Fluttershy's Bird Choir - a new My Little Pony themed wood automaton

Did you see the My Little Pony wood automaton I posted back in June? Here is the another by the same artist. It is an unexpected sub-genre that is wonderfully incongruous. Whether you agree or not, just look at the craftsmanship!

From the YouTube description:

This third piece in my pony automaton series proved to be the most difficult to design and make by far as I wanted to match Fluttershy's grandiose reputation. Other than the typical moving parts, her bird choir actually sings! The characters, box (stand) and fence are carved out of Philippine mahogany as are the cams, bellows and slide whistle. The gear train and lever arms are made of Narra hardwood. Fluttershy stands at 6"; with the entire display it measures 10 1/4" high, 8 1/2" long, and 4" wide. The entire piece took me a staggering 182 hours to complete.

This very complex and well made automaton is currently for sale on ebay. Check out the pictures and description or just go ahead and buy this one-of-a-kind creation. Here is the eBaby listing for the Fluttershy's Bird Choir wood automaton.

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A boy and his toy train featured in this wood automaton from Fourteen Balls Toy Co.

We've just had news from autoamta-maker Matt Smith regarding the latest new edition from the Fourteen Balls Toy Co. which is shown in the video above. A boy watches and directs as a tiny model train spins in circles around him. Periodically, the train whistle blows, powered by a bellows in the automaton's compact base. The mechanical boy has his own mechanical toy. It's a delightful piece!

See detailed photographs of this wood automaton on the Fourteen Balls Toy Co. web site.

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Black & white film from 1950 featuring musical automata

Check out this preview clip provided by The British Pathé Film Archive featuring a number of automata filmed in 1950. Among the automata shown are a gorgeous watch-sized music box, a whistling figure, banjo player, musical birds, a monkey playing the harp, a tight rope walker, and a smoking cavalier figure puffing away on a real cigarette!

[ Thanks Michael! ]

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Video of Griesbaum whistling postman mechanism

Here is a nice video showing a 1967 Griesbaum whistling postman figure. The video is very clear and provides a nice view of the whistling mechanism in action.

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Whistling boy automaton made by Phalibois

Here is a video showing the performance of a whistling boy automaton made by the famous Phalibois. This is a large Phalibois whistler -- approximately 3 feet tall with the base. As the boy whistles, he tilts his head from side to side and opens and closes his eyes slightly. He also moves his arm up and down a little.

[ Thanks Kevin! ]

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A different sort of whistling automaton figure

There isn't much of a description for this antique whistling figure other than it is 30cm tall, made of wood, needs to be lubricated, and until recently shook its head and whistled. What I find interesting is that it is not the typical drunkard leaning on a lamppost motif. I think I see the end of the word "GERMANY" on the mechanism close up, but I'm not sure. Here's a shot of the back side:

Here's the full ebay listing, with a close up show of the mechanism of this unusual antique whistling figure.

[ Thanks Phil Sing! ]

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Carved wood figure whistles 'Old Kentucky Home'

Here is a whistling figure that departs somewhat from the standard drunk-by-a-lamp-post theme.

From the eBay description:

This is a very rare animated whistling figure, 1920-40 All brass mech. I had the bellows redone so it sounds great. The head turns as he whistles. This piece is all original with the original back door and brass bird key. He is all carved wood and is about 14" tall. He whistles My Old Kentucky Home.

Here is the eBay listing for this carved wooden figure which whistles 'Old Kentucky Home'.

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German whistling figure carved wood automaton

Here is an old German whistler figure. The carved wood automaton dates to the early 20th century and measures about 18 1/2" high.

While this particular one isn't fully operational at the moment, the eBay listing features many great photographs of the mechanism including a close-up shot of the clever bellows arrangement that provides air to the whistle mechanism.

Here is the link to the eBay listing for this German whistling figure automaton.

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