Hello once again from My Fanciful Muse to Yours.
Today in Part 2 of Spanish Paper Theaters, I have another Paluzie Theater to share
and then at the end of the post there are a few more mini Paluzie theaters for some added fun.
If you want to catch up the previous post (Paluzie Part 1) can be seen -
HERE
 |
| This is part of the Paluzie Theater Nº 1028 I've altered and with a fun vintage paper curtain I've also altered. |
This Paluzie Theater (Nº 1028) originally has a "topper" on it but I personally like the theater without it and wanted to show it displayed in this fashion to show that it can easily be removed to give the theater a other look. If you've been following my Toy Theater Posts, the curtain shown here probably looks familiar... and that would be correct. I used a red and green version of it on the Cherub Theater Part 1 post -
HERE and I'll be including it again today with this theater.
I'm still trying to discover who made or published this particular curtain and if I do I'll update the post to show that information. If any viewer knows who made this curtain or to what toy theater it belongs... I'd love to know, so drop me comment or email. Thanks in advance.
This Paluzie, Barcelona theater started off as an uncut paper sheet from Spain. Though nice in it's original state I did some digital clean up and assembly and created two slightly different color versions of it for this post.
 |
| Preview Sheet for the Paluzie Nº 1028 Theater |
The above sheet shows the progress from the original sheet (the first image at the very top) and the various new looks the theater can when using the project print sheets that will be included below.
The original theater sheet had some "extras" at the lower portion of the stage I did not like and so for my rendition of the theater those have been eliminated. The next change thought subtle was some clean up and highlighting of the figures at the top of the theater.
 |
| Changes made to the upper decorative portion of the proscenium |
The digital alterations I made to the proscenium and especially the topper can best be shown with the above image. The changes are subtle but I think they make a world of difference in allowing the image to "pop" and give it a bit more dimension than it originally had.
The colors have been enhanced, more shadows were put in behind the figures and I backed the finished image with black for added definition.
Below are two printable theater play sheets; featuring my rendition of the Paluzie, Barcelona Nº 1028 Theater. Each is a slightly different color versions of the theater with a few curtain options I came up with. I call the one closest to the original "Sunset" and the pinker one "Melon".
Set #1 - Sunset Color Version
 |
| I call this set "Sunset" due to the stronger theme of reds and golds |
The super fancy curtain is unidentified but the other curtain sets on the pages have been altered
from a set originally produced in 1924 by the Danish Publication Illustreret Familie-Jounal.
It can be seen
HERE and other colorized versions of it can be seen -
HERE.
They go so well with a variety of model theaters that I tend to alter and recycle them as needed.
Set 2 - Melon Color Version
 |
| I call this set "Melon" due to shades that remind me of watermelon and cantaloupe |
You can get a totally different look on the theater by removing the upper portion,
with the figures; as I did with the first image shown on today's post.
Also, the "green" and "yellow" curtains from each set could easily be used with the
opposite theater coloration scheme if you wanted to mix things up even more.
Add in some backgrounds and interesting character figures and you can build any number of compositions that are unique. These can be used to build cards, dioramas or actual working mini theaters, depending on the amount of time you want to invest in your build.
To get you started I've created a sheet with a few vintage Paluzie backgrounds
and matching side wings pieces that can be used with these theater sheets.
 |
| Two background and side wing sets |
The side wing panels are used to create illusion and depth within a toy theater,
just as they would be used on a real stage.
Below I've included a photo I found on the web showing the Paluzie theater and in it you can see some side wings plated in between the front of the theater and the back background.
 |
| Paluzie Toy Theater - From The Bruce Museum's exhibit "A Child's View" |
and is part of an interesting article Victoriana Magazine did on Toy Theaters at the Bruce Museum.
There is also a "jeweled" inner curtain in the image shown above. In the
previous post
I created a Toy Theater image out of Paluzie, Barcelona sheet Nº520;
which is where the inner curtain came from.
For this post I have included the curtain as intended.
 |
| Red Curtain for the "Sunset" Theater - Raspberry Curtain for the "Melon" Theater |
Since I have two different color versions of the theater I wanted to provide and
inner curtain that would work with each one, so here they are.
*****
A bit about Paluzie, Barcelona
Casa
Paluzie (1865-1940) was a Spanish based publishing house. They specialized in cut-sheet, paper theater and paper toys as well as: popular prints, educational books, maps, instructional toys, and a variety of other printed paper products. The company was started in 1844 by Esteve Paluzie (1804-1873); A teacher and publishing editor and by the mid 1860's he was fully devoted to his publishing enterprise.
The establishment
of Don Esteban
Paluzie published it's first know catalog in 1867 and continued till 1940.
This was around the time of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), which was taking place as most of Europe was dealing with the beginnings of WWII. My Mother was a young girl growing up in Spain during this difficult time. She and several of my aunts and uncles have told me stories of the hardships that took it's toll all over the country due to Spain's internal conflict between The National Republic and rebel Nationalists led by Franco (Franco won by the way, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Spain's more current history.)
*****
Paluzie paper sheets are some of the rarer ones to come across, especially in the USA;
however they do appear from time to time on Internet auction sites.
These are what a few of the other Paluzie, Barcelona Toy Paper Theaters look like.
This is a "cleaned up" copy of a theater sheet I found on the Internet -
HERE
The next three came as sheets that needed to be assembled to complete the Toy Theaters.
Teatro Moderno Nº 1000 is shown above in it's assembled stage as well as the uncut sheet.
The
main portion of the theater is in one piece and then the orchestra
sections need to be
assembled in front to build the complete sheet as
intended.
This orchestra strip can be attached directly to the theater's front or it could be used to cover a front
drawer that would hold additional paper sheets, characters and props used with a toy theater.
The builder could also opt not to use the orchestra at all and different base could be created
for the theater or drawer cover if this section was not wanted or perchance is missing.
Teatro Español Nº 1060 showing the uncut sheet and an assembled/digitally altered version.
The main theater is in one piece and then the orchestra sections need to add in front.
This strip can be attached directly to the theater's front or it could be used to cover a front
drawer that would hold additional paper sheets, characters and props used with a toy theater.
A different Teatro Español showing the theater and two uncut sheets.
The first uncut sheet Nº 1090 shows the theater and curtain and the
second sheet Nº 1061 shows the curtain and stage props alone and was probably
intended to be used with Teatro Español Nº 1060, which is pictured above this theater .
I hope you have enjoyed exploring vintage Toy Theaters from Paluzie, Barcelona with me.
These are really near and dear to my heart; but they are not the only
Paper Theaters that came from Spain.
Seix Barral was known for it's Toy Theater series “Teatro de los Niños” and
Hernando, Madrid has at least one Paper Theater and multiple scenery sheets that I'm aware of.
I might explore those with you at another time but for now My Muse seems to be
heading off in another direction so we will have to put that on the back burner for now.
So many projects and not enough hours in the day to get it all done, such is the wonder of life.
Till Next Time...
