The editors of Puppetry International hope you enjoy reading Greg Pellone’s full account of the life and work of Joe Parsonage.

MEET JOE PARSONAGE

About one year ago, I read an obituary for Mr. Robert Gregg written by Fred Putz in the Winter/Spring 2016/17 Puppeteers of America Puppetry Journal.1 For some reason unknown to me at the time, I had an overwhelming compulsion to try to find out more about Robert. I was eventually put in touch with his widow Christine, who coincidentally lives nearby, and she agreed to meet and tell me more about her husband. Sadly I never had a chance to meet Robert personally, but wish I had. Like me, he was a lifelong puppetry enthusiast. Our paths did cross by strange circumstance in August 2015 when he and Christine visited a large exhibition of our world puppet collection which was sponsored by The Florida CraftArt Gallery in downtown St. Petersburg (see the Fall 2015 POA Puppetry Journal2). While they were there, Robert had asked to meet me, but for some reason I was never informed and unfortunately we never met.

Also like me, Robert was a Punch and Judy fan, and an old set of Punch and Judy puppets that he had purchased some years ago from “Uncle Ted” Raub, a television personality in Pennsylvania, were among his favorites. Those puppets are now a permanent part of the Pellone/Barrett Puppet Collection with much gratitude to both Robert and his wife and to Mr. David Wilde, notable British Punch and Judy collector and historian who positively identified them as Joe Parsonage’s work.3 All puppets in the collection are photographed, archived and cataloged with pertinent information. Little did I know at the time that documenting Joe Parsonage’s Punch and Judy puppets would become a bit of a challenge.

Historians agree that puppet shows have been performed for millennia and Punch and Judy are two names synonymous with a venerable hand puppet show that has been performed primarily in Great Britain by itinerant showmen in the streets, at fairs or festivals and at seaside locations for well over 350 years. Now considered an English tradition, the show includes a dynamic cast of various peculiar characters with Mr. Punch as the ever present antagonist. According to George Speaight and other writers, the exact origin of the Punch and Judy show in England is unclear but there is early Punch and Judy performers at May Fayre Festival, St. Paul's Church, Covent documentation found in Samuel Pepys’ Diary Garden, London 2015. (photo by author) describing a puppet show he observed in Covent Garden, London in 1662.4 This event is now celebrated every year on the anniversary at the Covent Garden May Fayre and Puppet Festival in St. Paul’s Church garden. Early performers by necessity had to create their own puppets and some wonderful examples of these still exist today.5 As time went on, the puppets and shows became more sophisticated and in the late 19th and 20th centuries astute businesspeople began selling ready-made Punch and Judy puppets to aspiring performers. Puppet makers found a gainful niche and some performers found it more convenient and were able to afford these ready-made Punch and Judy puppets. However, many performers who were not as prosperous continued to make their own puppets, often a source of pride and joy.

One such purveyor of Punch and Judy puppets in Great Britain was K.E. (Edwin) Hooper of The Supreme Magic Company from 1953 until his death in 1992. Edwin and his business partner, Ian Adair, found a profitable market for puppets and quite soon after, demand for the puppets exceeded their supply. According to some accounts their early inventory may have included puppets made by Wal Kent. Many of Kent’s puppets still exist and are prized by Punch and Judy collectors and enthusiasts. Edwin asked Joe Parsonage to begin making a line of Punch and Judy puppets for Supreme. Using Edwin’s personal set of Punch figures, Parsonage copied the general style of Kent’s puppets with some subtle and often obvious differences, but Edwin still marketed them as “Wal Kent-like” puppets.6 When Parsonage passed away, Tony Green began making puppets for Edwin, again in the style of Wal Kent. It was only after Bryan Clarke eventually began producing puppets for Supreme that the physiognomy of Mr. Punch evolved into a distinct character more removed from the Wal Kent “style”.

Wal Kent Punch Joe Parsonage Punch (collection of author) Bryan Clarke Punch (collection of author)

Robert Leach mentions the Supreme Magic Company and some former puppet makers including Fred Tickner and Wal Kent in his book, The Punch and Judy Show – History, Tradition and Meaning, but fails to include any reference to Joe Parsonage.7 Other than the occasional mention of his name and basic knowledge of his figures, there is scant information about Joe Parsonage in any of the Punch and Judy literature. The Supreme Magic Company had been selling Parsonage ventriloquist dummies since the late 1950s8 but later Parsonage also began supplying the Punch and Judy characters. He made Punch and Judy hand puppets for Supreme from about 1968, give or take several years, until his death in 1974.9 He was followed by Tony Green 1974 to 1980 and then Bryan Clarke from 1980 until about 1994.10 Shortly thereafter The Supreme Magic Company of 64 High Street finally closed its doors forever.

