Testing the Kid Theory

As a test this summer, now that people seem to be more comfortable with visiting farm markets and having their children taking camps, a series of twilight gourd camps and free farm market gourd projects have been taught. It seems children do like to make a game or toy from a gourd, but perhaps because that's what's offered. The surprise has been how many parents/adults like the toys. When explaining the purpose of the experiment and asking for opinions, there seems to be a dichotomy of reasons for why adults like the projects: 1) they understand the fact a plant (a gourd) is the foundation of the toy and not something made of plastics and 2) some variation of gourd toys are simpler and more fun than other kinds of entertainments. 

A bilobob, a whimmydiddle, a trapeze man, a whirligig...what's not to love? 

In my experience...

It's been my experience, old fashioned toys (made with gourds or wood) seem to hold a youngsters interest longer than the store-bought, plastic versions. Is it the oddity of a piece of nature with a new purpose? Is there a subtle nuance happening when a child holds a toy made with something once brimming with life force?

Pretty deep for a gourd toy blog, but worthy of consideration I suppose. As a child, I always found dolls made with cornhusks and sticks much more interesting than the more realistic dollies from Sears. I had plenty of each but played with the rustic versions more. Once the store babies were dressed, they were sat in a special place on my pillow but not actually played with for any length of time. However, the gourdhead doll saw a LOT of action!

At the farm market where I sell bilabobs and spinning tops and racecars made from gourds, kids will drag parents over and immediately get involved with the toys.  I will sell them but mostly show the kids how to make their own after they decorate the gourds. A big item even my ophthalmologist likes is the eyeball guy who moves his eyes side to side - who wouldn't like THAT?!

Gourds are so much fun!

Gourds in Motion

Many old toys can be made with other materials such as gourds. In Gourds in Motion, several longtime favorites are translated into do-able gourd projects. Gourds, of course, grow individually so producing many identical toys in an assembly line fashion is not possible. However, it's nice to know when making one or two, gourds are a good alternative!

Projects include the trapeze man, a skyhook, flying fish, and automatons. Since the wall structure of a gourd is similar to wood, all those old fashioned wooden toys can find new expression!

It's time to get some videos of these automatons and show what they can do!

Old Toys with Weird Names

There are some toys with unusual names where just the name of the playthings inspires interest. Finding out there is movement involved only makes the attraction keener. Who could resist the allure of a whimmydiddle or a flipperdinger?  Especially if they could be made using natural materials around the farm, maybe even gourds?

A whimmydiddle, also known as a geehaw, is an Appalachian toy found in the hills of North Carolina made of laurel with notches cut into the stick. A propeller or whirligig is at the end and twirls when another stick is rubbed along the cut marks on the first stick. Eventually, a person can make the whirligig move one way or the other.  The ability to do this is why the whimmydiddle is also called a hooey stick, a truth stick, and a voodoo stick since the direction the whirligig spins can be interpreted as a yes or a no to an answer. The Collins English Dictionary gives an insight into the hooey stick name stating the definition is nonsense and rubbish. If a whimmydiddle can detect nonsense and rubbish, then this is a fitting name for the whimmydiddle!  How does the hooey get detected?  Is the truth stick really judging hooey?  Steven Shepard explains the trick!

Another Toy with an Interesting Name

The flipperdinger is a whole other toy but one with movement as well, although challenging. It is a hollow tube such as a reed (or maybe the dipper part of a dipper gourd!) with another, smaller, hollow reed attached to one end holding a small ball.  Over the ball is a metal ring which looks like a basketball hoop. When the main reed is blown into, the air rushes along the reed and forces its way up the smaller reed making the ball levitate. It is a game of air forces and producing enough air to make the ball go up through the wire ring and down again to its original resting place. This might be a little harder to master but what fun it must be trying!  Look at the youngster trying to make it work.

Simple Colonial Toys

Grown in the garden and spun like a top!

Since toys were derived from simple materials handy in a child's environment, the mechanisms were simple as well. Homestead Folk Toys shows several versions of traditional toys from several time periods. Tops play a large part of traditional toys as so thaumatropes.  Spinner gourds get their name from the spinning action they produce when spun quickly by the neck-end of the gourd.

Thaumatropes, also referred to as whirligigs or a buzzsaw toy, are another type of spinning action involved two different but related images spun so fast they appear to be moving - as early motion picture show!

The balero, or toss-and-catch toy, uses eye-hand coordination. This takes a variety of shapes but basically uses a string to connect two objects: one is caught by the other after swinging it into the air and letting gravity do the work of dropping it into or onto the other object.

Bilbo: another term for a toss/catch toy.

Any of these toys could be easily translated into a gourd toy. The top can easily be make with a spinner gourd, the thaumatrope with a large disco gourd wall, and toss/catch toy with a hollowed out gourd on a stick or a long handled gourd with a small gourd attached with a string.  All would exhibit a gourd with motion!

So now, given this information, what other playthings could be adapted, or re-fashioned using gourds?

Colonial Toys Using Natural Products

Colonial toys were made of materials commonly handy around the house or farm such as wood, bits of cloth, sticks, corn husks, animal bones, and acorn tops. Does this suggest the use of gourds would have been a natural leap since gourds were grown on farms and, once dehydrated, took on some of the characteristics of wood with the added bonus of being curved?  Debbie Starnes of the Indiana Gourd Society explains the process for making a gourd head doll.  In fact, dolls may be the most ancient toy since evidence of dolls exists from as early as the 3rd century.  It is only a small leap to think industrialization would have led to mechanisms for a doll to move its parts such as arms and legs.

What proof is there for early dolls made with gourds?  The same article talks about toys being made from local materials such as gourds filled with pebbles to make rattles. If gourds were grown locally in gardens and are farms, then they would have been available for a wide variety of purposes: medicinal ritual, musical instruments, dance, and maybe even toys.