THE PUPPETEERS OF AMERICA:
WHAT IT IS AND WHERE IT CAME FROM

Written by veteran puppeteer Ed Johnson for the Puppeteers of America Membership Directory, with additional contributions by Rod Young. 
Return to Resources Page If you have just become a member of The Puppeteers of America you may be asking yourself, what is this organization? How did it come into being? What was being a puppeteer like before there was a Puppeteers of America organization?
Let me state at this point that this article shall not deal with specific personalities in puppetry. To do so in this brief writing would be a mistake, because the individuals that would have to be named would be many and this writing would become an exercise in determining who to mention. True, a few individuals must be named here, but for those of you who wish to study in detail the names of those persons who indeed have been the leaders of Puppetry in America from the beginning I do suggest that you obtain and read The Puppet Theatre in America (1948) by Paul McPharlin with a supplement twenty years later by Marjorie Batchelder McPharlin.
Wandering Showmen  Puppetry in America is probably as old as America itself. There is some evidence that some of our native Americans had a simple form of puppetry. As the movement of Europeans pushed into this land there were, amongst the immigrants, occasional puppeteers. Throughout the 19th century there were occasional wandering puppeteers who traveled mainly with circuses and appeared as sideshow novelty performances. Frequently these acts took the shape of Punch and Judy shows, others did variety type acts, and a few did drama.

Life for these people must have been hard, traveling from frontier town to frontier town and the financial rewards must have been elusive. I recall in my own youth, in Detroit during the 30's, meeting David Lano. I was told at the time that he was one of the early pioneers of puppetry in America. But David was not the first in his family to do puppets. His parents were puppeteers even before him. It didn't mean much to me then as a young man, but oh, would I love to be able to talk with him now. The George Middletons were another troupe of that same period. I knew them too as a boy. Additional information on both the Lano family and the Middletons can be found in the 1936 Puppetry Yearbook and also in the above mentioned Puppet Theatre in America by Paul and Marjorie McPharlin.

What was it like to be a puppeteer in those days? What was it like from the standpoint of obtaining information or sharing your interest with other puppeteers? The answer is that few puppeteers knew any other puppeteers. What you did you figured out mostly by yourself. There were few if any books on the subject, and what few other puppeteers there were tended to be highly secretive.
Tony Sarg Tony Sarg, with a German father and British mother, was born in Guatemala in 1880. He served in the German army but then moved to England where he developed an interest in marionettes and attempted to find out more about them. In his address to those present at the first National Puppetry Conference in Detroit in 1936 he told of his early experiences of trying to learn about puppetry in those secretive days.
He followed the Holden troupe (relatives of the Middletons) around the various London Music houses of the time. Once he bribed his way backstage and posed as a stage hand only to be frustrated when a curtain was pulled around the marionette stage to prevent even those backstage from seeing what was going on. After that he attended every performance out front and sat in the front row and lay on the floor so as to be able to see what the puppeteers were doing.
In 1915 Tony emigrated to America with his American wife and daughter and in time the Tony Sarg Marionettes toured widely and became relatively famous. He died in 1942. Many of our best puppeteers, such as Rufus and Margo Rose, and Bil Baird, were to get their start with the Sarg organization.

Sarg wrote a book (The Tony Sarg Marionette Book) which was widely distributed in the 20's. Other books at the time were by Helen Haiman Joseph and Edith Flack Ackley. There was little more. When I was a boy this was about it for information, those three books and little else. A marionette show did come to my school every year (my first exposure) but there was no contact with the operators, and it was delightful, but very much a mystery. So to even know what a puppet was in those days simply meant that somehow you had to have seen one of the few shows traveling about and had been inspired. To develop any knowledge or skills you simply used your imagination. There was to be no help.
Paul McPharlin
Paul McPharlin developed his own interest in puppetry while an undergraduate in college in 1922. Paul, very much the scholar, made it his prime inspiration to know other puppeteers, as many as possible. He developed an extensive country-wide list of persons involved with puppetry and not only corresponded with them, but traveled widely to personally meet as many puppeteers as possible.

He began to write and publish many books on the subject starting in 1928. He sold the books to those persons on his puppeteer list. He also organized, about 1928, what was probably the first puppeteer organization in America. It was called The Marionette Fellowship . Another of his activities was an annual publication called Puppetry. It was generally known as the Yearbook of...whatever year. This became a virtual bible to puppeteers.
 So by the 30's the wall of secrecy began to crack, and puppeteers began to at least know of each other. Slowly there came about an exchange of information. Also in several cities puppet groups began to form. This all came to a climax in 1936 when Paul McPharlin organized and arranged the first National Puppetry Conference in Detroit, Michigan.

I remember this well, for at the time I was just graduated from High School and was working for Paul part time in his studio. I was thrilled to be able to help with this historic event. The conference took place in June. Many of the shows and lectures took place at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Other meetings and the dinner were at the Artisan Guild, the location of Paul McPharlin's studio at that time.

