Antique tin toy depicts a boy feeding a dinosaur-sized chicken

Here's an antique tin toy currently for sale on eBay. The toy depicts a boy feeding a chicken -- a very big chicken. The actual toy is 7" long and 4" high. If we were to scale the boy up to anything like that of a real human, the chicken would be the size of a Velociraptor (actually, more like its larger cousin, Deinonychus).

Just to show I've done my (frivolous) homework, the image below should prove the point. Bear in mind that the human in the image is supposed to be a full-grown male.

Despite the dubious scale, it's still a wonderful toy. Made in prior to the WWI in Japan, the toy was meant to compete with the famous German toy manufacturer, Lehmann. As you can see in the video, when set running, the chicken pecks at the bird pan as if feeding. According to the description, the toy's mechanism utilizes a verge escapement. It certainly appears to be using an escapement to measure out the pace of the action, but the picture of the bottom of the toy doesn't quite show the mechanism in question.

The toy is in beautiful shape for its age. Tin toys took a lot of abuse. Just imagine how many times this has been used in the last 100 years! Here is where you can get all the details or bid on this antique Japanese tin toy of a boy feeding a chicken.

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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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German made wind-up turkey - tin toy or automaton?

The line between a sophisticated toy and simple automaton is not a clear one. My thinking is that it boils down to the target market. If it was for adults (and costly) it is probably an automaton. If it is for kids (and inexpensive) it is a mechanical toy. The turkey in the video is much like one currently for sale on ebay. It may have crossed this imaginary divide of mine.

From the eBay description:

Made in germany by Kohler. Wind-up lithographed Turkey circa 1950, blue leg version. The best I've seen in years...works very well. Key is included. Walks very deliberately forward while legs articulate as if strutting along, while plumage spreads out & raises up. Nothing missing, very excellent condition. Very few produced, no loose wheels or bent shafts or broken or loose tabs. 7" long.

I am guessing it started out as a fairly inexpensive toy for children.My visits to antique stores have shown that these tin toys are no longer inexpensive -- especially if they work and are in nice condition. I doubt many kids are spending hundreds of dollars on these antiques. By my definition above, this might suggest that it started life as a toy that has, over the years, become an automaton because it is now collected by adults. There is probably a flaw in this logic, but it's an interesting notion at least.

Here is where you can see more nice photographs of this German made wind-up turkey in toy.

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'Be Mine' - a small kinetic sculpture made of tinplate

Tinplate Girl made a special Valentine's Day gift using the various metalworking techniques she demonstrates on her awesome instructional site. Tinplate Dad got into the act too. He made a small kinetic sculpture you'll see in the second half of the video. Both projects incorporate tinplate, brass wire, a bit of wood, soldering, and mechanical fastening. No glue was used!

Here is where you can read about and see more images of these two tinplate Valentine's Day projects.

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Red rocket tin toy with Wilesco steam engine

Check out this awesome tin toy powered by a Wilesco steam engine! Manufactured in the famous toy producing area around Nuremburg, Germany, this Red Steam Rocket tin toy is limited to only 250 pieces worldwide. While they say it is perfect for mechanically curious kids, the price tag suggests that this gem might really be for collectors. I'm not a collector, but man...do I want one!

Here's where you can read a bit more and see additional images oftin toy rocket powered by a Wilesco steam engine.

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