The audience at Professor Richard Codman lll's Punch and Judy booth, Liverpool, ca.1940
Photograph
ca.1940 (photographed)
ca.1940 (photographed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This photograph shows the audience, mostly children dressed in summer clothes, watching Professor Richard Codman lll's Punch and Judy booth outside Lime Street Station, Liverpool. The photograph was taken some time between 1936 and 1949 by the puppeteer, author and leading figure in the revival of British puppetry in the mid 20th century, Waldo S. Lanchester (1897-1978).
The Codman family was a veritable Punch dynasty. The Liverpool booth was established by Richard Codman l in 1868. His son Richard ll took over the pitch in 1888, succeeding in turn to his son Richard lll, while other Codmans worked in Llanduddno and Colwyn Bay. For the Codman family Punch and Judy was their life, despite its hardships. As Jack Codman once said: 'The Codmans never retire from the show. They transfer from one box to another.'
The Codman family was a veritable Punch dynasty. The Liverpool booth was established by Richard Codman l in 1868. His son Richard ll took over the pitch in 1888, succeeding in turn to his son Richard lll, while other Codmans worked in Llanduddno and Colwyn Bay. For the Codman family Punch and Judy was their life, despite its hardships. As Jack Codman once said: 'The Codmans never retire from the show. They transfer from one box to another.'
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Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The audience at Professor Richard Codman lll's Punch and Judy booth, Liverpool, ca.1940 (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Photograph |
| Brief description | The audience standing to watch Professor Richard Codman lll's Punch and Judy booth outside Lime Street Station, Liverpool, ca.1940. Black and white photograph by Waldo S. Lanchester (1897-1978). Gerald Morice Collection. |
| Physical description | Black and white photograph showing the audience, mostly children but some adults, standing on a cobbled street on a sunny day, wearing summer clothes, watching a performance taking place in Professor Richard Codman lll's Punch and Judy booth outside Liverpool Lime Street station. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | photo by WSL of Codman P&J show at Liverpool
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| Credit line | Given by Gerald Morice |
| Object history | The photographer of this item Waldo S. Lanchester (1897-1978) was a puppeteer and an author of books on puppetry. He was at the forefront of the British revival of the string puppet and a leading player in the formative years of the British Puppet & Model Theatre Guild. He established the London Marionette Theatre in Hammersmith in 1927 with colleague Harry Whanslaw, and went on to run the Lanchester Marionette Theatre in Malvern with his wife, Muriel from 1936 to 1949. They moved to Stratford Upon Avon in 1951. A photograph of the booth itself in the collection (S.3481-2013) evidently taken at the same time, is stamped verso 'Photograph by Waldo S. Lanchester, The Marionette Theatre, Malvern, Worcs', which dates both photographs to some time between 1936 and 1949. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Associations | |
| Summary | This photograph shows the audience, mostly children dressed in summer clothes, watching Professor Richard Codman lll's Punch and Judy booth outside Lime Street Station, Liverpool. The photograph was taken some time between 1936 and 1949 by the puppeteer, author and leading figure in the revival of British puppetry in the mid 20th century, Waldo S. Lanchester (1897-1978). The Codman family was a veritable Punch dynasty. The Liverpool booth was established by Richard Codman l in 1868. His son Richard ll took over the pitch in 1888, succeeding in turn to his son Richard lll, while other Codmans worked in Llanduddno and Colwyn Bay. For the Codman family Punch and Judy was their life, despite its hardships. As Jack Codman once said: 'The Codmans never retire from the show. They transfer from one box to another.' |
| Associated object | S.3481-2013 (Object) |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.3480-2013 |
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| Record created | December 24, 2013 |
| Record URL |
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