Between 1936 and 1955, Elizabeth L. Haines' puppet play, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," went through many revisions, dependent on whether she and her husband, Frank D. Haines, were performing before adult audiences or school groups in the Philadelphia area.
The adult version focused on a love triangle between Bob, a wealthy antique gun and armour collector, and two women, Sandy and Fay, set in a New York City hotel lobby. Fay accidentally shoots Bob with one of his antique guns after demanding him to get rid of his antique armour collection before their marriage. He falls in a concussion-induced dream state into deep sleep and finds himself transported back to the 6th-century world of Camelot.
In both the adult and children's version, Bob faces being burned at the stake for being seen as a foreigner but ultimately manages to outwit his rival, Merlin the Magician, escaping back to the 20th century. In the adult version, Bob ends up proposing to old friend, Sandy, and following her to Europe, likely a reference to a recently produced 1927 Broadway musical written by Richard Rodgers and Lorentz Hart.
The puppet play called for an elaborate set of 20 stage props, many collapsible for portability, a backdrop, and 9 marionettes. It bore little resemblance to the original 1889 novel published by humorist, Mark Twain, - a satire of 19th century romance of medieval heraldry and class divisions, causes he believed led to the Civil War.
Twain's time travel story - which spawned the work of many 20th century science fiction writers and movie producers - focused on the adventures of a wealthy Connecticut gun manufacturer, Hank Morgan, who falls into a dream state after suffering a concussion when beaten by a disgruntled laborer. On becoming a the trusted advisor to King Arthur after spurning Merlin's magical tricks, Hank introduces late 19th century technology and social structure in order to solve problems he witnesses in medieval England, including slavery, lack of sanitation, overbearance of the Catholic church, and popular superstition.
Between 1936 and 1955, Elizabeth L. Haines' puppet play, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," went through many revisions, dependent on whether she and her husband, Frank D. Haines, were performing before adult audiences or school groups in the Philadelphia area.
The adult version focused on a love triangle between Bob, a wealthy antique gun and armour collector, and two women, Sandy and Fay, set in a New York City hotel lobby. Fay accidentally shoots Bob with one of his antique guns after demanding him to get rid of his antique armour collection before their marriage. He falls in a concussion-induced dream state into deep sleep and finds himself transported back to the 6th-century world of Camelot.
In both the adult and children's version, Bob faces being burned at the stake for being seen as a foreigner but ultimately manages to outwit his rival, Merlin the Magician, escaping back to the 20th century. In the adult version, Bob ends up proposing to old friend, Sandy, and following her to Europe, likely a reference to a recently produced 1927 Broadway musical written by Richard Rodgers and Lorentz Hart.
The puppet play called for an elaborate set of 20 stage props, many collapsible for portability, a backdrop, and 9 marionettes. It bore little resemblance to the original 1889 novel published by humorist, Mark Twain, - a satire of 19th century romance of medieval heraldry and class divisions, causes he believed led to the Civil War.
Twain's time travel story - which spawned the work of many 20th century science fiction writers and movie producers - focused on the adventures of a wealthy Connecticut gun manufacturer, Hank Morgan, who falls into a dream state after suffering a concussion when beaten by a disgruntled laborer. On becoming a the trusted advisor to King Arthur after spurning Merlin's magical tricks, Hank introduces late 19th century technology and social structure in order to solve problems he witnesses in medieval England, including slavery, lack of sanitation, overbearance of the Catholic church, and popular superstition.
Elsie the Cow marionette is hand carved from wood and operates using a 6-piece wooden airplane control and a separate one-piece bar control with 13 strings. Her cow head with the distinctive horns is on a swivel neck and her jaw is moveable. She is wearing a refined blue suit, white gloves, high heels and a black net hat. She was used to promote Borden products. From the late 1930s to the 1950's puppets became popular for use in advertising.
Elsie is one of large group of advertising puppets used by Elizabeth and Frank D. Haines, a husband and wife team of puppeteers. They operated a puppet troupe in and around Philadelphia, and performed on television and in window displays to subsidize their business. While they were not fond of using their puppets for advertisements, Elsie the cow is just one of their puppets used to promote a popular brand of milk products--Borden.
The circus has a a long history in America entertainment beginning in the 18thc, Traveling by wagon and train the circus exposed Americans to sites and sounds never seen before, including exotic animals, people from far away lands and daring performances that required great skill and bravery. Popular with all ages, the Haines brought the spirit of the circus to hundreds of people in an around Philadelphia through their elaborate puppet shows.
The Haines' circus puppet characters included Tightrope Star, Mitzi from Vienna, Boxers Kanga and Roo, Patagonian Pigs Pinkie and Patti, Tony the Dog in clown outfit, performing bears Laska, Pete and Repete, Flying Trapeze Artist Tim, Mugsy the Barker, and a Ringmaster..