    
Forming the P of A     

It was at the first National Puppetry Conference in Detroit in 1936 that the decision to form a national organization came about. I remember the moment well. Paul was addressing those present (text of his speech is in the 1936 Yearbook.) In the midst of his talk he stated that there probably should be national organization, but then he added, "but not just now." The room almost exploded...No! No! We want it NOW! At the conclusion of the talk a line formed at the side of the room for those interested to sign up as intending to join such an organization.

Temporary officers were appointed to get things organized. In June of 1937 the First National Puppetry Festival of the newly formed Puppeteers of America was held in Cincinnati with Martin and Olga Stevens hosting the event.

So now more than a half century has elapsed since those early beginnings. There are still a few of us around and still interested in Puppetry who attended that historic first meeting, and we are the ones who remember what it was like to be a puppeteer and to not know another person who was interested in puppetry, or for that matter even knew what a puppet is.

You might ask at this point, OK, so what, so the organization is more than a half century old now, what has it done? So now let us go ahead and look at what the Puppeteers of America has done for and meant to the thousands of puppet enthusiasts who have come along since. I said at the beginning that I was not going to mention names, and I went ahead and mentioned a few anyway. I guess this was really necessary. From now on though I am going to do as I said because there have been thousands who have followed, and who is to say which ones should be mentioned. I shall therefore attempt to limit myself henceforth to events rather than personalities, difficult as this may be.
Festivals     

With the organization formed, the Festivals, as they came to be known, have been held each summer except for the years during World War II. Until recently they were 4 day affairs. They now run for six. Puppet enthusiasts regularly attending these events quickly found that they had been rewarded with many new and close friendships. At long last it was possible to get together with others with the same interest and exchange information as well. Throughout the history of the P of A the more advanced members have been not only willing but anxious to share of their knowledge.

Since 1950 most of the festivals have been held on University campuses throughout the country. The organization sponsors these events, but they are planned and run usually by local puppet groups who compete for the honor of doing a festival.
Communicating      

At first the official publication was a mimeographed newsletter known as the Grapevine Telegraph. In addition Paul McPharlin's annual Yearbook was paid for by the P of A and distrbuted to all members. This continued until 1948 when Paul McPharlin died.

After this the Grapevine Telegraph was expanded and shortly afterward became a printed magazine. (George Latshaw was the very first editor, and coming full circle, is the editor today.) In 1949 the name of the publication was changed to The Puppetry Journal, a name that remains today. Vivan Michael was the editor for many years, succeeded by Don Avery, and then George Latshaw.) The Puppetry Journal is published quarterly. In 1989 a bimonthly newsletter (edited by Paul Eide) was established to help keep members up-to-date.
Guilds     

Since 1960 local guilds have been encouraged and chartered by the Puppeteers of America. The number of these local guilds has sharply increased. The United States has been divided into a number of regional areas with a director elected for each region. In the late 60's the number of Regional Festivals began to increase. Beginning in 1988 a new pattern was established-- Annual National Festivals held during odd-numbered years, and Regionals held during the even numbered years.
Services       

In addition to festivals and publications over the years a number of annual awards have been established to be presented to members deemed to have contirubted the most in a number of categories.

An Endowment Fund has been created to award grants to assist members in producing innovative works.

There has also been established a Consultant Service with experienced persons volunteering to give of their knowledge through the mails to members needing help in various aspects of puppetry.

The Puppetry Store sells books and numerous items related to puppetry to members. The store operates during all festivals and through the mails at other times.

In addition audiovisual materials may be borrowed through the Audio-Visual Library.
A Growing Membership      

From the time of its inception the number of memberships hung around 400, and the number of those attending festivals remained about 200. With the advent of television providing a mass medium for puppetry, and for the first time in history the vast mass of the population seeing puppetry on a regular basis, the organization began to grow quite considerably. Since probably the early 70's the membership has risen to include about 2000 persons many of whom live in distant lands. The average attendance at Festivals has increased to over 500.

With the Puppeteers of America now well into the second half of its first century of existence we can look back and see many changes. These changes reflect the effect of the end of secrecy, and the vast advance of technology.

Television had scarcely been dreamed of back in 1936. Since then too there have been developed such things as tape recorders, plastics, and numerous advances in lighting equipment, and even in such things as paints. And there have been great advances in transportation. It is difficult now to even imagine the problems encountered by David Lano and other early puppeteers. Even when Tony Sarg and others in the period of the 20's and 30's that has come to be known as the Golden Age of Puppetry (because of the many big traveling companies,) transportation as we know it today was unavailable. Interstate highways were just emerging out of the mud and the Expressways of today were yet to be even considered. The train was still the primary means of getting around from city to city. In the 20's schools began to be built that contained auditoriums where shows could be performed, and thus a whole new market started to develop for puppetry that has continued to this day.