There is some information about Wal Kent (he’s listed in the Punch and Judy Fellowship “Hall of Fame”11) a book about Punch and Judy by Tony Green12 and Bryan Clarke, who is still making puppets today, can be found all over Google©, but Joe Parsonage who falls somewhere in between was a bit of a mystery. Those familiar with Punch and Judy tradition recall Joe Parsonage’s name and his work; his puppets are prized by collectors and occasionally fetch substantial prices at auctions. However, there is very little biographical information available about this interesting yet elusive puppet maker.

Michael Dixon, curator of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild explains, “This was often the case for [puppet] makers; if they didn’t perform they remained relatively anonymous. It is the same of marionette makers and vent dummy makers too. These days we know everything about everyone, but years ago the makers were the ones behind the scenes and remain relatively undiscovered.”13 Many of the Punch Professors I contacted in Great Britain knew of Joe Parsonage, but none of them knew anything about his life in detail. Even the Punch and Judy Fellowship, an organization which preserves, promotes and protects the traditions of Britain's much loved national puppet show was unable to provide any information about Joe Parsonage.14 Multiple inquires to people knowledgeable about Punch and Judy, online searches and even a request to the Mayor of Redruth, Cornwall where Joe lived most of his adult life, yielded little or no information. I had to ask myself, how is it that the life of a puppet maker whose work is still fairly recognized and who made notable contributions to the material history of Punch and Judy puppetry is only vaguely remembered and not better documented?

During my research in early October, I was kindly referred to John Styles by Glyn Edwards, both Punch and Judy Professors of considerable distinction and fame in the United Kingdom. John’s courteous reply to me included some information he had learned about where Joe Parsonage was thought to live and work.15 About one week later, I decided to try to contact Ian Adair, Edwin Hooper’s former business partner from The Supreme Magic Company, hoping he might be able to provide some supplemental information about Joe Parsonage since they sold his ventriloquist figures and hand puppets for many years. Here is his curious reply, “Thanks for your message. Strange...you are the second person who has asked me for information regarding Joe Parsonage. My friend, magician John Styles asked me about him a couple of days ago…He [Parsonage] never wanted any publicity, so there's no photos of him...He worked from a small workshop at the back of his garden…He would send his completed puppets and vent dolls from his

Parsonage vent figures in case in lower left corner and his dog puppet, FIDO on top of case home town, to Supreme. After his passing on right. (Supreme Magic Catalog No. 4, Part One, 1969 – Photo by Ian Adair) Supreme had to find a new maker of such items, and we did. That's all I can tell you about Joe Parsonage.”16 Fortunately, in further correspondence with Ian Adair, he remembered other tidbits of information about Parsonage and his compelling book, Dealing With Magic, The Rise and Fall of The Supreme Magic Company,17 does provide a brief but interesting behind the scenes glimpse of Parsonage’s business relationship with Supreme as a puppet maker. Finally, I was finding some substantive information instead of vague and recast accounts about Joe Parsonage. As I mentioned at the beginning of this inquiry, the reason for my chance encounter with Robert and Christine Gregg was not clear at the time, but was now beginning to make sense. Robert’s wife Christine is a very experienced genealogist and with her help and the useful clues provided by some of the people I contacted through my research we began a more in-depth quest for information about Joe Parsonage.

Based on information from various sources, including details graciously provided by Parsonage’s living relatives, we now know more about the life and work of Joe Parsonage and here for the first time in Punch and Judy history is a more complete record of his life.

