Church Fair Fun (retired)

[skukla]

Released in 1994, retired in 2002. Associated with Addy Saves the Day.

Addy collected empty spools from Mrs. Ford’s shop to make wooden puppets, and got Poppa to build a special stage. Then she and Sarah put on puppet shows and sold spool puppets to raise money at the church fair! You can put on puppet shows just like Addy did. Your theater comes with a wooden stage, two spool puppets of a soldier and a dog, and two backdrops so you can change the scenery. One of the backdrops is already painted, the other is for you to create. The slide whistle that Poppa made of spools helped Addy save the day!

[EofA]

The Church Fair Fun was Pleasant Company at its zenith in terms of execution of a story idea. It is brilliance packaged in a toy.

Addy at the church fair. The stage is elevated on a table.




The spool puppets are darling. It would be so easy to make more, since craft stores sell spools of this size. They aren't going to stand up to rough play, but they are absolutely playable.



Soldier


Doggy


The stage itself is ingeniously designed. You can see here how the puppets can be hung from the rafters for the show. The stage part slides in front (the curtains are fabric, but they are fixed) and the backdrops slide in behind and can be removed for scene changes.



There is one pre-painted backdrop, and blanks for the owner to personalize (not pictured here).



Flip the stage over when you're done, and it becomes a storage box!


This piece doesn't show up very often on the secondary market and is dear when it does, but it is truly one of the best pieces ever made for any historical collection. A+

[PleasantMemories]

A+

This set is one of the highlights of Addy’s collection. It is well made and has tremendous play value. Although this is one of my favorite accessory sets, it doesn’t get a lot of use. My children are still quite young and I’m afraid that something would be accidently lost or broken if it were left out. I used to display it on Addy’s table with her winter fun set or with her other summer accessories.

[august]

I have been wanting to post reviews for a while now and finally got some free time today. This set is one of the reasons I feel in love with AG. The puppet was such a important part of Addy Saves the Day and then to have it made into a real toy just leaves me breathless. It is so sad this set is now retired.

Rating: A+

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[mamared]

From Addy’s Summer Story: “The children from the churches wanted to help raise money, too. They decided to make spool puppets to sell - an idea Addy had suggested. Poppa built a stage so the children could put on a puppet show at the fair, and he made slide whistles for the children to sell.”

I love the detail and creativity of this set. Here are some photos from the pamphlet and in person:



From the side you can see the hooks that the spool puppets rest upon, as well as the construction of the stage. The front portion with curtains slide into a grove of the wooden stage (actually the storage box flipped upside down), and the backdrops rest in groves at the back of the stage.



That’s the slide whistle in front!
From the back (without a backdrop):



The backdrops are made of heavy cardboard. There is an outdoor scene pictured on one side of one backdrop, which leaves three remaining sides you can decorate yourself. It would also be simple to cut additional squares of cardboard and make more of your own.

Here are close ups of the spool puppets, which are made of wood, string, and just a little bit of felt:




The wooden slide whistle really works, too! Overall grade: A for creativity, uniqueness, and detail, B because there just aren’t that many occasions to use puppets

[skukla]

Here is Addy's puppet theater next to Rebecca's Coney Island game for comparison.

[keeperofthepast]

I only have the whistle, but I love that it really works. The spool puppets will be easy to make my own as will the stage as I won't pay eBay prices for the real thing.