Joseph Walker mechanical toy features drawing artist

I've posted several times in the past about Vielmetter's drawing clown tin toy. Shown here is a toy very much like that one.

From the YouTube description;

The Drawing Artist made by Joseph Walker of Birmingham is a very rare painted and copper plated toy. Operated by winding the handle in the base, a double cam allows the seated figure to draw a portrait of a number of 19th century personalities -- in this case the cams that accompany the toy are of Gladstone and Lord Salisbury.

David Hall wrote in to provide some interesting information about the history of both toys. As it turns out, the toy shown here pre-dates the Vielmetter clown artist. It was made by Joseph Walker of Birmingham, England around 1880. It is thought that at some point in the late 19th century Vielmetter purchased the rights to the mechanism. Some evidence lies in the design of the toys themselves. Different cams can be loaded into the machines. The profile of the cam determines the picture that is drawn. The Walker drawing toy cams are interchangeable with the Vielmetter.

[ Thanks David! ]

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The inner workings of a mechanical bird coin bank

Falk Keuten of the Spiel und Kunst mit Mechanik blog posted this video of a German tin toy bank made by toymaker Lorenz Bolz. A coin is placed in front of the opening in the birdhouse. When the hand-crank is turned, the bird emerges from the hole with its beak open. In a quick movement, the bird closes its beak on the coin, and flips back into the house. The telltale sound of a coin hitting tin lets us know that the bird has dropped the coin inside.

The second half of the video reveals all the mechanical details that allow this to happen. In many similar mechanical toys such as the toothpick dispensing birds and cigarette dispensing birds, the beak is not articulated, but has a tapered opening. The pressure of upper and lower portions of the beak hold item by friction. It's up to the user to remove the item because the beak itself cannot release it. This mechanical bird bank is different and more complex than that.

It's a truly ingenious little machine. I am certain that if I were asked to design the mechanism, it would be far more complex and cumbersome, and no more reliable.

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Mechanical toys of a bygone era: dancing and boxing figures powered by rotating phonograph

I've posted in the past about this interesting variety of mechanical toys which were powered by a rotating record. I'm not exactly sure how this one works but in others the toy is mounted on top of the record player and a friction wheel behind the figure rides along the edge of record album causing it to "dance" to the music.

It may seem like folly to place a dancing figure on top of a delicate stylus and record. One little mishap and the needle might be broken or the record scratched. The existence and popularity of this type of toy says something about the time in which it was created. Here are a few thoughts on the matter:

1 - The early phonographs were among some of the first automatic music machines to enter the home, but was auditory medium only. The addition of the mechanical figures added an interesting visual element.

2 - Most early phonographs were spring-driven, suggesting that electric motors were not yet commonplace. The relatively rare motor in the gramophone, Victrola, or phonograph could do double-duty by also powering the dancer or boxers.

3 - Toys often represent popular trends. I expect the ones shown here are no exception. Dancing and boxing were probably both popular forms of live entertainment at the time.

The toys shown here dates to the early 20th century and were made by National Co, USA. The dancing figure is interchangeable with the boxers. The set is currently up for auction on eBay.

Here's where you can learn more about this set of phonograph-powered mechanical toys.

[ Thanks McDrunk! ]

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German-made antique flapping bird tin toy

Here's an excellent vintage wind-up tin toy made in Germany. When set in motion, the bird spins around the central the tree, flaps its wings, and chirps!

Here's the full ebay listing with many photographs of this German-made antique flapping bird tin toy

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Configurable animated mechanical orchestra toy

Check out these cool sketches and 3D renderings of a design for a hand-cranked orchestra automaton. The toy is the creation of designer Jin Fan.

From the designer's web site:

The Animated Mechanical Toys product family is inspired by an orchestra band with configurable figures and mechanics. The AMT can be configured into different performers including a violin player, a flute player, and a bass player. The number of figures on the stage and the size of stage can vary by adding/removing parts. In addition to the varying number of figures on the box, the stage could expand by connecting multiple boxes together to make a bigger band. Another feature of this product family is its multi-axis capability. It can allow the figures to move on different axis and thus allow different speed of movement.

Here's a web page featuring additional images of the configurable animated mechanical orchestra toy.

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Timberkits: Drummer wood automaton kit

Here's a little video of the drummer automaton kit made by Timberkits.

Here's one place you can get the Timberkit drummer automaton.

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