in the woodwork department. The photograph shows how each individual hand is shaped by hand on a sanding disc using a specially made “jig” to ensure they all turn out the same shape and size.

Hand painted

The heads, or wooden spheres are bought in already made, but have to have the necks drilled, cut and inserted. They are then passed to the head painting department for the faces to be painted, each one by hand, ensuring complete individuality of character.

Bodies in production

While the heads are being painted. Every component making up the rest of the body is painted, once with undercoat, then, after over-night drying, with bright gloss colours. Nothing is sprayed, everything is painted by hand!

Puppets are assembled

The assembly methods used are exactly the same as used in the original Pelham Puppet factory. Once the puppet is completely assembled, it is strung using the colour coded strings that were introduced in 1955 using the “t” -bar control.

Famous yellow boxes

The puppets are then packed into the ‘famous yellow’ boxes that are based on the original design from 1955 and the boxes themselves are still produced by the same packaging company that made the original ones, except it is the grandson of the original owner who supervises the manufacturing process theses days.