A Smoke by Proxy 



This picture divulges to us 

 the secret. The young lady, 

 who stands in the wings, 

 is responsible for the mer- 

 chant's smoke. She takes 

 a puff from a cigarette and 

 blows the smoke into a 

 rubber tube which leads in- 

 to the puppet's mouth, and 

 gives a very realistic effect 



THERE is no tell- 

 ing what may de- 

 velop from the 

 hobby of a collector. 

 The most life-like pup- 

 pets that ever graced a 

 miniature stage came 

 into being just because 

 an artist had the hobby 

 of collecting toys. Some 

 years ago Tony Sarg, a 

 New York illustrator, 

 began the collection of 

 old-fashioned toys. He 

 picked them up in all 

 parts of the world. One 

 day he came across a 

 puppet which had been 

 an actor in a pupi)et 

 show. This little 

 wooden figure, poorly 

 designed and lacking in 

 joints, gave Mr. Sarg an 

 idea. Why not puppets 

 capable of giving really 

 good imitations of hu- 

 man beings? 



NOSE. STRING 



SHOULDta 

 STRING 



BALL AND 

 SOCKtT JOINT^ 



fOOT STRING 



Marionettes Extraordinary 



An ancient art brought up-to-date 



By A. M. Jungmann 



This question was more easily asked 

 than answered. But after several years* 

 hard work on the part of Mr. Sarg, the 

 puppets are here to speak and act for 

 themselves. To design natural-appearing 

 puppets requires, among other things, a 

 knowledge of anatomy, mechanics, art, 

 the principles of the drama, and the craft 

 of the costumier. 



One of the first points which had to be 



settled was the question of size. The 



average puppets are too small to simulate 



living human beings on the stage. On the 



other hand, it is possible to have the 



puppets too large. Mr. Sarg finally 



decided that puppets about three feet in 



height were the most satisfactory. They 



must not be too heavy, because if they 



are, the puppeteer cannot operate them. 



I Finally, they must be 



constructed with joints 



which will enable them 



to move just as a human 



being moves. 



These puppets move, 

 not only their hands, 

 feet and heads, but 

 their eyes and mouths as 

 well. Imagine a puppet 

 making goo-goo eyes at 

 his lady love! 



The design of the pup- 

 pet is very ingenious. 

 The head is fastened to 

 the shoulders in such a 

 manner that it can move 

 forward, backward, and 

 sidewise. The arms 

 have ball and socket 

 joints in the shoulders, 

 elbows and wrists. One 

 of the puppets, which 

 takes the part of a 

 singer, is built so that 

 its chest rises and falls 

 exactly as does the chest 

 of a person who is sing- 

 ing. Movement at the 

 waist is provided by 

 means of flexible ma- 

 terial, and the legs are 

 joined to the trunk by 



HeAD String 



MOUTH STRING 



HEAD STRING 





SHOULDtR, 

 STRING 



FOOT STRING 



How It's Done 



If you arc ciirimis [ti> soc what makes 

 the puppi-t act in such a life-like man- 

 ner, examine this drawinn. Vi>u will 

 be able to see how its joints are arranufd 

 and huw the strinKS the puppeteer su 

 cleverly pulls, are attached to the jointa 



396 



