Mystery Object
This metal bulldog was in a box of objects from an estate sale. It no longer works. I have no idea what its function was when it did operate. It's 3 inches tall and made in Japan.
On the side is a small hole.
The bottom has a piece of cardboard and felt. I pulled it up to see what was inside and found the metal coil and string. Was this thing a noisemaker? The dog is solid metal except for the tiny hole on the side which probably once held the pull string. Anyone ever seen one of these? I'm just curious as to its purpose.
posted by swapatorium @ 10:17 AM
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What happens if you try to pull the string?
Can you pull what is left of the string? and What happens if you do?
interesting pooch!
i'm guessing an old lamp where the post that held the shade ran up alongside the dog and not out top of head. the works look electrical...
Anon, the string is loose. Nothing happens when it is pulled since the mechanism no longer works.
momload, a lamp is a good guess, but this thing is too small and there is no electrical outlet.
pepper grinder
I don't know what the object does/did, but I'm betting it was connected to the logo for Mack Trucks. Maybe they have some info.
Time to unscrew that screw, and see what's underneath.
Probably an early "talking toy" prototype; pull the string, and the little statue makes barking noises.
I'm guessing it served as a doorbell speaker housing. Is that a speaker in there? If it had a little speaker, the hole would be for the speaker wire, connected to the bell button.
Maybe it just was supposed to make a growling noise?
Could it have been some kind of doorknob?
I don't see any windings or other indication of a motor or any electrical intent. It does look like there are bits of wood/fabric/paper wedged in around the mechanical core.
Unless I'm being completely influenced by shadows, it looks a lot like the mechanical parts are somewhat skewed off center of their axis.
Is it possible that the whole point of pulling the string was to start the off-center core spinning, resulting in a vibrating doggie?
Perhaps the intention was to have the doggie dance across the counter (or something)?
vibrator
the string probaly goes through the hole on the side and pulled to activate it.
maybe it barks jingle bells
Do you think it is safe to remove that screw holding the coil in place? It may reveal more about its purpose.
I say it made a sound when the string was pulled. If you can spin the spindle I bet you will hear somthing that sounds like a bark.
Is the metal coil electrical wire, like you would find in an inductor, or a band of metal that might re-wind the string?
Looks like some kind of buzzer to me -- like a doorbell.
I think its a clock winder. Ive seen japanese clocks before with similar devices on the top. If it is, its very old. Ive only seen them on the old japanese prayer clocks. They run on a 6 hour arrangement. The 6th hour it chimes and they pray. The original japanese clocks didnt have the modern pendulum type mechanism because during that time period they were in a isolation social aspect, and didnt have the technical info on pendulum systems. Ive even seen incense burning clocks that use incense sticks to calculate time.
I have a feeling this was an electric-charge device. Pull the string, generate a small electric charge, zap the person that touches it.
Just a guess. You'd probably have to take it apart to find out.
What color is the metal coil? Also, does it lok like a flat spring, like a watch spring? Is there any loose mechanical component like a striker inside? Are those bent metal tabs free to rotate?
Perhaps it used to make a barking noise?
boot dryer
it's a little difficult to say from the 2 photos, but i'll hazard a guess:
pulling the cord would have caused a generator rotor or some other faraday principle device to spin, causing a mild electrical shock to whomever picked up the device after activation. don't touch the bull dog or he'll "bite back"!
a second guess is the electrical charge that was generated by pulling the cord was used to activate an electromagnet, causing the bulldog to tenaciously grip(hence the bulldog motif) whatever metal surface it was placed on. an unsuspecting victim would try to pick it up and be defied by the bulldogs strength...
I'm guessing here, but windings inside look like some kind of motor. My guess is that you pull the string and it either (a) rings a bell inside, or (b) rotates a muted bell so that the bulldog statue "growls". Think of muting an alarm clock bell and you've got the sound I'm imagining.
Perhaps a doorbell?
It might a mechanism that would make a noise or the "bark" of a dog.
looking at the shot from with the felt pulled back, it seems like there is a piece of stone on the left. it also appears that whatever the string spun when pulled has worn down.
my guess? a sparkler. there might've been some other type of material on the spinning axel that rubbed against the stone when the string was pulled creating sparks that presumably came out from the same hole as the string. (unless there is another whole somewhere else on the toy.