Laska the Rollier Skating bear is made from wood and covered in a fabric of faux plush fur. His neck swivels and his limbs are attached and hinged to his body. He has plastic eyes and a red stitched mouth and nose. He has a bright orange tulle ruff around his neck and a conical shaped orange hat embellisshed with gold netting and a pair of metal roller skateson his feet. He is operated with a 5-piece wooden airplane control with ten strings.
Between 1936 and 1955, Elizabeth L. Haines' puppet play, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," went through many revisions, dependent on whether she and her husband, Frank D. Haines, were performing before adult audiences or school groups in the Philadelphia area.
The adult version focused on a love triangle between Bob, a wealthy antique gun and armour collector, and two women, Sandy and Fay, set in a New York City hotel lobby. Fay accidentally shoots Bob with one of his antique guns after demanding him to get rid of his antique armour collection before their marriage. He falls in a concussion-induced dream state into deep sleep and finds himself transported back to the 6th-century world of Camelot.
In both the adult and children's version, Bob faces being burned at the stake for being seen as a foreigner but ultimately manages to outwit his rival, Merlin the Magician, escaping back to the 20th century. In the adult version, Bob ends up proposing to old friend, Sandy, and following her to Europe, likely a reference to a recently produced 1927 Broadway musical written by Richard Rodgers and Lorentz Hart.
The puppet play called for an elaborate set of 20 stage props, many collapsible for portability, a backdrop, and 9 marionettes. It bore little resemblance to the original 1889 novel published by humorist, Mark Twain, - a satire of 19th century romance of medieval heraldry and class divisions, causes he believed led to the Civil War.
Twain's time travel story - which spawned the work of many 20th century science fiction writers and movie producers - focused on the adventures of a wealthy Connecticut gun manufacturer, Hank Morgan, who falls into a dream state after suffering a concussion when beaten by a disgruntled laborer. On becoming a the trusted advisor to King Arthur after spurning Merlin's magical tricks, Hank introduces late 19th century technology and social structure in order to solve problems he witnesses in medieval England, including slavery, lack of sanitation, overbearance of the Catholic church, and popular superstition.
Known as Martina #1, this marionette is from the first act of a traditional Latin American folk tale, "Perez and Martina: A Portotican Folktale" written by Pura Belpre and published in the United States in 1932. "Perez and Martina: A Portotican Folktale" by Pura Belpre". Belpre was the first Puerto Rican librarian at the New York Public Library and a puppeteer. The story she wrote was told to her by her grandmother when growing up in Puerto Rico.
The traditional folk tale tells of a cockroach, named Martina, who finds a coin on a walkway and decides to buy with it a tin of face powder. She primps and then waits on her veranda above her garden for suitors to call. She settles on marrying a rat, Perez, who, unfortunately, becomes carried away by his own curiosity, falling, the next morning, into a vat of soup Martina is cooking. In some versions, he succumbs and in others, he is rescued.
In the puppet play produced by Elizabeth L. Haines with her husband, Frank D. Haines, Martina is a cricket and Perez is a mouse who competes for her favors with a rooster and a frog. Martina is looked after by an aging duenna beetle. She marries Perez, her face turning into that of a woman, and she lives "as happy as a cricket" with Perez ever after.
The cricket Martina # 1 is carved of wood with a swivel head and wooden limbs, She wears a three tiered yellow skirt in orange and blue print, blue blouse, a bandana tied around her neck and black high heels. carved of woo and is operated with a 5-piece wooden airplane control and a metal clamp with nine strings.
Throughout the 1940s the Haines performed this version of the play, ( with Martina a cricket and Perez a mouse), before school groups in the Philadelphia area. The marionettes and stage props were created by Frank and Elizabeth made the costumes and the backdrops.
The childhood story of Little Black Sambo was originally written by Helen Bannerman, a Scot living in India, and published in London in 1899. In the tale, an Indian boy attempts to save himself from four hungry tigers by offering items of his brand-new clothing just purchased for him by his father. The prideful tigers strut circling one another, arguing over who looks the finest, and in a mad chase of each other's tails, turn themselves into ghee (Indian butter). Sambo's father happens upon the butter in the woods and brings it home for his family to have with mountains of pancakes for breakfast.
Illustrations for later American versions of the story depicted a stereotypical African American boy. Modeled on the iconography of Florence Kate Upton's late 19th century rag doll-like children's character, "Gollywogg," the American Sambo had black skin, wildly curly hair, wide googly eyes, and bright red lips.
