PLUSH HIPPOPOTAMUS HAND PUPPET

Vintage 1977 from R. DAKIN & Co. 

This vintage plush Hippo Hand Puppet has very soft and cuddly grey (or gray) hair or fur.  Tag on the inside says The R. Dakin & Co. 1977 San Francisco Product of Korea.   Has a pink velvet mouth, black felt nostrils, grey felt ears, and black and brown glass (plastic?) eyes.  As this was used in puppet shows (see below), what looks like foam earplugs or something similar were added as teeth to make them stand out much more for the shows.  The foam has deteriorated and the bottoms are mostly missing.  These "teeth" could easily be replaced.  No arms so a person's hand would actually go around the mouth. 

Laying flat, puppet is about 10-11 inches tall and 5-6 inches wide. 

History and Provenance: My mother was a professional clown back in the 1960's, 70's and mid-80's and entertained children at Birthday and Christmas Parties.  She would always end her act with a puppet show.  She had a variety of different puppet shows scripted out and a large collection of puppets that she would use.  Often she would enhance the puppets by adding jewelry or ribbons, bows, etc.  She even sometimes replaced the original "body" with custom designed outfits.  Most of her puppets date from the 1960's and 70's (some earlier), and in many cases tags were removed in preparing the puppets for the shows. Her puppet collection has been stored away since her clown retirement in the 1980's and ended up at the Folsom House.   In going through the dozens of puppets a few had to be discarded (a rubber Whale and Lion had too many cracks), a few of her favorites will be kept for memories, but fortunately, although it may take awhile to list them all, most can be passed on for future puppeteers and puppet shows.  Check out the Folsom House store for more vintage puppets!

Thank you for reviewing this listing from the FOLSOMHOUSE.