Joe Parsonage was born Timothy Edward Charles Parsonage on July 28, 1912 in Plymouth, Devon, England to his parents Edward Llewellyn Parsonage (1872-1920) and Blanche Elizabeth Horrell (1888-1936). I will refer to him as ‘Joe’ hereafter. He was the oldest of five surviving siblings, the three brothers - Joe, and his brothers George (1914-1962) and James (1916- 1938) and two sisters - Isis (1915-1978) and Ida (1919- 1938). Joe was only 8 years old when his father died in 1920 and his mother never remarried leaving her to care for the 5 young children alone. Unfortunately, his mother – being widowed – had difficulty supporting a large family, so the children were split up and Joe went to live with his Aunt Ethel in Plymouth until he was 18 years old.18 The family eventually moved to Redruth, Cornwall around 1924 and with the exception of his Army service, Joe seems to have lived and worked there Parsonage children. Joe is the tallest fellow in the back for the remainder of his life. In his youth, his family called wearing glasses! him Edward and we believe he was also named Timothy for one of his father’s brothers. So how did Timothy Edward Charles Parsonage become “Joe Parsonage”? We don’t know for certain. His daughter remembers her mother calling him “Eddie” around the house. So we can only speculate that he possibly adopted the name “Joe” as his stage and puppet business name since ‘Joe’ is a very easy name for people to remember and “Joe Parsonage” has a certain economy to it.

Joe Parsonage married Edith M. Johns in 1935 in Redruth and they remained married for 39 years until his death in 1974. Joe’s wife Edith passed away in 2007. They were blessed with two daughters, Ursula and Edith, who both still live in the Cornwall area. Early on, Joe worked as a delivery man for a local grocer, but after WWII began, he served from 1939 to 1945 in the British Army in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Corps in both North Africa and Italy. It was during this time he started using ventriloquism to entertain his fellow soldiers. After the war, Joe worked for the South Western Electricity Board as a meter mechanic until ill health caused his early retirement at 58 years. While in the Army he learned another skill that would make him well known in the neighborhood - his talent for repairing clocks and watches. He was particularly good at fixing old clocks. His daughter recalls, “He loved the Joe Parsonage in Army uniform with vent challenge of getting a really old clock back to working again, we got figure used to hearing chimes, bongs and bells on the hour day and night.”

As mentioned by Ian Adair, Parsonage was also a ventriloquist doll maker and provided hundreds of figures to Supreme Magic Company over the years. He also performed a ventriloquist act while appearing with other entertainers such as magicians and singers at special events primarily in the Cornwall area. We were able to find at least ten announcments of Joe Parsonage as a ventriloquist in local Cornwall newspapers between 1946 and 1950.19 In addition to these notices of Joe’s popularity we now know that it was about this time that Edwin Hooper read Joe’s advertisement “Second-hand own-make vent doll for sale” in the Exchange and Mart, a weekly classified paper allowing readers to buy and sell items, and initially recruited Joe Parsonage to provide ventriloquist dolls for The Supreme Magic Company beginning in the 1950s.20 Ian also tells us, “Throughout the years, Edwin Hooper never revealed the names of his makers, not even in The Cornishman, Thursday, April 4, 1946. adverts. He always kept them secret just in case other dealers might find out and use them.”21 This is possibly another reason Joe Parsonage was less than well known for his work. But just three years before his untimely death in 1992, Edwin praises Parsonage, Green and Clarke for their superb work as Punch figure 22 Exchange & Mart weekly classified paper. makers in his book, Edwin’s Magic – Vol. 2.

Joe’s daughter fondly relates some amusing facts about his puppet making work, “Dad’s workshop was the dining room, but he was eventually banished to a small shed in the garden behind the house, to make his puppet heads as Mum was fed up with wood shavings in the house. Heads propped up on stands in various stages of painting were a common sight. Unfortunately there are no existing photos of the shed or his workshop. Mum made all the costumes for the vent dolls and the Punch and Judys were all made on her very old, hand-turned Singer sewing machine.” Apparently Joe tried to buy his wife a treadle, and later an electric sewing machine to sew the outfits, but Hand-turned Singer sewing machine she always preferred her hand-turned machine. She also recalled when her father received a letter from the Governor of Dartmoor prison in the 1960s requesting that he make a ventriloquist figure for one of their prisoners serving a life sentence. Her mother was not too keen on the idea, but finally consented to make the figure’s clothing, which included a checkered jacket and pants and a black Edith and Joe Parsonage bow tie. The Governor guaranteed payment, but Joe refused and later received thank you letters from both the Governor and the prisoner. Joe often performed his ventriloquist act on the same bill with singers and musicians and Ursula tells us, “Dad was not a musician but he loved classical music, especially Italian opera, and his favorite singer was Beniamino Gigli. Dad would have radios in all of his work places and it was nothing new for them all to be on at the same time but tuned to different stations, it used to drive us all mad.” 23

