THE NAUGHTY: Once upon a time when I was small, my grandfather owned a little wind up toy that had a curvacious rubber genie lady sitting on a pillow holding her hands up behind her head. The whole thing was attached to a little wooden platform and under this platform was a crank. When you turned the crank, the rubber lady would wiggle back and forth at the waist. My sister and I would take turns winding the crank and humming "All the Girls in France" that we'd learned from Bugs Bunny cartoons.
It could have been that little device that got me fascinated - or it could have been Nancy Drew which first sparked my fascination with Automata.
There was a Scholastic book called, The Mystery of the Silent Friends by Robin Gottlieb though which probably sealed the deal. The story starts with a girl whose father works in an antique store (okay - how fun would that be?) One day, the shop acquires three mechanical dolls all from the same estate. Each doll performs a specific task when it is wound up: one doll writes, one doll draws, and the third doll plays a small piano or harpsichord. The girl somehow discovers that the previous owner hid his vast fortune and left the three dolls as clues. The drawing doll draws a picture of a monkey, the writing doll writes the word "cage" and the musical doll adds four notes---C, A, G, and E---to the end of the piece she plays. The girl and her friend solve the mystery, of course - and my interest in these "toys for princes" was solidified.
THE GOOD: The world of automatans, whirligigs, kinetic sculpture and wind ups have been around for a very long time. Made by tinkering men who like to make inanimate creatures move through the process of parts, springs and cranks. Some of the more ornate ones were built in the 1700s and included automatans able to draw a small gallery, write poems in more than one language, or play a collection songs on their tiny harpsichord. Absolutely charming and intricately impressive.
THE UGLY: Last time I was in Hart, Michigan, my family stumbled upon the Hart Historic District's Animated Doll museum. I'm not sure if it's still there, but it was filled with the most bizarre and creepy figures I'd ever seen. Some rescued from window displays and others just put together out of odd parts to create a story. The whole thing was housed in an old factory and it was a set worthy of a horror flik or Tim Burton film. I highly recommend you go there.
