Jack Marionette

Description (Brief):

This marionette represents the character Jack from the popular fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk. He has wooden arms and legs and his hands are made of paper mache. He wears a blue cotton shirt and gold pants with matching plaid vest, and his hat and socks are decorated with ladybug buttons and gold yarn hair. He operates with one control bar and eleven strings and has been remade from an earlier puppet created by Molka Reich, a puppeteer who had her start in the Federal Theater Project that ran from 1935-1939.

Description (Brief)

Originally from New York, Reich moved to Florida in 1935 and joined the Miami Florida Federal Theater Project in 1935. She traveled all over the state, giving popular performances of such plays as Treasure Island and Jack and the Beanstalk, where these puppets appeared.

Description (Brief)

Part of President Roosevelt's New Deal, the Federal Theater Project was created in 1935 to employ jobless theater professionals and make the performing arts available to the vast number of citizens who had little money for entertainment. Over the four year period the FTA produced over 2700 plays seen by approximately 30 million people, most who had never even seen a play. Puppets were an integral part of this project and it is estimated that the marionette units presented an average of 1200 shows a week in 22 states.

Date Made: 1935

User: Reich, MolkaAgent: Works Progress AdministrationMaker: Reich, Molka

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: United States: Florida, Miami

General Subject Association: PuppetryRelated Event: Great DepressionNew Deal EraFederal Theatre Project

Subject:

See more items in: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment, Puppets

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: Molka Reich

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 1982.0093.01Accession Number: 1982.0093Catalog Number: 1982.0093.01

Object Name: puppet

Physical Description: wood (overall material)paper mache (overall material)wool (overall material)Measurements: overall: 18 in x 6 in; 45.72 cm x 15.24 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a4-df99-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_662194

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