I suppose there's mechanism above that spring that can't be seen because of the spring in the way.
Is the mechanism removable when you undo that screw? Then we could have a view of the mechanism (whatever it is) from another angle...
Wild guess: eggtimer
is there a hole in back? if so, could be an electric pencil sharpener; see http://cgi.ebay.com/metal-bulldog-pencil-sharpener_W0QQitemZ110056396143QQihZ001QQcategoryZ158QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
A doorbell?
I doubt electromechanical. Just
mechanical. Wind it up with the
string, and when someone picks it up,
it makes a disturbing noise or
sensation.
Do the innards rotate at all?
My guess is it made a barking noise like a talking doll. The string went out the hole and had a knob on it.
maybe you can unscrew the round thing and repair the string..
btw, I suppose that is a sort of a mechanical dog, who "barks" if the string is pulled
the mechanism under should make some noise but i suppose the circular spring is loose and/or rusty so no sound and a very loose string
It looks similar to some statuettes that were used by "mediums" or other fraudulent spiritualists for seances. Using an induction coil, assistants in a neighboring room could make things like statuettes, teapots, or whatever "speak."
Then again, there wouldn't need to be so many moving parts, so I could be way off base here.
you have no desire to remove that center screw to extract the internals further? Perhaps you could actually find evidence of where and IF a string attached through the external hole.
Take some more photos from different angles so we can see more details.
Have you attempted to remove that screw?
I'm guessing its a vibrator of some sort.. er.. personal massager
The center screw looks off-center which means it would shake if it spun fast enough.
I wonder if it could be an alarm of some sort? The bulldog motif makes me think of that. Possibly you wind it up and if its moved it vibrates and makes some noise. You could put it by your door to alert you to silent ninja infiltration in the night.
What does it sound like when you "ding" it, say, with a wooden spoon or something else that won't mar it.
My guess would be that it's some sort of ringer. When you pull the string, it rotates an axle with a couple of metal pieces protruding from it (producing a nice "rrrrrrrring" sound). The screw and metal device at the bottom was probably related to a spring mechanism that rewound the string back into the housing.
Depending on big the hole is.... A pencil sharpner? Also, cant you pull the insides out of the dog? That should reveal something.
I can't see enough of the innards, but taking a guess from your description, I'd guess it played music.
I admit, I'm spitballing there, but the description of the string going through the base reminds me of a thing my grandparents had when I was a kid. You pull a T-handle on the string, it winds the mechansim up, and then a spring draws the pullstring back in, slowly, and it plays a little musicbox tune at the same time.
That, and I don't see anything in the innards to suggest it has electrics in it...am I missing something?
maybe it vibrates
It does look like the gears grind- maybe it makes a "growling" noise?
There used to be these magically repelling (or attracting) Dog things in back of magazines....
take it apart - look inside.
looks like a doorbell to me! The part that produces noise, that is.
It might it be a toy that shocks the person holding the device when the string is pulled. The shock would be mild and just enough to startle anyone holding it. I've seen this with books and pens that shock the user when opened or clicked [respectively]. It also might be a part for a remote buzzer like a doorbell... ? I'm just guessing on all of these and have no real historical knowledge of its usage. It's a funny little thing, though. Thanks,
Maybe it's an eavesdropping device.
the thing on the back looks like a speaker, so my guess is that its a mechanical watch dog.
Is there a magnet in there? You could check by seeing if the object deflects a compass needle.
If there is a magnet, and coils of wire then there may be some sort of dynamo which provided a little bit of power from it being rotated as the string was being pulled.
Not sure what it would power though... glowing eyes? :)
electric paperclip magnet?
The mechanism is probably a simple phonograph that used to make a barking sound after pulling out the string to wind the spring - as the spring unwound it would rewind the string.
Carl
could it have been a doorbell?
Could the spring, once wound, spin those somewhat randomly shaped metal protuberances past a magnet or bit of material for them to hit?
I ask this because it might have used an effect kind of like a tone wheel to make a growling noise.
