THE Active Retirement Club (ARC) recently heard a talk by John Jameson-Davis about Pelham Puppets on Tuesday 1st November.
The club reports, “We enjoyed a talk by John Jameson-Davis on Pelham Puppets, a lifelong passion he has enjoyed since receiving one as a childhood birthday present- he still has it today.
“The company was started by Bob Pelham in Marlborough in 1947. During his time on active service in World War II he was often referred to as ‘The Wonky Donkey Officer’ as he developed an interest in creating small wooden animated donkey toys. After the war, he was able to expand this interest in toys into designing and creating easy to use puppets for children.
“As everything was in such short supply following the war, the raw materials for his puppets were begged, borrowed and scrounged from anywhere they could be found, including scrap yards. Initially, it was a struggle to convince retailers to invest in his puppets. However, at the end of 1947 he had a lucky break. Hamley’s toy shop in Regent Street in London agreed to let him demonstrate his puppets to the public. They were an instant hit and the business took off.
“In 1953 Bob Pelham obtained an agreement to make a range of puppets based on Walt Disney’s famous cartoon characters including Micky Mouse, Donald Duck and Pluto. There soon followed characters from the Magic Roundabout, the Muppets and the Wombles. The business kept growing through the 50s until October 1961 when disaster struck – the factory was completely destroyed by fire.
“Refusing to be beaten, Bob Pelham somehow managed to get another factory up and running and after a supreme effort, carried on supplying orders to his customers around the world. The 1970s proved their busiest decade, but then demand started to drop as other more fashionable toys began to appear. Sadly, a number of employees had to be made redundant and in mid-1980, Bob Pelham suddenly died at home. His wife Anne continued to run the company until her retirement a few years later, when the company was finally closed down.
“Pelham Puppets are still sought after and good quality rare examples can command high prices from collectors today. Our speaker then demonstrated some puppets our members had brought to the meeting. John’s talk was warmly received by our members who were grateful to be reminded of some of the happy innocent pleasures of childhood, which in today’s world are increasingly welcome.”
The next scheduled meeting of ARC will take place on Tuesday 15th November at the Horse and Groom pub. Guests can enjoy two club meetings for free before deciding if they want to join. Membership costs £10 a month. If you would like to join the ARC, or would like to find out more please call Mark on 01373 823826.