Joe Parsonage’s ventriloquist figures and Punch and Judy puppets still occasionally resurface for sale, but many of them are likely ensconced and preserved in private collections. However, David Wilde relates that over the years he has seen quite a few for sale online, probably due to Parsonage’s sizable output.24 The Theatre and Performance Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London has some nice examples of Kent and Tickner Punch figures, but unfortunately no figures or information about Parsonage. His hand puppets generally range in size from 41.9 cm (16 ½”) to 66 cm (26”) and are constructed from a variety of materials. The heads, hands and legs and feet are carved wood and his wife used various colorful fabrics to create the costumes and linings including different cottons, felts, calico, and red corduroy for Mr. Punch’s outfits. His daughter tells us that her father and mother would go to rummage sales to buy jackets, suits and other clothes with usable fabric then take them apart saving the buttons, fasters and trimmings. The materials would be washed and pressed and used for the costumes as needed. Many of his puppets Joe Parsonage figures (collection of David Wilde) are accented with wavy trim, lace and upholstery tacks. Parsonage’s puppets can be further identified by the method he used to carve facial features, especially the ears, eyes, and the shape of his figure’s hands as well as his colors and method of painting the puppet eyes and mouth.

Chris Somerville of Colwyn Bay, Rhos-on-Sea, North Wales, relates how some of Parsonage’s first Mr. Punch figures for Supreme came to be marketed with larger heads, “… it is a fact that some of the Victorian shows did have Punch as a bigger figure than the others. Probably the nicest, biggest piece of wood they found was reserved for Punch, but wood wasn't easily come by and particularly in blocks large enough, so often the lesser characters were made of smaller bits - whatever could be found. Also probably more time and effort was put into Punch's costume. Of course there were Punch makers, proper carvers, who made sets of matching figures for the more successful puppeteers who could afford to pay a specialist maker - but many of the run of the mill Punch men would make their own, and these were often a hodge-podge of shapes and sizes. Edwin was doubtless told by someone - it may have been Wal Kent - about Punch sometimes being Puppets made by Joe Parsonage - Note the large-head Punch! bigger than the other dolls. When Edwin was in a position to (Supreme Magic Catalog No. 4, Part Three, 1970, pg. 16.) sell Punch figures probably remembered this and thought it a good selling point to claim he was recreating the "traditional" Punch with a larger head than the others...”25 An advertisement for Supreme Punch and Judy puppets from the 1970 catalog during the Parsonage-era actually says, “MR. PUNCH. A really grand fellow in red velvet with yellow trim etc. Extra large head. Carved hands and feet.”26

The Joe Parsonage Punch and Judy puppets that inspired this research, originally purchased from The Supreme Magic Company by “Uncle Ted” Raub, then acquired by Robert Gregg include the larger Mr. Punch figure that Somerville mentions. At 66 cm (26”) and weighing over 964 grams (34 ozs) he is quite imposing for a hand puppet. In spite of being very large, the puppet is nicely made, but because of its size and weight, it’s apparent it would be difficult to handle for any length of time and a frustrating experience for budding performers. This is probably why these larger “traditional” Punch figures didn’t last long and we believe that Parsonage only made a small number of them.27 In spite of this minor drawback, Parsonage’s prodigious supply of figures to Supreme for over twenty years made Punch and Judy puppets significantly more accessible to both aspiring and seasoned performers. Along Joe Parsonage with Wal Kent, Tony Green, Bryan Clarke and many others, Parsonage was a key player in a business that made it possible for those who couldn’t make their own puppets to acquire a quality set of Punch and Judy figures. From his small workshop in the garden, Joe Parsonage made large contributions to the material history of Punch and Judy by preserving a British tradition which began long before his time and we certainly hope will continue long after.

I must admit that while researching this account I was somewhat surprised and a bit disappointed that writers and puppetry historians, and Punch and Judy historians in particular, have overlooked Joe Parsonage. On the other hand, I’m very grateful because their reluctance to document anything of Joe’s life inspired me to attempt to learn more about him. It also afforded me the opportunity to meet his charming and gracious family. I thank them from my heart for that privilege and the personal information they provided about their father. A special thanks goes to Ian Adair, David Wilde, Geoff Felix, Michael Dixon and Chris Somerville for their valuable contributions. I’m also indebted to Robert and Christine Gregg because without Robert’s love of puppetry and her genealogy expertise, we most likely would not have met Joe Parsonage! I hope that these humble notes will inspire others to give Joe Parsonage his rightful place in Punch and Judy history along with many others like Kent, Green, and Clarke who have already earned that respect. Perhaps someone will add his name and story to books about Punch and Judy tradition, honor him in museums, celebrate him at May Fayre and continue to treasure and preserve his wonderful creations. Hopefully Joe Parsonage will finally get the recognition he deserves and which is far too long overdue.

