A Punch & Judy Show, on Southwold beach next to the pier, all eyes glued on Mr Punch. Part of our seaside tradition, but not often seen so much nowadays.
Occupation Category – Punch & Judy Showman
August 2010 – Taken with my iPhone
Exploration of the Past
Echoes of the Past 
You have done it again! Highlighted another favorite of mine ~ I love Punch and one of my most prized possession is a Punch doll made in the 1930’s and an old iron doorstop of Judy with baby Punch. Thanks for this.
I just have the touch 😀 I have been sorting through all my old iPhones photos, which I stopped using when Steve bought me a Nikon for a special birthday, a while ago now. So as I am sorting, I am finding lots that I had forgotten about. Gad you like the photo, Punch is an acquired taste, my daughter loved him as a child and how lovely to have those couple of items 🙂
Aggghhh! Horror! Sorry – but I hated Punch and Judy as a kid! my mum would try to get me to watch it with all the other kids at the beach. No way! Who wants to see Punch beating everyone up?? Weird or what? But thanks, I think, for the memory 🙂 🙂
LOL :D, he is a bit like Marmite, love or hate. I find the whole thing quite fascinating, because some children love to watch him….. my daughter did, she had the puppets, I think she might still have one……. I did watch him on Sunday afternoons on Southsea Beach, for what seems like years……but there wasn’t much else in the late 50’s 🙂
Donkey Rides!!! I much preferred these to the show 🙂
I will find you a donkey ride photo 🙂
Thank you 🙂 I have a photo of me as a kid leading a donkey up and down the beach. After doing this most of the day I got a free ride at the end 🙂
Oh thats sounds like a great photo, thats a lovely memory, I think I went on one on the Isle of Wight, as I have a photo of my grandfather on a donkey and I was with them, so maybe I did, can’t really remember 🙂
“That’s the way you do it”!! Thanks for this-lovely!! Punch and Judy are so un PC…delicious!
Glad you like it, yes its a wonder they haven’t banned it yet, they seem to want to do it with everything else 🙂
Lynn. Should have put an additional comment in there as regards Punch~ you may or may not know it is not a thing shown or well known in the U.S at all, so I have only seen fragments of the actual shows ~ We did not grow up with them the way most British children did. it was never Punch’s behavior that I liked anyway, as he was horrible of course and would make me cringe, but just loved the history of the character and the way he looked , his comical peculiar voice, his dog, as well as the baby and Judy~ It was more a an aesthetic thing for me~ the bizarreness and the look of the characters . I was fascinated with his history , how the character evolved and his resemblance to jesters (which I also love the look of) I understand that the shows they perform these days have altered in that the baby is no longer treated the same and a few other adjustments for today’s audience~ so more palatable for today’s audience and standards.
Oh thats a shame, a whole show, with the children all shouting ‘thats the way to do it’ etc is quite something, It is a very tame version now to what it was when I was a child, but I just thought it was funny, because it wasn’t real. There is as you say a lot of history surrounding Mr Punch and I still like to see a show on the beach, as it brings back happy memories `;0
I used to be envious of children that had actually seen a whole show ~ it was just one of those things I missed while living in England. I have friends who have very happy and nostalgic memories of seeing Punch at the seaside~ it was all part of the experience and a day by the sea. I have seen enough of the show to know I liked it and dear old Punch is quite old~ dating back to the 1500’s at least ,to Italy and” Punchinello “. Even Samuel Pepys mentions seeing a show with one of the earliest manifestations of Mr Punch. 🙂
Yes the history of Punch is interesting and I am sure somewhere in the uk there is a museum of him, or there was 🙂
Yes, I am sure you are right and know there is a man who continues to be the main person who teaches and insures that Punch goes on in Britain~ I think there is a large collection of Punch related items. Your post reminded me about my love of jesters and did a little research last night and found a site that had photographs of the most wonderful 16th century wands/sticks that had ribbons and bells attached , some even had a carving of a jester or Punch like head along with the ribbons and bells~ Amazing that some survived!
Yes, when you think how old some of these items are, it is amazing how they haven’t got lost in the mists of time 🙂 glad I renewed your love of jesters 🙂