Video of a trick mechanical top hat by Dug North

When asked to write and article for my favorite magazine -- MAKE, I jumped at the chance. Editor-in-chief Mark Frauenfelder asked me to document how I made my trick top hat for their first-ever special Halloween issue. The entire issue is dedicated to Halloween DIY projects. The issue is rather awesome. I hope they do another some day.

A hidden mechanism inside the hat is attached to a bicycle brake cable and lever. Run the cable down your sleeve and discretely hold the lever. Any time the brake lever is squeezed, a monster pops out of the top of the hat. Because you can control both the speed and direction of the monster, it has some puppet-like qualities. By raising the monster slowly and only part way, it looks as if he is peeking out tentatively.

The image to the right shows the version that appeared in the magazine. A rubber finger puppet served as the monster until I got around to creating the wooden monster with articulated joints that you see in the video.

Here is where you can get a few more details on this wearable automaton.

P.S. I'll have this one with me at World Maker Faire in NYC on September 29 and 30, 2012

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Paper automaton titled "Waiter! there's a hair in my soup!"

Here is another ingenious automaton from the folks at cool4cats. This paper automaton kit features a funny surprise ending.

From the kit description page:

What could be worse? You're just settling down to enjoy a bowl of delicious tomato soup, and oh! the HORROR! There's a HAIR in your soup! And even worse, it's the WRONG SORT of hair! Build this wonderful automaton and see the shocking result.

The kit comes with step-by-step instructions with diagrams to help with assembly. All you need to build your own automaton is glue and a hobby knife. You can buy the of the cool4cats models from anywhere in the world, and pay using PayPal in your own currency.

Here is where you can purchase the kit of the "Hair in my soup!" paper automaton shown in the video above.

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