Greg Pellone has traveled extensively and now lives on Treasure Island, Florida, USA. He is an artist, puppet collector/maker, researcher, writer, and occasional performer. He is the curator and conservator of the Pellone/Barrett Puppet Collection, an accumulation of over 500+ puppets and related artifacts from various countries worldwide. He is one of the first graduates of the inaugural University of Connecticut Puppet Arts Online Graduate Certificate Program.

1 Putz, Fred. “Robert Gregg.” Puppeteers of America Puppetry Journal Winter/Spring 2016/17, Vol. 68, No. 2: page 30. Print. 2 Pellone, Greg. “Sharing the World’s Great Puppetry Traditions with the People of St. Petersburg.” Puppeteers of America Puppetry Journal Fall 2015, Vol. 67, No. 1: page 26. Print. 3 Wilde, David. “Re: Hello from Florida, USA.” Message to Greg Pellone, 26 Sep 2018. Email. 4 Speaight, George. The History of the English Puppet Theatre. Harrap, 1955. 5 Böhmer, Günter. The Wonderful World of Puppets. Plays Inc., Boston, 1969. 6 Supreme Magic Co. (1970). The House of Magic Catalog, No. 4, Part 3, pg 16 – 17 [sales catalog]. Bideford, Devon: Supreme Magic Co. 7 Leach, Robert. The Punch & Judy Show, History, Tradition and Meaning. Batsford Academic and Educational, 1985. 8 Adair, Ian. “Re: Book Received.” Message to Greg Pellone, 24 Oct 2018. Email. 9 Styles, John. “Re: Hello from Sunny Florida…!!!” Message to Greg Pellone, 7 Oct 2018. Email. 10 Wilde, David. “Re: Hello from Florida – Parsonage, Green and Clarke.” Message to Greg Pellone, 21 Nov 2018. Email. 11 “Wal Kent (1880 – 1961).” Hall of Fame, The Punch and Judy Fellowship, http://www.thepjf.com/wal_kent.html . Accessed 3 Oct 2018. 12 Green, Tony. Professional Punch. Supreme Magic Co., 1976. 13 Dixon, Michael. “Re: Hello from Florida.” Message to Greg Pellone, 21 Oct 2018. Email. 14 Cousins, Will. “Re: Joe Parsonage.” Message to Greg Pellone, 16 Oct 2018. Email. 15 Styles, John. “Re: Hello from Sunny Florida…!!!” Message to Greg Pellone, 7 Oct 2018. Email. 16 Adair, Ian “Re: message from Ian (Adair).” Message to Greg Pellone, 14 Oct 2018. Email. 17 Adair, Ian. Dealing With Magic – The Rise and Fall of The Supreme Magic Company. Pages2Stages Publishing, Barnstable, 2010. 18 O’Sullivan, Ursula. “Re: Post on the way.” Message to Greg Pellone. 8 Nov 2018. E-mail. 19 Gregg, CM. “Re: Performances.” Message to Greg Pellone. 10 Nov 2018. E-mail. 20 Wilde, David. “Re: Parsonage2.pdf.” Message to Greg Pellone, 24 Nov 2018. Email. 21 Adair, Ian. “Re: Book Received.” Message to Greg Pellone, 24 Oct 2018, Email. 22 Hooper, Edwin. Edwin’s Magic – Vol. 2.Edwin’s Magic Arts, Bideford, Devon, 1989. 23 O’Sullivan, Ursula. “Re: Joe Parsonage.” Message to Greg Pellone. 12 Nov 2018. Email. 24 Wilde, David. “Re: Hello Again from Florida!!” Message to Greg Pellone, 14 Nov 2018. Email. 25 Somerville, Chris. “Re: Wednesday Evening.” Message to Greg Pellone, 25 Oct 2018. Email. 26 Supreme Magic Co. (1970). The House of Magic Catalog, No. 4, Part 3, pg 16 – 17 [sales catalog]. Bideford, Devon: Supreme Magic Co. 27 Somerville, Chris. “Re: Wednesday Evening.” Message to Greg Pellone. 25 Oct 2018. Email.