My guess would be that it was an early joke hand zapper. You know ... like when you were a kid and you could buy this little disk you put in your hand and when you shook someones hand it gave them a shock. Only in this case you probably started up the little puppy and asked someone to pick it up to take a closer look.
Do keep us posted if you ever find out what it is.
I believe that there have been numerous patents using electricity as a sort of cure all (circa 1880 was crazy for it). Maybe it is some sort of fancy wart remover, or the like.
Maybe it's a magic trick using an electromagnet that makes the dog hard to lift from a metal plate for some people and not for others.
Coil, eh... is it an electromagnet? Maybe to put pins and needles on?
My first guess was that the contraption looked like a speaker... like a doorbell chime or buzzer. But 3 inches tall doesn't make sense.
Now this little mystery will be bugging me all day...
I'm voting a buzzer.
Maybe its used to scare dogs. Like how people make coffee cans with coins in them.
The dial definitely looks like one on a pepper grinder. The string, though, makes me wonder if it used to be a music box?
My bet's that the innards are that of a small, novelty generator which electrically charges the object when the string is pulled, delivering a small shock to the unsuspecting person holding it.
I know it seems impossible, but it looks like the insides of a three-way switch, like you would have on a ceiling fan to control the speeds.
I bet its a doorbell.
Probably sat on a table near a door and was wired to a button as a buzzer?
Maybe the mechanism made a dog sound, a bark or a growl or a roww row rowwwrr.
you say "electro" mechanical. is there any cord, switch, coiled copper [like in an electric motor or radio]?
is there anything up inside the bulldog part?
is it heavy enough to be the end of a retractable clothes line?
It looks to me that it would be a pub oddity. Perhaps the pull string was attached to something and when pulled would emanate some sort of growling noise alarming whoever picked it up.
weighted end of a retractable clothes line?
what's the "electro" part of electro-mechanical- you say no cord...
I bet it made a barking sound. Like Cujo.
Are you sure that is electrical? Is the coil thin wire, or is it more like a flat coil, such as a tape measure?
If it is the latter, then it might be a bell. Pull the string and let go.. ding ding ding!
I think maybe some sort of novelty that shocks you when you pull the string.
retractable clothes line? or is it smaller than that?
What's the electro part? you say no cord? is it just mechanical?
anything up inside the dog?
I'm naming my band "The Electric Bulldog"
It might be a servant's caller.
These were little electrical devices with a pull chain which, when pulled, sounded a buzzer to call for the maid or serving person.
Popular in the early 1900's, and often made in the form of an animal, particularly a dog.
what about a dog with funky things inside of it just out to confuse people like you?
Perhaps pulling the string built up a static charge so that it would shock anyone who touched it? A little gag?
old school vibrator?
My guess is it is a type of leyden jar. You pull the string to turn the little turbine, which builds up a charge on the outer metal shell of the dog. Then when some unsuspecting rube touches the dog, zap!
It's a noise maker...
On first glance it looks electrical...but obviously there is no electrical wire...just a string. The pepper grinder guess is a good one...but when you think about it...the grinder contraptious would make sense for a noise-maker.
You could probably fiddle with this sucker and get it to work again. You'd need to replace the string (or attach a furthur length to what you have). It's probably not currently under tension (when whatever ball or ring at the end of the string broke the string slipped inside and the tension rod inside uncoiled completely...so it's probably wrapped in the wrong direction right now.
You'd need to figure out what direction it cranks in to gain tension....crank 'er up....attach a string extension...and something to keep it from slipping through the hole...and you should be good to go.
I guess it probably barks.
I bet its to scare off potential robbers etc. Trip the string, the bulldog mechanically produces a sound to scare off the intruder.
I bet its to scare off potential robbers etc. Trip the string, the bulldog mechanically produces a sound to scare off the intruder.
Looks like it might be a doorbell. I can't make out too much detail, but it looks like there's a coil. Perhaps pulling the string closes a circuit which activates the coil, moving a metallic or magnetic component which actuates an internal switch, cutting power again, returning to its rest position and closing the circuit so the cycle can begin again. As long as the string is pulled, it would oscillates making a growl-like buzzing sound.
So the only openings are
the sealed, felt covered base and the string hole? Are those wires showing in pic 3? Do they look to have been originally running out the base?
