Punch and Judy in 19th Century America: A History and Biographical Dictionary

The hand-puppet play starring the characters Punch and Judy was introduced from England and became extremely popular in the U.S. in the 1800s. This book contains the record of what the author has learned about almost 350 American Punch players. And it explores the significance of the 19th-century American show as a reflection of the attitudes and conditions of its time and place. The century was a time of changing feelings about what it means to be human. There was an intensified awareness of the racial, cultural, social and economical diversity of the human species, and a corresponding concern for an understanding and experience of human oneness. The American Punch and Judy show was one of the manifestations of these conditions.