Professor Bascom Shares Life as a Puppet Maker

A professor of communication at Bluefield College now, before BC Dr. Cynthia Bascom went from life on a chicken farm in rural Ohio to creating Muppets in big city New York.

Dr. Bascom said she always played with puppets when she was a child. She said she also liked sewing and making puppets. So naturally, when offered the opportunity to take a class in puppetry while studying at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, she jumped at the chance.

“I was really excited to take the class,” said Dr. Bascom, “and it just so happened that my professor had some connections and knew some people at the Jim Henson Associates at the Muppets.”

In fact, said Dr. Bascom, her professor had helped some of his previous students get jobs working with the Muppets. She was very fortunate, she added, to impress this one person who could help her get a job there.

“My first real job was with the Muppets” said Dr. Bascom about the work she did right out of college. “I went from a little chicken farm in Ohio to New York City, and that was a big cultural change for me.”

The Muppets are an ensemble cast of puppet characters created by Jim Henson in the 1950s. Still in existence today, they were most popular in the 1970s and 1980s when they had their own television show and were the lead characters in three feature films.

“I really enjoyed the construction of the Muppets and the creativity of that, and I liked working with foam, fabric and feathers,” said Dr. Bascom. “That was just all great fun. The people that were the other puppet makers were really interesting, artistic people.”

Dr. Bascom said she made monster puppets that sang back up to Kermit the Frog, one of the main characters in the Muppets. She said she also made clothing for Miss Piggy, another leading character, and flower puppets that sang with actress and singer Julie Andrews in an Easter special.

“The Muppet Show was going on at that time,” said Dr. Bascom, “and so the things we made for the Muppet Show were packed up and shipped over to England (where they filmed the Muppet Show).”

And while Dr. Bascom says she enjoyed her work, she admits living in New York City was quite an adjustment from her days living on the farm in rural Ohio.

“This was in the late ‘80s, and it was not as safe of a place as it is now” said Dr. Bascom. “New York has gotten safer, and I didn’t feel comfortable in the city, but I did enjoy making puppets.”

The Jim Henson Company was also responsible for making puppet characters for the famous children’s television show Sesame Street. Dr. Bascom said she also had the privilege of working on puppets for that show.

“That was done right in New York City, and so a lot of my time was spent on the set of Sesame Street repairing puppets, updating their costumes and such for Sesame Street,” said Dr. Bascom.

Now a professor of communication at Bluefield College, Dr. Bascom said she still makes puppets today.

“I was there (in New York City) for just six months, but it really did make an impact on my life,” said Dr. Bascom. “I still enjoy making things, and really I think that’s one of my loves is creating things, including puppets.”