How about a pull-string generator to light up a (now missing) lamp attached to the wires that stick out?
I think that some sort of noisemaker is most likely. Take it apart some more! It already doesn't work, so you don't have to worry about breaking it.
I think that anonymous was on to something. It is not a pepper grinder but it might have been a motor for a mechanical dog sound generator inside the statue.
It looks like it could be intended to make noise, possibly a door bell. It is a guard dog after all.
A music box?
My friend Jan (who doesn't have a blogger account) says: It might be a servant's caller. These were little electrical devices with a pull chain which, when pulled, sounded a buzzer to call for the maid or serving person.
Popular in the early 1900's, and often made in the form of an animal, particularly a dog.
I'm betting it growled at you.
as i am sure you know, people will buy anything.
How about a watchdog timer?
it would be very helpful to see a higher res shot of the bottom of the device.
Easy. It's a Sub-etha signaling device.
The interior of the base looks like it has two U-shaped magnets in it. If they are magnets and the center wheel has a copper coil in it, then it seems like a very simple electric generator. It would not generate much current because the motion would not be sustained beyond the length of the string. BUT, could it be a trick device of some kind? Maybe the trickster winds and pulls the string to "charge" the device. A simple capacitor inside the dog itself could hold a charge until somebody came along and touched it. Giving a small shock. Hmmmm.
Are you sure its string and not old style fabric insulation?
Can you pull the device out and give us another view?
My guess is possibly an electric door bell or maybe a retractable leas for a small dog...(?)
I wonder if it would make some kind of dog-like sound while rewinding the string. Maybe it vibrated as it sat on the table, shimmying around.
Truly fascinating! :)
-= M =-
Hi, pretty wild guess here. From the picture I can see that the core is surrounded by a large wound copper coil. I am also imagining that the very outer layer of the interior might contain magnets (can you test for magentism please?) Given the presence of the string, the round appearance of the core, I concur that the core should turn. The core should be removable (try to unscrew the screw and take it out, you should not be breaking anything). My guess is that the core also has either magnets or a coil. Now, as per electric theory, if you move a wire orthogonally to a magnetic field (cringe, I think it was orthogonally...), you create a current in the wire. The reverse also works (simplistically you apply current to the wire which is in a magentic field and you have a motor...). So, I am insinuating that if the thing worked, you could pull the string, hence turn the core, hence generate electricity. The electricity, I guess, would then be used to make a low vibrating noise similar to a growl maybe ;-) An even wilder guess is that the free end of the string could be attached to something, like a fridge door, and have the dog alert you to your partner's night time crusades to the fridge ;-)
A radio? Or an electro-magnet to pick up needles and stuff?
It's an early version of the Aibo. Dead certain. They weren't as much fun as later versions, but they would heat up nicely so that kids could light their cigarettes.
I agree with DevilKitty that it is a Servants Bell.
In this article A Collector’s Tale - ‘Ring for Service’ the author says:
One of my favorite mechanisms is the wind-up. Here an internal clock spring is wound and when released allows the clapper to produce a steady ring until you either release the ringer or the spring winds down.
... Two of my favorite German mechanical bells include a brass elephant head with ivory tusks and a celluloid owl head. The bells are wound on the underside, and then to ring you press the tusks on the elephant and the beak on the owl. Very clever!
Perhaps your variation is to pull the string, and as the string winds back in, the device rings.
I found this article on Google, searching for "summoning bells 1900".
Cheers, Kate
Is the bottom Magnetic? If so, it is part of a game where the Bulldog points to an answer when dialed ina series of questions in the center of a template.
A burgler alarm? If someone kicks it over or an opening door knocks it over it starts barking?
1920's cigarette lighter
I think it's one of those figurines that people use to put on the bonnet of their car before they became outlawed in the EU. The electro mechanical device part might have been some kind of anti theft device wired to the battery of the car.
electric pencil sharpener, without a doubt.
One anonymous said:
--- I think it's a clock winder. Ive seen japanese clocks before with similar devices on the top. If it is, its very old. Ive only seen them on the old japanese prayer clocks. They run on a 6 hour arrangement. The 6th hour it chimes and they pray. The original japanese clocks didn't have the modern pendulum type mechanism because during that time period they were in a isolation social aspect, and didn't have the technical info on pendulum systems. Ive even seen incense burning clocks that use incense sticks to calculate time.
