SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Inside the Mill in Indian Orchards is where two Wilbraham women operate their online business, Puppet Pelts.
"It’s weird, it’s fun, but it is totally a rabbit hole. Once you go down trying to make your first puppet and it snowballs and then suddenly you have 800 puppets and am like I am the crazy puppet lady,” said partner and dye master, Laurie Nickerson.
Nickerson said she has always loved puppets.
"They always fascinated me and I was like 'How do they do that?' We had a group come into our school in the 80s and they did a puppet show, and I was like ‘Mom, I want to make puppets‘ and she was like ‘Let's make dolls’, and I'm like ‘That is not puppets.' And so when I finally got to be an adult, I was going to make those puppets,” Nickerson said.
Her and her mom started Puppet Pelts in Las Vegas but moved back to Western Massachusetts a few years ago and continued the business here. They run the online puppet supply shop out of the mill and have everything a person would need to make their own puppet.
They said the demand for puppets have been higher and that is partially due to the pandemic.
"People are stuck at home so they have nothing to do and they are looking for crafts and things they can make at home and puppets is one of those things,” Nickerson said.
Sales are up and orders are coming in from all across the country. To keep up, they had to hire more help.
"[Puppets have] been around since Jim Henson in the 70s and 80s,” Nickerson said. “But now there has been a resurgence of them."
One thing people don’t realize until they start making a puppet, is how many parts and pieces are involved. Nickerson demonstrated by taking apart one of her puppets.
"They have a giant sleeve that the head is attached to that your arm goes up and inside is foam,” said Nickerson. “And a mouth plate which is hard."
She explains that puppets aren’t just for kids. The average age of their customer is 45.
"They are all the people who grew up on the muppets and want to start making them for themselves, and that is super awesome,” said Nickerson. “Some of them email and are like 'I'm like 60. Am I too old to make puppets?' No you're not. Anyone can make puppets."
No two puppets are exactly alike, and with the way things are going, it appears Puppet Pelts will stay busy.
"We are super excited people are interested in puppetry and continue to make wonderful characters and it is a joy to see what people make, it really is,” said Nickerson.
She said she encourages everyone to give puppet making a try. Nickerson said anyone who is interested in puppetry locally should check out the Western Massachusetts Puppetry Guild and join the new group.