One of our latest acquisitions is this little tin, clockwork chick. It stands 140 mm high and features glass eyes. This little chick was obviously loved in its day, as the paintwork is quite worn.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Did you have a tin, windup toy as a child? My brother and I both received little windup monkeys that tumbled, in the mid 1960’s.
As with many things from childhood, these were passed on for younger cousins to enjoy and their whereabouts is unknown.
According to Wikki, Karel Grod, a German inventor, created some of the first windup toys, including a fly and a mechanical eagle. European toy makers first created and mass produced tin windup toys in the late 1880’s.
The French firm Fernand Martin and the German company Lehmann became some of the most prolific designers of these miniature automata, cutting figures from sheet iron and assembling them using small tabs and slots.
You can see the little tabs that hold our chick together on its side, just under the wing, and also along the back join.
The designs continued to become more intricate over the next 60 to 70 years.
With the production of small and inexpensive alkaline batteries in the 1960’s, the windup mechanism was replaced by small, battery operated motors and the tin windup toys lost popularity.
Visit Us Today
The Museum is housed in the heritage listed Railway Station. On display is the railway switchboard, railway lanterns and much more.
The history of the Bogan Shire dates back to the Major Mitchell Expedition in 1835. On May 10, 1835 Mitchell and his party camped on the Bogan River at “Nyingan” (named by Mitchell – Aboriginal for “long pond of water”) and a cairn marking their camping spot is located in Rotary Park.
Monday- Friday from 9am to 4pm. Saturday’s from 10am until 12noon. (Sundays by appointment.)
