Ragged Soldier Sutlery and Vintage Volumes |
|
Generally in Alphabetical Order but with Some Obvious Placement of a Couple of Categories at the Top Home Toys Games Dolls & Accessories Articles: Virginia's Veranda About Us & Picture Books, Modern Books, 19th Century Reproductions Craft Supplies & Sundries Documentation Dolls & Accessories DVD about Emma Edmonds Games Needlework Necessities and Novelties Parlor Games & Entertainments School Supplies Sundries and Craft Supplies Toys Wholesale Information Order Form Ordering Information Contact Us Speaking and Consulting |
Flipperdinger
There are several references to this toy from both primary and secondary sources. A secondary source attributes it to a French toy named le pendu. In a macabre twist, the inspiration was said to be a body hanging from the gallows. In a bit lighter tone, in books from the 1850's and 1860's there is mention of suspending a pea on a stream of air. So the toy could have very easily have existed during the civil war period. To watch the toy in action is a lot easier than to descibe how to play with it. The play begins with the wire that extends below the pith ball is inserted in the vertical tube. The user then blows in the open end of the horizontal pipe and lifts the ball into the air with the goal of hooking a hook on top of the ball onto a wire loop (the copper wire contraption at the far right end of the toy in the picture. The secret of success is in blowing gently but evenly to slowly lift the pith ball up until the straight wire comes out of the vertical tube and the ball begins to spin. The hook can then be caught on the wire loop. If you have many children who want to play with the toy but you don't want everyone to be
blowing on the same pipe (to avoid sharing the latest version of germs), I have cut plastic straws
in pieces and insert a piece of straw
into the end of the horizontal pipe for each person. Thus every user can have a fresh, clean straw to blow
with instead of sharing the same wooden pipe. The cost of a Flipperdinger is $7.95 For the documentation page for this toy, click here If you want to look at the previous toy alphabetically in the list,.
|
