Tatterman Marionettes

The company was organized in Detroit in 1922 by William Duncan and Edward Mabley. They met during high school at an exhibition of model stages, where each had an entry. They discovered a mutual interest in the theater and puppetry. In 1923 The King of the Golden River was produced. Catherine Reighard dramatized many of the early plays for marionettes. Her book, Plays for People and Puppets, which was published in1928, included five plays; Jack and the Beanstalk, TheKing of the Golden River, Rumplestiltskin, Pierre Patilin and Aladdin.

Commercial productions under the name of Duncan-Mabley, Inc. included From Cave to Kelvinator, The Glo-Coat Show and Jantzen Diving Girl (which included an aluminum marionette performing in a tank of water in store windows, a real crowd pleaser!).

The company was disbanded in 1941.

Among the puppets represented in this IPM collection are characters from; Peer Gynt, (which contained 44 marionettes and 11 scenes. It was the most ambitious puppet production in the annals of American puppetry).  The Wizard of Oz, built in 1940 for General Electric at the New York World’s Fair. Mrs. Cinderlla  also built for G.E.  Puppets from the 1930 production of  The Glowing Bird, written by Edward Mabley. A number of marionettes from the 1931 production of   Legend of the Lightning and 1936 The Taming of the Shrew.