Odds 'n' Ends: Day of the Dead

Here is where I take the opportunity to show off some of the toys and paper models I have collected, that are only tangentially related to tabletop theater.

This Day of the Dead retablo is about the size of a matchbox, the piece measures 2" x 1 1/2" x 1/2". The miniature skeleton, as well as the background details of the tree and moon were created with clay and hand painted. He is enclosed in a cardboard box with the detailing seemingly done in green ink.

A birthday gift from a former boss, bought as I recall in Manhattan at House of Cards & Curiosities, 23 Eighth Avenue (between Jane Street and West 12th Street).

Punch and Judy

I can't seem to find very much information about this particular theater.

Toy Theatre Company lists it as "Kaspartheater (4) No 2l5." However each of the other sides of the sheet are printed in a different language "Punchinello," "Guignol" on a third, and "Punch and Judy" on the fourth making it difficult for me to determine the country of origin and do more research. That said this is a 1984 reprint from the Phoenix Papieren Theatre located in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is printed on heavy card stock and measures 3 1/2" W x 2"H.

Because I started building these models before it ever occurred to me to take pictures of them, the image of the uncut sheet above comes from the Toy Theatre Company. The photos below are of my model.

As always if anyone has additional information about this or any of the other theaters posted here, please let me know, and I will update my posts.

Odds 'n' Ends: Métro de Paris

Here is where I take the opportunity to show off some of the toys and paper models I have collected, that are only tangentially related to tabletop theater.

L 'Instant Durable's Métro de Paris is a card model that I picked up in a Paris gift shop in the summer of 2004.

The above picture of the uncut postcard (approx. 4 1/4" x 6 1/2") comes from Moduni. The photo below is of my completed model.

L 'Instant Durable is a well known French publisher card model publisher. Their 3-D postcard models were all over Paris, and were easy to find. They publish more than 150 cards with 100 architectural models. L'Instant Durable offers nearly every famous French building like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Sacré-Cœur to name a few. They also publish card models from other European countries.

The postcard is printed on a heavy card stock that makes it a little difficult to cut out the fine details like the lampposts. I ended up splitting some bamboo skewers and gluing them against the back of the two lampposts to reinforce the sign as a whole.

There are several designers for L 'Instant Durable's models. Since the larger models are printed as books, it is easy to find who worked on each one, but I cannot find a credit for the postcards.

The 3-D card model is beautifully rendered and colored. To give you an idea of how well designed the model is I have included a photo of the actual Pigalle Métro station. (My apologies to the person who posted the original vacation photo online, but it was the best example I could find.)

I when I picked up Métro de Paris (station Pigalle), I also purchased the Opéra de Paris and will information about it shortly. Of course now I wish I had picked up more of the postcards.

Theatre Guignol

This Imagerie d´Épinal cutout of a Theatre Guignol comes from Pellerin. From 1840 until World War I, Pellerin published a wide variety of paper toys, including toy theaters, trains, and jumping jacks (a kind of primitive marionette).

The paper architecture models, and toy theaters came in three different sizes. This small theatre is number 1318. These "Petites Constructions" were generally numbered from 1101 to 1500.

This 1984 reprint comes from the Phoenix Papieren Theatre located in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is printed on heavy card stock and measures 2"W x 4"H.

Because I started building these models before it ever occurred to me to take pictures of them, the image of the uncut sheet above comes from the Toy Theatre Company. The photos below are of my model.

Odds 'n' Ends: Punch Finger Puppet

Here is where I take the opportunity to show off some of the toys and paper models I have collected, that are only tangentially related to tabletop theater.


This Punch finger puppet was a birthday present from my wife on my thirtieth birthday.

It was created by the German toy company Trullala. Trullala Spielwaren GmbH sells a wide variety of children's dress-up costumes and puppets. This Punch/Kasper finger puppet is approximately six inches tall. Made of cotton and felt, the head is papier-mâché covered in cotton fabric.

I cannot seem to find the exact finger puppet on the Trullala website, but they have a number of other Kasper/Punch dolls. Including the hand sized version of my finger puppet seen below.

Odds 'n' Ends: This is not a pipe!

Here is where I take the opportunity to show off some of the toys and paper models I have collected, that are only tangentially related to tabletop theater.

Like the two matchbox size theaters, this Magic-Puzzle comes from the German publisher Wetzel. Taking inspiration from Magritte one of the most famous paintings in his "La trahison des images" ("The Treachery of Images") series it was designed by Richard Wetzel.

The picture above of the matchbox puzzle's cover comes from the Moduni website. The pictures below are are of my own Magic-Puzzle.

The puzzle is composed of five cards. Each card has a different cut out silhouette images. The profiles on the cards are distorted to the extreme and I'm hard pressed to say that they are all actually faces.

By stacking the five cards together in the correct order the negative space creates the image of a pipe.

Odds 'n' Ends: B Movie Victims

Here is where I take the opportunity to show off some of the toys and paper models I have collected, that are only tangentially related to tabletop theater.

This last Christmas I received a set of Horrified B-Movie Victims. The photo above was found online and I post it only because it is a better representation of the set than anything I could muster. I was inspired to post the set of figures after seeing Tiny Ninja Theatre's production of Romeo and Juliet.

The back card says, "We provide the victims, you provide the terror!" This terrified crew of hard plastic three inch figures look like a lot of actors I have seen, especially ones leaving my rehearsals.

The Horrified B-Movie Victims come from the novelty company Accoutrements. I am a big fan of their products including zombie finger puppets. If you aren't a wholesaler though I recommend checking out their retail division Archie McPhee.