The tiger body is made of stuffed orange felt fabric and painted with black stripes. The head is hand carved from wood , and the faces painted in great detail; each one with distinct characteristics. The bodies are attached to the head with paper adhered to a wooden support . The jaws and all of the appendages, including the tail are operative. The marionette moves with a two piece wooden T shaped control with a coat hanger and eleven strings. The attachment of the strings to all parts of the body
In the 1930s puppet play version produced by husband-and-wife puppet makers, Elizabeth L. and Frank D. Haines, there was a substantial difference displayed between the sophisticated craftsmanship of the animal marionette figures with finely carved heads and the rag-doll-like floppy human marionette figures in Black Sambo's family. The play was presented to area schoolchildren in the Philadelphia area until the 1950s.
Monsieur Frog , is a character from a traditional Latin American folk tale "Perez and Martina: A Portotican Folktale" written by Pura Belpre and published in the United States in 1932. . Belpre was the first Puerto Rican librarian at the New York Public Library and a puppeteer. The story she wrote was told to her by her grandmother when growing up in Puerto Rico.
The traditional folk tale tells of a cockroach, named Martina, who finds a coin on a walkway and decides to buy with it a tin of face powder. She primps and then waits on her veranda above her garden for suitors to call. She settles on marrying a rat, Perez, who, unfortunately, becomes carried away by his own curiosity, falling, the next morning, into a vat of soup Martina is cooking. In some versions, he succumbs and in others, he is rescued.
In this version of the story, produced by Elizabeth and her husband, Frank Haines, (Martina is a cricket and Perez is a mouse) Monsieur Frog competes for Martina's favors along with Perez and Major Rooster. Martina ultimately marries Perez with the blessings of the aging Duenna and her faces turns into a woman, and she lives "as happy as a cricket" with Perez ever
Monsieur Frog is made of wood with a swivel head ,moveable jaw and hinged appendages. He is painted an electric shade of green with yellow and black eyes on the top of his head ,a bright pink mouth and green hands. He is stylishly dressed in a red velvet jacket over a white ruffled shirt , and white pants with an orange cummerbund. This puppet is operated with a 5- wooden airplane control with nineteen strings.
Throughout the 1940s the Haines performed this version of the play, ( with Martina a cricket and Perez a mouse), before school groups in the Philadelphia area. The marionettes and stage props were created by Frank and Elizabeth made the costumes and the backdrops.
The circus has a a long history in America entertainment beginning in the 18thc, Traveling by wagon and train the circus exposed Americans to sites and sounds never seen before, including exotic animals, people from far away lands and daring performances that required great skill and bravery. Popular with all ages, the Haines brought the spirit of the circus to hundreds of people in an around Philadelphia through their elaborate puppet shows.
The Haines' circus puppet characters included Tightrope Star, Mitzi from Vienna, Boxers Kanga and Roo, Patagonian Pigs Pinkie and Patti, Tony the Dog in clown outfit, performing bears Laska, Pete and Repete, Flying Trapeze Artist Tim, Mugsy the Barker, and a Ringmaster..
The ringmaster is carved from wood with hinged limbs and a swivel neck. . His facial features are intricately paintedand with a wig and hairy moustache.hair i he is dressed in a short black cotton coat with tails, a red plaid vest over a white ruffled shirt, a white top hat. and black leather knee high boots. He looks ever bit the part of the ringmasterhe He operated with a 5-piece ariplance control with a clamp and 16 strings.
This marionette, Perez 1, is a character from a traditional Latin American folk tale,"Perez and Martina: A Portotican Folktale" written by Pura Belpre and published in the United States in 1932. Belpre was the first Puerto Rican librarian at the New York Public Library and a puppeteer. The story she wrote was told to her by her grandmother when growing up in Puerto Rico.
The traditional folk tale tells of a cockroach, named Martina, who finds a coin on a walkway and decides to buy with it a tin of face powder. She primps and then waits on her veranda above her garden for suitors to call. She settles on marrying a rat, Perez, who, unfortunately, becomes carried away by his own curiosity, falling, the next morning, into a vat of soup Martina is cooking. In some versions, he succumbs and in others, he is rescued.
In the play produced by Elizabeth L. Haines with her husband, Frank , Martina is a cricket and Perez is a mouse who competes for her favors with a rooster and a frog. Martina is looked after by an aging duenna beetle. She marries Perez, her face turning into that of a woman, and she lives "as happy as a cricket" with Perez ever after.
This is Perez #1 , from the first act, is vying for Martina's affections. . Portrayed as a mouse , Perez is made of hand carved wood, with hinged appendages and a moveable head. . His hands and face are painted a light gray, with black buttons for his eyes and nose, his ears are made of soft suede leather and his moustache is made of black feathers. . He is dressed in a frilly lace trimmed shirt, a purple velvet jacket and bright yellow pants. and he is puppet is operated with a 5- wooden airplane control with nine strings.
Throughout the 1940s the Haines performed this version of the play, ( with Martina a cricket and Perez a mouse), before school groups in the Philadelphia area. The marionettes and stage props were created by Frank and Elizabeth made the costumes and the backdrops.