If I may be so bold to ask, "which is it?"

Hey guys.  I'm feeling a bit dumb and/or confused at the moment.  I've been trying to do some research online recently on what I know as hand puppets.  You know, Punch & Judy type puppets?

Anyhoo, I'm having a hard time refining my searches.  Regardless of what my keywords are in Google (or here), I keep getting "Muppet" style puppets and childrens' puppets.  The term "hand" is waaaay too vague, and "glove" keeps getting results for puppets similar to Cookie Monster or Project Puppet's Borsa pattern. 

All of my books on puppetry, most of which predate 1990 or deal with Mr. Punch's show, seem to use the term "hand puppet." 

I do realize that mouth-and-rod puppets are de rigeur these days and that, outside of a few kid shows and P&J, the "hand puppet" is probably not nearly as popular and therefore there's not as much out there on the interweb outside of "make the body, make the head" about this particular style of puppet.

Is there a more accurate or modern term I can use as a keyword for internet searches?

For the record, I'm looking for one last detail on the subject of constructing "hand puppets." I've got a show I'm trying to frame using "hand puppets" as a break from the nascent horror host television show I'm producing and puppetmastering for a buddy of mine (I'm using mouth-and-rod puppets on that).  Yes, yes...pictures.  I'm buying a camera soonish.   

Maybe I'm just too new to modern puppetry or the internet, but I use a keyword search system on a minute-by-minute basis at work and feel pretty confident in my choice of keywords. 

Or maybe my brain's constitutionally incompatible with Google.   

Or, if indeed the "hand puppet" is not currently in vogue, I'm so far behind the times that my show will be seen as a true novelty and create a new fashion in the world of modern puppetry where booths will spring up spontaneously in parks all around the world.   

Please forgive my rambling here and forgive me please if my question is too basic. 

Regards,
Rob

Or maybe my brain's constitutionally incompatible with Google.   

Having a brain constitutionally incompatible with Google doesn't sound so bad. 

I don't really know what kind of information you seek, but maybe you need to go into it from a different angle. http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=Qu2&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&ei=aeyvS__CG4P68AblloGXBQ&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&ved=0CA4QBSgA&q=burr+tillstrom&spell=1 This is a Google search for Burr Tillstrom, a terrific hand-puppet artist, the originator of Kukla, Fran and Ollie. Perhaps perusing some of the items about Tillstrom may supply you with some keywords that take you where you need to go.

As far as I'm concerned, either hand puppets or glove puppets describe what I think you are looking for. (Ooh, such grammar!) I suppose with any art form, there will always be a blurring of terms. We're not talking rocket science, after all.

...forgive me please if my question is too basic. 

I would say that your question isn't specific enough.  What's the actual problem that you're trying to research?  I'm sure that someone here will be able to help you.

Ahh, vagueness.  Thy name is Rob.   

Chris:  Oh, I'm familiar with Tilstrom.  I'm just barely old enough to remember watching what I guess were re-runs of the Kuklapolitans back in the early '70's.  They used to come on just before Capt. Kangaroo, which came on before Sesame Street.  Boy, I sure got a puppet fix in the A.M. back then.  Good times.  I will be checking that link, though. 

My problem with search engines seems to be that the modern "Muppet", or mouth-and-rod puppet gets lumped in with all other puppets when I do a Google search.  It seems that the words "hand" and "glove" have been used by so many folks over the past, I dunno, decade or more to describe a mouth-and-rod puppet that a "hand puppet" or "glove puppet" search doesn't bring up much on hand puppets/glove puppets beyond toys, sock puppets, bare hands with eyes and drawn-on features, and Punch.

Oh, and my brain's not compatible with television either.  That's why I didn't make the digital switch and don't have cable.  Haven't missed it a bit.  Kept the DVD player, though.

Abdolos:  Yeah, I guess I was a bit too vague or not worded well enough.   The question is really more about refining keyword searches regarding hand/glove puppetry both on Google and on our search function here.  I really do try to exhaust all of my possibilites for information before "bothering" (note quotes) a forum's members.  The process of tracking down answers opens up other interesting avenues to explore, so I usually find the endeavour to be educational.   

For the record, I'm trying to work out the best way for me to build and attach the hands on a hand/glove puppet.  I figure that I'll end up posting the question in Puppet Building at some point soon. 

My apologies for the vague and nebulous nature of my inquiry.   

Regards,
Rob

I think the confusion is most likely propagated because using the word 'muppet' to describe your muppet products is illegal (since the name is trademarked). Hence, puppet sellers end up using the phrase 'hand puppet'.

From a personal point of view, I always see the term 'hand' being applied to 'glove', where it actually has a little more of a history of being called as such. (To avoid confusion I *always* refer to glove puppets as glove puppets and muppets as muppet-type, or muppet-style)

The issue gets worse when the general public are involved, because invariably they confuse all of the terms together not knowing which is which. I often get hits to my site from searches for 'shadow Muppets' or 'finger Muppets', because people don't know the difference or the history of the word 'muppet'.

You're not doing anything wrong, it's just that 99% of the net users out there mix the terms and that's why you're getting mixed results.

Perhaps if you ask around here (or on other puppet-related sites) for the info you're looking for you'd have a better chance at researching? (Also, get some books from the library! Anything decent on puppets will have glove puppets included)

EDIT: Yeah, I just saw that you did ask... I've seen books which have hands made out of tubes (toilet rolls), which are then glued to the cloth of the puppet's body. You can simply sew hands made of fabric and glove them on... I guess the real question is: what are you making the rest of the puppet out of?

I regards to searching for information, I think that Chris hit the nail on the head. Use the name of a puppeteer that you know used hand puppets.  Hand puppet would be the correct term for a Punch and Judy type puppet but as you are finding out the term had been bastardized. I think searching with the name of a puppeteer or even the name of a puppet like Punch and Judy well get you further.

Hazelle made a full line of hand puppets and they way they attached hands in the factory was with a rubber band.  Yep that is right a rubber band.  The fabric body of the puppet would be inside out and then the hand would be placed in the sleeve "backwards".  The a rubber band was placed around the end of the sleeve.  In the hands themselves at the "wrist" was a small groove that would help hold the rubber band in place.  Then the fabric body was turned inside out and you had a very finished connection.

The same concept could be used with Na's idea of gluing the hand on to the body.

Hazelle made a full line of hand puppets and they way they attached hands in the factory was with a rubber band.  Yep that is right a rubber band.  The fabric body of the puppet would be inside out and then the hand would be placed in the sleeve "backwards".  The a rubber band was placed around the end of the sleeve.  In the hands themselves at the "wrist" was a small groove that would help hold the rubber band in place.  Then the fabric body was turned inside out and you had a very finished connection.

That's such a simple and effective idea. Especially if you needed to swap hands out, for instance for when the puppet needs to change costumes or for holding props/making different gestures.

Usually when I'm reading a description of how something is done, I have difficulty imagining how I'd do it in my head - but this explanation I could easily figure out how it's all put together. (I'm assuming in this case the hands are rubber too? A latex?)

You are correct Na.  Hazelle made two types of hands actually. One was a soft latex rubber and the other was a hard plastic.  Both could be used on either her line of hand puppets or on her marionettes.

Ah, that's exactly what I thought... perhaps I read this somewhere too...

Hey,
I think mostly hand puppet these days relates to the moving mouth puppets. Glove puppets is usually the term to describe Punch & Judy puppets.

Cheers,
Dan