Guignol was the fruit of the imagination of a hardworking dentist from Lyon named Laurent Mourguet. The character depicted in these vintage postcards was devised in 1808.
Mourguet was originally a silk weaver but became a dentist due to lack of money. He would travel from place to place pulling teeth with his large pliers. Eventually people became scared of him, after hearing the screams of other patients having their teeth pulled.To solve this, he created a puppet show in his likeness to ease people’s fears of him. The puppet became so popular he stopped being a dentist completely and became a renowned puppeteer.
Many Guignol shows were quite satircal. He complained about the King and Lords throughout France. The government made the gatherings illegal which in turn made the shows even more enticing!
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