He has specific knowledge, so that sounds significant. However, if they didn't know how to make pendulum clocks, how could they have known how to make electromagnetic coils?
riggs said...
--- The interior of the base looks like it has two U-shaped magnets in it. If they are magnets and the center wheel has a copper coil in it, then it Seems like a very simple electric generator. It would not generate much current because the motion would not be sustained beyond the length of the string. BUT, could it be a trick device of some kind?
As for myself---
You could look to see whether it has U-shaped magnets like Riggs says. It certainly wouldn't make much current. I suppose a small generator might ring a small bell inside.
I wonder whether the string means anything. Whoever put it there might not have understood how the thing originally worked. The hole was probably for an electric wire. Maybe the wire energized the coil and made a noise, like a doorbell.
Further examination is needed. I'd take it apart and see whether it has magnets, and what for, whether for a generator or for a buzzer or motor.
My mother used to collect these objects that held twine in one piece (i.e. the dog piece on top)with a motorized distributor on the bottom(I guess is what it would be called). I don't think this is it, though, as there would be some sort of spindle on top of the mechanism to hold the twine.
That bulldog is the most common version of a tool that was plentiful in the 1920s, the spaghetti fork twirler. Older diners, particularly those with dehabilitating muscle diseases, would find it difficult to repeatedly rotate a pasta fork in one hand. Spaghetti twirlers were marketed as the solution, although they were likely more successful as novelties than actual utensils. The device could hold a steel or iron fork with opposing magnets, and it could be made to twirl by simply pulling the string. Also, the dog's shiny head could be used as bait to catch mackerel, cod or suckers.
it appears to be a dinner bell - pulling the cord would coil the spring and it will hammer the shell (ring) which summons the waiter/maid - very British in well to do households
I don't know what it is, but 109 responses is awesome. Happy Thanksgiving!!
I'm almost sure it comes from a set of similar figurines that work like electric football, all vibrating around and stuff...
As you bought it, worth $5,900 at auction. Opened and unscrewed: $5. Congrats!
Reminds me of the movie Cronos, from 1993 with Ron Perlman
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104029/
it mighta been a lighter?
no, I think it was a music box or something. you pull the string to cause potential tension in the coil and the dog rotates. You dig! Ive seen some music boxes like those but i never looked inside. But you do really pull the string all the way to play.
WAG
This looks like pre-WWII manufacture becuase of the patina...also because the author didn't mention a "Made in Occupied Japan" stamp. My guess is that before WWII not a lot of people had money for this type of thing. Also the felt on the bottom indicates that it was intended to sit o na fine piece of furniture. So my guess is that its bell which calls a servant. You probably draw the string and when it springs back, a cetripetal set of ringers spin inside and ring a bell.
Anyone who's taken a trip to Moscow's vast KGB Museum, Kitsch Collection and Galleria will recognize this as a fixture of standard Cold War spy equipment. The "iron pup" was an indoor security device for safehouses and hideaways that could fire a magnetically-propelled dart at the ankle of unwanted imperialists. It was, in essence, a giant antenna with a blowgun attached. When the pup was set on guard, the magnetic field of any living being approximately 100 pounds or heavier was enough to set it off. Later versions of the device could be set off with remote triggers, and were modeled as deer heads, Cupid fountains, yard flamingoes, mounted seabass and garden gnomes.
Taking out the screw might cause you to say something that rhymes with "duck".
The screw holds the washer, which holds what looks like a retainer. Under that is a barrel holding a coil spring. I repair clocks. Springs that suddenly escape are a cause of soiled britches and damaged digits. Proceed with caution.
Not a doorbell. Those get screwed to walls. You would have to hang onto the thing and wait for a guest to pull the string.
Not a pencil sharpener. The axis of rotation is off by 90.
Not a music box. Those are wooden for a reason, just like acoustic guitars.
I'll put $5 on the bell idea. Stand the nice pooch up and tap him with a pen. Does he ring?
