Isn’t Life Really Just One Big Puppet Show? A Photo Essay about Puppets and more
Behind the falls of the Canadian Mississippi River and around the bend,
Lies a secret under the towers of the Almonte, Ontario Town Hall,
People line up everywhere for puppet shows galore!
There were fuzzy alien puppets,
There were tall chubby puppets,
And short ones in chairs,
There was sugar and silliness,
And of course there was royalty,
Some danced,
And there were Mums and Dads too,
People came from far and near,
There were puppets on the bottom,
And more puppets were on top,
The Belly Dancers led the parade,
The Scotsmen were next,
Some were from our land,
Others were from a galaxy far far away,
,
Some marched proud with their puppets,
Some did not care,
Some were not so famous and had no umbrellas to shield them from the hot sun.
And then some were very famous as we all remembered them from CBC’s “Under the Umbrella Tree”
Thank you Noreen Young and everyone else from “Puppets Up” for one grand day!
Life’s like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending.
Jim Henson
Images and text: Linda Seccaspina 2011
Shots taken on location at Puppets Up! in Almonte, Ontario, August 6th, 2011.
Over 10,000 people filled the small town for the two day fest this year.
My Carleton Place home used to be the Hi Diddle Day House in the opening CBC TV show credits of Noreen Youngs puppet program called Hi Diddle Day.
Hi Diddle Day (Series) (1968-1975)
Hi Diddle Day was a CBC Ottawa production designed to entertain and inform young viewers. The uniquely-produced series starred a number of puppet characters (created, manipulated and voiced by Noreen Young) who lived in an unusual household. The setting was a Victorian house in Crabgrass, a typical small Canadian community. In the house lived Mrs. Dibble, and a host of zany puppet characters. Other puppets were Basil the Beagle, Durwood the Dragon, Wolfgang Von Wolf, Granny, Chico The Crow, a French-Canadian moose called Ti, Lucy Goose and others.
A regular on the show was the mailman, Mr. Post, played by Bob Gardiner. Musician Wyn Canty appearred occasionally as music teacher. There were also guest appearances by experts in the fields of music, art, science, entertainment and sports. The show was originally seen only in Ottawa, Montreal and the Maritimes. By 1970, its popularity led CBC to turn it into a national children’s series.
Original Broadcaster(s): CBC
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