My father's doll
When my dad was young, I believe about the 3rd grade or so, my grandfather was stationed in Germany. My dad has loads of fun stories about driving to Holland for weekend camping trips, and about living in an apartment in a small German town, where most of the residents were from all different countries. One of the tangible memories I have from this period of his life is this Pelham puppet. He was purchased for my dad while he was living in Germany. As you can see, he has been very well loved.
I wanted to know more about this special fellow, so I did some research. Pelham puppets were made in England beginning in 1946, although their creator, Bob Pelham, had been making animated donkey toys for much longer. My particular puppet is called Tyrolean boy, named for a state of Austria. He originally came with a wooden cross bar which served to hold his strings, and a green felt hat which has long been missing. He is made of wood with metal joints holding his pieces together.
I distinctly remember him hanging from his wooden crossbar on a mirror at my grandma's house when I was very small, so I know his destructed look comes from my own hands. I plan to get some green felt and fashion him a new hat to replace the one I destroyed. Something about creating a new crossbar and tying him to it makes me feel kind of sad though, so that will not be a part of his sprucing up. He's got no strings to hold him down, to make him fret, to make him frown! He had strings, but now he's free...well you get the idea.
I've got no strings on me!
This puppet is an invaluable part of my collection, because it once belonged to my dad. I don't think many doll collectors can say they inherited a doll from their dad. Sure, my dad gave me plenty of dolls when I was young (and even now that I'm old, ha!) but this one is extra sentimentally special to me.
If you inherited a doll from your dad, I'd love to hear about it in the comments!
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