Punch and Judy puppet collection up for auction in Halifax

The collection belongs to the family of the late Geoffrey Farrar and were the mainstay of his amateur ‘Mr Marmalade’ Punch and Judy, hand-puppet and Marionette shows from the 1950’s up until the late-90’s, following the businessman’s retirement from the textile trade.

Geoffrey’s Mr Marmalade show was commonly found across church group and school’s programmes from Halifax to Rastrick, as well as the puppets making their own strides in local entertainment after being loaned out to performance groups like the Halifax Light Opera Society.

The puppets are being catalogued for sale within Halifax Mill’s September 5 auction and will represent a specialist section of the afternoon’s proceedings, with a range of rare puppetry books and collectables also being sold.

Auctioneer James Watson said: “For me its just another example of a great local Halifax story, and truly representative of the types of local one-offs and unique treasures that I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to sell so far during the last few months.

“Whether it be the Robert Wade crafted pieces or some of the bespoke handmade puppets designed by Geoffrey and his wife Marjorie, I’m really confident of the sale being a success.”

The auction catalogue will be available to view online from Sunday, August 29 by visiting www.easyliveauction.com/halifaxmillauctioneers, with live bidding on Sunday, September 5 at Halifax Mill’s sale-room off Kings Cross Road (HX1 2SY), and online via Easylive.

If you have any questions, you can contact James and his team on 01422 649669 or 07712 566791, or via e-mail, to [email protected].