Judy Folkmanis, Co-founder, Folkmanis Inc., Emeryville, California

Puppet people Atis and Judy Folkmanis commemorate 25 years of fuzzy fun.

Meredith Schwartz -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 1/1/2001

Gifts & Dec: What got you interested in making puppets?

Judy Folkmanis: In the late '60s, my oldest child was in nursery school, and the school was doing a puppet show. They asked parents to do publicity or help put on the show, which I wasn't keen on, or make the puppets. That sounded more interesting. It was the beginning of Sesame Street and commercially made puppets weren't yet available. But Women's Day had published patterns for Sesame Street puppets, so I made a Cookie Monster, Ernie, and Bert, and they were very successful.

Gifts & Dec: And what led you to start selling the puppets?

JF: I got a reputation among the mothers at the school. Everybody wanted Cookie Monsters and Kermits. I started making the puppets on our dining room table to make a little extra cash. At the time my husband, Atis, was doing his doctoral work. The extra money was such a help that I took the puppets to consignment crafts shops near my home in Massachusetts, where they were a big success.

Gifts & Dec: Why did you leave Massachusetts?

JF: My husband finished his doctorate in 1972 and got a job at the University of California at Berkeley. We were still low on money, but I discovered that crafts were sold on Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue. So I got myself a city license and sold puppets on weekends, when my husband could care for the children.

Gifts & Dec: What inspired you to create the unique Folkmanis look?

JF: In 1973 I signed up for a one-week course in puppetry. One day, I saw some paper plates and immediately thought of a clam. But not knowing what a clam looked like inside, I made a turtle. It was the week that President Nixon resigned, so I decided that my turtle would be Richard Nixon. I doctored up his resignation speech and read it from behind the screen during a performance. When I poked the turtle's head in and said, "You won't have me to kick around any more," everyone applauded.

Gifts & Dec: And you had a hit on your hands?

JF: Back home, I made a less "craftsy" cloth version of my turtle. It sold. I made a dozen; they all sold. I made another dozen, jacked up the price, and they sold like crazy. It was a unique and unusual design. So I patented it. I took it to a major toy manufacturer. They manufactured it and gave me a small royalty. After that I branched out on my own, based on the premise that a puppet could be a full-bodied animal. I made raccoons, beavers, and skunks, and sold them at weekend crafts fairs.

Gifts & Dec: When did you decide to take the plunge and go full-time?

JF: In 1976, Atis' post-doctoral work ended, and we faced the question: What do we do now? He saw how well I was doing with my cottage industry puppet business and said, "Let's give it a whirl." We made a contract that we'd give it a year. If it worked, great; if not, we would get regular jobs. Suffice it to say, we were successful. I devoted my full energy to designing and he devoted his to making it an actual business. We had four seamstresses in a small place that we'd rented. Then we signed up for a trade show and started to get wholesale customers. I was rapidly building my design skills and Atis was able to apply his scientific background to running the business. We kept growing and finally bought our own building in the late '70s.

Gifts & Dec: How many designs are in the line?

JF: More than 200. Each year we introduce a dozen new ones. Atis likes to discontinue items that aren't selling well, but sometimes he wants to discontinue what I consider a staple. We have a cockroach that we argue about all the time.

Gifts & Dec: What have been your greatest challenges?

JF: Facing competition that copies us is a challenge. Keeping the line fresh is another big challenge. But the biggest challenge of all is to work together and remain happily married.

Gifts & Dec: What are your plans for the future?

JF: We'd like to move into other puppet-oriented areas. We look at the business as sort of an unruly adolescent. We'd like to keep it as successful as it has been for the last 25 years. I can't imagine that I'll be doing this 25 years from now, so maybe our children will take it over. But we're not ready to retire yet!