Pelham Puppets

Pelham Puppets were simple wooden marionette puppets made in England by Bob Pelham (1919–1980), starting in 1947. While mainly known for making marionettes, his company also manufactured glove puppets, rod puppets and ventriloquist puppets. The company ceased to trade in 1993 and some of its products became collectable.
Bob Pelham initially started the company as Wonky Toys Ltd on 20 May 1947. The name came from Bob's Second World War military nickname, when he was known as "The Wonky Donkey Officer" as he made small toy donkeys. The company originally started making "Waloukas", simple wooden toys held together with string. Bob then moved on to making marionettes to sell to children, a new direction as previously marionettes had only been made for professionals. On 14 October 1948 the company changed its name to Pelham Puppets to reflect the change in focus.
One of the keys to the success of the company was the creation of the Pelpup Club for children, which helped to advertise the company's products.
The factory was initially located in Marlborough, Wiltshire. A fire in 1961 created a hiatus in manufacturing and led to new ranges being introduced in 1963 and old lines being stopped. The factory was rebuilt and grew in size at the same location, until the site was sold and the factory moved in 1985 to Collingbourne Ducis, also in Wiltshire. It moved again to Gloucestershire in the early 1990s, but the company went into liquidation in 1993.
Bob Pelham continued to head the company and was assisted by his wife Ann. After Bob's death on 19 June 1980, she continued with the business until 1986. In 2008 the Pelham Puppets brand was revived by a former employee, David Leech, and he now produces a new line of puppets, some echoing former styles.
Pelham Puppets are collectible, and those in good condition can change hands for significant amounts of money. There are a number of websites devoted to collecting these puppets.
There are many ranges of Pelham puppets. The main ones are:
Pelham Puppets also made puppets to order for the professional market, used by various companies in their shows. These tend to be larger, ranging from 18" to 2'6".
Puppets that are very common due to mass manufacturing are:
Some of the rarer Pelham puppets include the Alice in Wonderland range from the 1950s (not to be confused with the later 1980s Alice); the range consists of Alice, Mad Hatter, March Hare, White Rabbit, Duchess (sometimes with a baby), Queen of Hearts, King of Hearts, Knave of Hearts, Cook, Fish & Frog Footman. Other rarities are SM Hank, Mr Turnip, Sarah Swede, Colonel Beetroot from the television programme Whirligig, the SS Bookworm family – Professor, Julia and Billy; SL Lettuce Leefe, SL Harris Tweed, SL Bull (1963 range), SL Cow (1963 range), SL Fox (1963 range), SM Huntsman, SM Villain, SM Harlequin and the very rare SL Tortoise (1963 range).
The boxes the puppets were packed in usually denote the time period that the puppets were made. However the toys can be found in erroneous boxes, sometimes being sold in the wrong one having been repackaged in the shop by mistake after display.
In 2019, a blue plaque was erected in Kingsbury Street, Marlborough, near the former site of the puppet workshop.