Winifred Atwell puppet from The Merrie-Midgets

1960s

The Merrie-Midgets were a puppet show hand-crafted, built and performed by the Comfort family of Christchurch from the mid 1950s until 1965. The show travelled the length of the South Island, along with appearances in Auckland and Wellington, and was a regular feature on Hays Roof during school holidays.
Puppet character based on the famous American pianist Winifred Atwell, on stage with her piano, from The Merrie-Midgets puppet show. People regularly asked how did they make the puppet's fingers move over the keys.

Area: Central City / Central Christchurch - North

Contributor: Greg Comfort

Source: Entry in the 2018 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt

Source: View in canterburystories.nz

Reference ID: CCL-PH18-073

Uploaded by: CCL Photo Hunt

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

This material has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. Please contact Christchurch City Libraries if you have any questions relating to the use of this material or wish to order a hi resolution copy for commercial purposes. It is the responsibility of the user to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

Winifred Atwell puppet from The Merrie-Midgets

Comments

Report this entry

More from the same area

Stan Johnson's grocer shop, Colombo Street

Parking attendants on Gloucester Street

Science display at the Canterbury-Westland Science fair

Margarine sculpture at the Southern Food fare

Child in a toy convertible at the Motor Show Trade Expo '87

Snowy the cat and the friendly magpie

Drivers union stopwork meeting

Canterbury Society of Arts gallery, Durham Street

Former Canterbury Society of Arts gallery, Durham Street

Christchurch ZONTA Club pottery exhibition

Clowns with balloons on the riverbank

Choir at Park Royal

Crowne Plaza atrium café

Margaret Mahy in a library

Gavin Bishop with his children's book

Gavin Bishop with his daughter

Christchurch Schools Music Festival at Town Hall

Choir for the Christchurch Schools Music Festival

Schools music festival rehearsal at the Town Hall

Christchurch Schools Music Festival

Christchurch Schools Music Festival 1983

School children singing

Shirley Boys' High School 25th anniversary assembly