Puppets have been used in many different ways around the world. Some cultures include them in ceremonies, rituals and much more. For example, in India, puppets are used to tell stories of their gods and heroes. The Greeks and Romans placed clay or ivory figurines in children’s tombs. These are only some of the many traditions that puppets have been part of from different cultures around the world.
Read on to find out more…
Photo by Nick Mangafas
How Puppets Began
Puppets have been around for a while, even as far back as 21,000 BC. It was thought that the puppets that were made from tusks of animals, were made for reasons of fertility.
Puppets have also been mentioned in Xenophon’s Symposium from the 5th century BC. Apparently, puppets can also be traced back to Daedelus, the Ancient Greek inventor, who made an articulated little wooden doll. However, other people suggest that puppets started in India and China.
Puppets can probably be traced back to some types of religious ceremonies as many ancient cultures would use figurines that could be moved in the worship their gods.
Shadow puppets most likely started in China; they were based on two Indian epic poems, Ramayana for those who believed in Buddhism, and Mahabharata for those who believed in Hinduism.
In the 16th century, Commedia dell’ Arte artists adapted a few hand puppets from the popular national characters, such as Arlecchino, Columbina and Pulcinella. These were miniature versions of the adult actors in costume.
Punch and Judy are some of the most popular hand puppets, even though they started off as puppets for adults. Records of Punch and Judy puppets date back to 1662.
String puppets were also popular in European courts and Venetian palaces in the 18th century. It is thought that the string puppets, or marionettes, started in Italy by the minstrels who roamed the country side. They tied the string puppet to their legs so that they could have their hands free to play their instruments.
We will describe many more puppets in our site.
Photo by Nick Mangafas
Where Do Puppets Come From?
Puppets are some of the oldest, man-made objects in the world. Archaeologists that have studied ancient Egypt, China and India have found remains of what could quite have possibly been puppets back from 4,000 years ago. They were made of clay and had moving limbs which lifted up when a string was pulled; these ancestors of today’s puppets are similar to “jumping jack” toys. Historians believe that puppets have been created by nearly all people, at nearly all times. The Chinese puppets were made of donkey, sheep, water buffalo, or fish skin. These were stretched taut and fastened onto the frame and dried out. These early puppets were performed by a puppeteer projecting their shadow.
Puppets were mentioned in writings by Plato and Aristotle, two very famous Ancient Greek philosophers, but there were no exact details of how they were used. Were the puppets used to give shows with, or were they for informative reasons? What ever these ancient people used these ancient puppets for, we will probably never know…
Tribal people, like the Native Americans and Aztecs, have used puppets people or animals in their religious practices, to represent people or animals. Early Africans, Indian and Chinese people used puppets to act out their ancient tales of gods and demons.
These puppets were probably used by the adults of the tribe. In today’s society, puppets are used by children and for entertainment purposes or by teachers, who use them with younger children for educational purposes. They are great teaching tools and usually used to illustrate points indirectly.
Puppets range in size from a tiny finger puppet (which as the name suggests, fits on your finger) to larger than life puppets, which can fit an adult (the puppeteer) inside.
Even though puppets were first thought of around 4,000 years ago, they are still popular, for example, Sesame Street is still running and in its 37th season, Kermit the Frog has met the Queen, Thunderbirds have influenced a movie and Pinocchio is a world wide puppet icon and probably one of the most famous puppets of all time.
Photo by Nick Mangafas
Puppet Timeline
2400 BC - In Harrappan, now in Modern Pakistan, they found toy cattle that had heads that could be moved by strings.
2000 BC - In Egypt there were wood puppets with strings that could knead bread and more.
421 BC - In Athens puppets were found.
1500 - Puppets theatres were all over Europe.
1600s - In France, Punch was a marionette, which is a string puppet.
1800 - Punch became a glove puppet.
1959 - Mr. Squiggle came onto Australian TV.
1964 - Thunderbirds went onto TV in Britain.