Mary and Joseph Nativity marionettes by Mabel Beaton from The Spirit of Christmas, from the Gary Busk collection courtesy of Pix Smith. Photo: Richard Termine
Puppets for the Holidays on TV Screens By Steve Abrams
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eginning in 1948, when network television was just getting started, puppets became a part of our national landscape. Suddenly millions of people could see puppets. A Christmas Carol by Rufus and Margo Rose, December 24, 1948 (on ABC), was the first full-length puppet production to be broad- cast nationally.
In December 1949, Burr Tillstrom’s Kukla, Fran and Ollie devoted five half-hour shows to Christmas festivities. Thanks to Mark Mi- lano for transferring shows to a digital format and posting them on YouTube. December 20, 1949, “Making a Christmas Tree Stand”
https://www.youtube.com/v=nRsh0qek40E The Spirit of Christmas, 1951, featured the marionettes of Mabel Beaton performing “The Night Before Christmas” and the Nativ- ity
https://www.youtube.com/v=8wFpuF3Ld7Q December 9, 1951, the Salzburg Marionettes were in New York and performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, returning again in 1953. The Bil Baird Marionettes were featured in Babes in Toyland, December 18, 1954
https://www.youtube.com/v=TjaH65tmUIk (one minute in)
Puppets in December became a regular feature of The Ed Sullivan Show. Bil Baird Marionettes appeared in 1959 and 1960 and were joined by Shari Lewis in 1961. The Piccoli Marionettes from Italy were on the show December 30, 1962. The Obrazstov puppets ap-
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peared December 1, 1963, and in 1964 and 1965, Topo Gigio was part of the holiday fun.
In 1964, the Rankin-Bass stop-action animation Rudolph the Red-Nosed Rein- deer was first broadcast.
Christmas Eve 1964, Jim Henson’s Rowlf the Dog was on The Jimmy Dean Show. Christmas Eve 1967, Muppet reindeer were part of The Ed Sullivan Show with Arthur Godfrey. The Great Santa Clause Switch with the Mup- pets and Art Carney debuted in 1970, starting a 50-year tradition of Henson Christmas specials. Favorites from the 1970s included Emmet Otter’s Jug -Band Christmas (1977) and Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978). Burr Tillstrom returned with Tis The Season to Be Ollie in 1979. A nearly forgotten gem from 1980 was The Dick Cavett Show with the Little Players. Shari Lewis offered Lamb Chop’s Special Chanukah in 1995.
https://www.youtube.com/71U-3s_2e-U
Lamb Chop's Special Cha- nukah by Shari Lewis, 1995.
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