Spring 2025

he history of automatons and mechanical figures goes back centuries and includes early mytholo- gy that brings an unexpected spin to the story.While researching their his- tory, I came across the stories of King Solomon and of King Mu of China. Solomon loved gold. He was also fascinated by mechanism. By combin- ing the two, he designed animals of gold that would extend a foot to help him up the steps to his throne, whereby once he was seated, a mechanical eagle would then place a crown upon his head. In 3rd century BC, a mechanical engineer known as Yan Shi, proudly presented King Mu of Zhou with a life-size, human-shaped figure that walked, bobbed its head and was so realistic that the king was in awe of its movements. As the engineer touched its face, it began singing. As he touched its body, it began moving. Unfortunately, at the close of the performance, the mechanism flirted with the ladies in attendance, which upset the king. Fearfully,Yan Shi tore apart the robot to show the king that all elements were artificial.When the wooden heart, liver and kidneys were removed, the robot could no longer speak or move. Finally the king could rest assured it was only a mechanical person. These mythological stories sound like tales bursting from the seams of “Classic Fairy Tales,” our favorite reading series when my sisters and I were young girls. On rainy days, we would open a cupboard, pull out our stack of “Classic FairyTales,” and sit in front of the fireplace, reading them for hours. The tale of the goose that laid the golden eggs, Jack with his magic beans, the emperor who wore no clothes and the list goes on and on. Part of their intrigue was how these magical stories would feature young protagonists facing adversity, overcoming challenges through kind- ness or courage, good versus evil, and the triumph of truth over lies. They almost all started with those four magic words, “Once upon a time…” I often liken old, battered and some- times rusty wind-up toys to those mystical legends of old and to char- acters from our “Classic Fairy Tales.” Probably because we imagined them to be mechanical and not life-like, as they were fantasies of our imagination. Tin wind-ups, with their simple repetitive movements, can be traced to a French artist and inventor during the 18th century, Jacques deVaucanson (1709-1782). He was inspired by the mechanics inside clocks, taking their gears and springs to an entirely new level to create the first animated fig- ure in 1738. His first figure, a life-sized human, stood on a pedestal and played 12 104 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 5 COLLECTING T E XT AND PHOTOGRA PHY B Y MAR J OR I E S OW Winding Through Time T A charming mechanical clown whose hands move as a puppeteer to create the motion of the wooden puppet below.