The marionette has had a long and interesting evolution. Early marionettes usually only featured one long string, connected to a handle which allowed the puppeteer to make the puppet bounce around, and little more. Over time, marionettes became more complicated with the addition of more strings, a cross-shaped controller and articulated limbs. By the Eighteenth Century, marionettes had evolved into the form we know today and became a highly popular form of entertainment, especially in Italy. In Venice, for example, marionettes had a hey-day for a period of several decades. Theatrical companies often preferred using marionettes over live actors whom they found to be considerably more difficult and expensive. Lavish puppet stages were constructed and plays were written expressly for wooden performers. Our beloved Mr. Punch, in fact, began his existence as a marionette before his own personal evolution into the more easily-operated glove puppet we know today.
Though they were traditionally theatrical tools used by adults, by the Twentieth Century, puppets had become kid-stuff. Marionettes were designed in a smaller scale with relatively easy controllers. In Britain, one puppet-maker seemed to dominate the market, Pelham Puppets. Their line of marionettes was quite popular. This poodle, for example, with articulated limbs and a curiously complicated system of strings was a best-seller between 1950 and 1959.
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I'm not surprised this particular model was a best seller. There's something immensely appealing about him, particularly that nose. Also - there were a number of popular comic strips series in England during the 1950s which featured animals (but also people) in this sort of style. Fans of these strips probably responded to toys/objects/designs which mirrored the images they saw daily/weekly in these strips.
As to the marionette theatres in Italy, the tradition still continues. A few years ago, I read an article about an Italian family which had been operating a marionette theatre for at least hundred years. The current patriarch talked lovingly about his puppets. He mentioned that he and the family still made them by hand, even individually stranding the puppets' hair. When a puppet became 'worn out' (he mentioned their "heels wear down through dancing") it was kept as an old friend rather than discarded.
The family company 'kept old puppet stories alive' but seemed interested in ensuring the theatre remained 'fresh' by looking for new stories. However family admitted that keeping puppets repaired (and also making new ones) was a major exercise. The patriarch mentioned that he would like to make a marionette version of a famous Italian opera, but it was difficult to find the time to make the requisite performers.
It's interesting to remember that the story of "Pinocchio" began as a novel written by an Italian. Pinocchio is a marionette puppet made by a childless wood carver. More than a hundred years later, Disney adapted the story. Today Pinocchio is probably better remembered for his nose than he is for being a jointed Italian wooden puppet.
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