In researching the life of Ralph Oppenheim, the elusive creator of The Three Mosquitoes, the first bit of information I found on my road to finding the man was an article in The Pocono Record (Stroudsburg, PA) from 1975 (which is part three of this series of articles) which made reference to his pulp writing career. That article was the key to finding the man behind The Three Mosquitoes. There was enough information to trace him back ultimately to his birth on March 29th, 1907!

While we’re working on a more detailed biography of Mr Oppenheim, here’s a bit of a preview. We have a series of three articles over the next few days that covers what he was doing after he left writing behind with the demise of the pulps during the last couple decades of his life—running a Magical Puppet World featuring 17 different annimated vingettes. Using a process Ralph Oppenheim had developed and patented!

In 1965 he moved with his wife Shirley to the Poconos in Pennsylvania, where he set up his varrious puppet shows in an old stone barn and christened it Oppenheim’s Magic Puppet World!

Pair creates magic world

The Pocono Record, The Stroudsburgs, PA • 25 March 1966

Editor’s note: In keeping with Pennsylvania’s Tourist Preparation Month this March, when residents are urged to become familiar with attractions In their area, The Pocono Record is presenting this series on Pocono attractions. It has been prepared by the Pocono Mountains Vacation Bureau.

Take the age-old art of puppetry, harness it to the modern science of automation, put this unique combination in a beautiful old barn in the scenic Poconos—and you have Oppenheim’s Magic Puppet World.

Here, to absorb and delight the visitor, are the results of 15 years of creative work by Ralph and Shirley Oppenheim, originators of Automatic Puppetry, a new entertainment medium wherein marionettes perform without puppeteers—their strings pulled by automatic precision “fingers.”

In the past, the Oppenheims have won national recognition for their Automatic Puppetry in special projects commissioned by some of the country’s leading industrial companies.

One such project has run for several years at Chicago’s famous Museum of Science and Industry; another was featured at the recent New York World’s Fair.

However, the Oppenheims always had as their goal a full entertainment presentation that could truly offer all the unique aspects of this new medium. For this they worked over a period of many years to create the 17 automatic puppet shows at the Magic Puppet World.

Visitors walk along a rustic “road” in the barn to see these shows arrayed in gem-like stages. Each has its own colorful setting, costumes, and lighting effects. All depict pantomime stories with whimsy, humor, and absorbing action.

The road winds through Lilliput, “The Littlest World in the World,” where a four-foot Gulliver introduces the Lilliputian marionettes—less than three inches high—performing in original stories: “The Cannonball Clowns,” “Rival Romeos,” “Rookie in the Royal Guard”—to name only a few.

Then there is Old Story Road, where favorite classics—Miss Muffet, Cinderella, and others come to life in this new medium of puppet story-telling.

And, in Ballet Square, the “Doll Ballet” is performed by eight-inch marionettes in true ballet technique. As part of this performance, the audience is invited “backstage” to see the automation machinery actually controlling the little dancers.

In harmony with this unique puppet entertainment is the new Puppet and Gift Shop which has its opening this season.

Set up in the “barn lobby.” this shop features a fantastic variety of puppets, decorative figures, and unusual souvenirs-all designed and handcrafted in the Oppenheims’ burn workshop.

Located six-miles west of Stroudsburg, on Business Route 209 between Snydersville and Sciota, the Magic Puppet World—in keeping with Governor Seranton’s proclaimed Tourist Preparation Month—is busily preparing to open its 1966 season on May 28.

At this time, the automation machinery will begin pulling the strings that will bring to life in continuous performances all the marionettes at the Magic Puppet World.

• Download “Pair creates magic world”
  (25 March 1966, The Pocono Record)