Little Magic Dolls - Are They Automata ?
By Damon Atchison
I once saw on Ripley's Believe It Or Not, sometime in the late 1700s a French clockmaker made two dolls which automatically played their custom built insturments. The girl played her organ with a miniature keyboard, and her hands accually moved along with each of her little fingers and she played a song. She could also breathe. There was a boy too, but he wasn't so great.
Does anyone know what those magic mystics in a box behind glass are commonly referred to as? In the 1920s they were popular, you put a nickel in their slot and their eyes lit up and the popped out a fortune for you. I don't know how they worked, and that's precisely what I'd like to know. Were they pnuematically operated?
Damon Atchison
Damon66@aol.com |
(Message sent Thu 28 Nov 1996, 01:20:03 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
|
|
Mechanical
Music Digest™ Archives
