Diddy Men
Encyclopedia
The Diddy Men are commonly believed to be a creation of the British
comedian Ken Dodd
. However, they have existed in local mythology for much longer and, along with the Treacle and Jam Butty Mines of Knotty Ash
, had been referred to in the earlier act of another Liverpool
comedian Arthur Askey
. When Ken Dodd began playing seaside resorts, he made famous his home area of Knotty Ash
in Liverpool
and popularised a miniature race of people who inhabited it. Diddy is northern slang for "little".
The Diddy Men were originally an unseen joke but after a while began to appear on stage with Dodd, delighting children in the audience. They also appeared in Dodd's BBC
television programmes in the 1960s, as string-operated puppets
.
The Diddy Men tend to wear slightly oversized adult clothes in flamboyant style including tall furry hats. Diddy Men are about 3 feet tall and said to work in the Jam Butty
mines
of Knotty Ash.
A Diddy Men strip ran in the comic TV Comic
.
David Hamilton who appeared as a regular on Dodd's BBC shows of the era, acquired the nickname 'Diddy David' which has stayed with him to this day. The original Mick the Marmalizer was the ten-year old daughter of Little Jimmy, who appeared at the Blackpool Tower Circus with Charlie Carroli and Paul.
style voice. It includes the chorus: "We are the Diddy Men, Doddy's little Diddy Men, We are the Diddy Men who come from Knotty Ash". Another song "Doddy's Diddy Party" featured the refrain - "tonight's the night the Diddy Men paint the town, we'll lose our blues, and let our Diddy hair down".
. On TV
and in some stage performances, Dodd uses a ventriloquist's puppet of the Dicky Mint character. These days the Diddy Men are rarely seen outside pantomime
season.
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
comedian Ken Dodd
Ken Dodd
Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE is a British comedian and singer songwriter, famous for his frizzy hair or “fluff dom” and buck teeth or “denchers”, his favourite cleaner, the feather duster and his greeting "How tickled I am!", as well as his send-off “Lots and Lots of Happiness!”...
. However, they have existed in local mythology for much longer and, along with the Treacle and Jam Butty Mines of Knotty Ash
Knotty Ash
Knotty Ash is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. Historically within Lancashire, at the 2001 Census, the population was 13,200.-Description:...
, had been referred to in the earlier act of another Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
comedian Arthur Askey
Arthur Askey
Arthur Bowden Askey CBE was a prominent English comedian.- Life and career :Askey was born at 29 Moses Street, Liverpool, the eldest child and only son of Samuel Askey , secretary of the firm Sugar Products of Liverpool, and his wife, Betsy Bowden , of Knutsford, Cheshire...
. When Ken Dodd began playing seaside resorts, he made famous his home area of Knotty Ash
Knotty Ash
Knotty Ash is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. Historically within Lancashire, at the 2001 Census, the population was 13,200.-Description:...
in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and popularised a miniature race of people who inhabited it. Diddy is northern slang for "little".
The Diddy Men were originally an unseen joke but after a while began to appear on stage with Dodd, delighting children in the audience. They also appeared in Dodd's BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television programmes in the 1960s, as string-operated puppets
Marionette
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
.
The Diddy Men tend to wear slightly oversized adult clothes in flamboyant style including tall furry hats. Diddy Men are about 3 feet tall and said to work in the Jam Butty
Sandwich
A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...
mines
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
of Knotty Ash.
A Diddy Men strip ran in the comic TV Comic
TV Comic
TV Comic was a British comic book published weekly between November 9, 1951 and June 29, 1984 for 1,697 issues. With its bright, eye-catching covers, it featured stories based on television shows running at the time of publication. The first issue had 8 pages and had Muffin the Mule on the cover....
.
Notable Diddy Men
Notable Diddy Men include: Dicky Mint, Mick the Marmalizer, Stephen "Titch" Doyle, Little Evan, Hamish McDiddy, Nigel Ponsonby-Smallpiece, Nicky Nugget, Sid Short and Smarty Arty. Diminutive British disc jockeyDisc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
David Hamilton who appeared as a regular on Dodd's BBC shows of the era, acquired the nickname 'Diddy David' which has stayed with him to this day. The original Mick the Marmalizer was the ten-year old daughter of Little Jimmy, who appeared at the Blackpool Tower Circus with Charlie Carroli and Paul.
The Song of the Diddy Men
The Diddy Men have a song, once released as a single, titled "The Song of the Diddy Men", sung in a high pitched, chipmunkChipmunk
Chipmunks are small striped squirrels native to North America and Asia. They are usually classed either as a single genus with three subgenera, or as three genera.-Etymology and taxonomy:...
style voice. It includes the chorus: "We are the Diddy Men, Doddy's little Diddy Men, We are the Diddy Men who come from Knotty Ash". Another song "Doddy's Diddy Party" featured the refrain - "tonight's the night the Diddy Men paint the town, we'll lose our blues, and let our Diddy hair down".
Actors
On stage the Diddy Men are normally played by children or adults with dwarfismDwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
. On TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and in some stage performances, Dodd uses a ventriloquist's puppet of the Dicky Mint character. These days the Diddy Men are rarely seen outside pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
season.