Grab it in places with fingertips. Turn it this way and that. Does it feel like a spring is winding up a little? That's the part that the new string has to go around. JMO
Best,
Tom
As a remote viewer I thought I'd take a quick peek at this as an rv target. I spent only about 35 minutes remote viewing the object's "purpose" and it appears to me to be a tiny music box, meant to deliver a sound through the tabletop it's set upon. If it were not set on a hard surface, it would not sound much.
If you were to take the thing apart, pulling out the mechanism within, you might find a spiralled strip of metal with little nibs or bumps along it, which play little toothed strips of metal. When the string was pulled, it pulled back some kind of little spring-loaded mechanism that then played a little jingle, very short duration. It was a little cheap version of a music box, possibly associated with an advertising jingle.
!! Just make sure its not really some secret trap filled with poison darts that shoot you when you push the wrong button!
It's clearly a TARDIS with a stuck chameleon circuit...
Doorbell
Go with the Mack comment...pull the string and the dog barked or maybe growled like a, um...a Mack truck. Hey, the thought ain't so outragous... think advertizers.
Its clearly a vibrating doorknob used to create a barking sound whilst shocking those who touch it.
this looks a lot like some of the tchotchkes my uncle brought home with him after his stint in post-war japan. he gave my grandmother a similar-looking sculpture of a cat playing with a mouse that meowed piteously (in japanese, my grandma always joked - bless her old-school racist heart) when you tugged its tail.
i always wondered how it worked, and when it was partially destroyed in a house fire years ago, i got the chance to pull it apart. it must've been made of zinc or aluminum or something, because the body was almost completely melted, but the "guts" were more or less intact, albeit now plated with whatever metal it was.
the mechanism that played the meow was a metal cylinder. i originally thought it was one of those gizmos with the raised knobs on a cylinder that strike a series of tuned springs as it's rotated. (like a music box) it didn't have any knobs on it, though, so i don't think that's what it was.
i described it to a friend who is a sound engineer, and she wondered if it wasn't some sort of early recording cylinder, like the old edison cylinders.
I doubt it was anything more complex than just a string that retracted after being pulled out. Like the modern day equiv. of those badge holder dilbert types where at work when they have to keep swiping in to their labs.
I think it was used to keep something from walking away. Like a pen at the front desk of a hotel lobby.
Joe J.
iPhone maybe?
Perhaps it's a switch. Pulling the string might make the inside parts make contact.
it's not a fancy gadget at all. it's just a hood ornament from an old mac truck.
It's a cigarette lighter, but oh how I wish it were a spaghetti twirler...
Lot of very entertaining ideas..
havent got a clue without seeing the unit, however. A string threaded outside, coils..what looks like an armature a metal sculpture that is insulated...I would say, pull the string and you get a mild shock. Could be novelty or gag.
I'm with anonymous. That estate was BUGGED.
Interesting. I use a similar device as my doorbell.
I second the "Mack" truck clue. Their dog has a distinctive head (not like Buster Brown's dog, Tige, for example)
maybe a listening bug? for espionage.
It's clearly a key for opening an inter-dimensional time rift. The flux capacitor is underneath the screw. You have been warned.
I think it is a bell to call the servant. Probably sat on the desk or bedside table.
It could be a ringer for a telephone. Many older telephones did not have internal bells. Aftermarket/external ringers were sold, however. They were usually in a bland black box you mounted on the wall. My guess is that this is a novelty or decorative ringer for a tabletop telephone. Instead of a plain ringer box on the table, there would be a cute dog statue.
You know...these all really sound like magnifcent toys...even if they are not what the original dog does, someone should manufacture them. perhaps as a set...one that rings and/or barks when the string is pulled, one that shocks you, one that sticks tenaciously to metal, and etc. I imagine one that plugs into the wall and contains an airhorn and a really loud motor driven bell whose forceful spinning causes the whole dog to bounce madly around on the floor. Then you can tell your friend, "hey dude, check out that dog I got at the RiteAid. You just plug it in, it's hilarious!" Then your friend plugs it in and it goes all "HONKHONKHONKAWOOOOGAAWOOOOGARINGRINGRINGBONKBONKBONK111R0X0R!!!" and your friend goes all "AIEEECRAPCRAPCRAPZOMGWTFANDSUCHLIKE!!!1114EVAH!!!"
Yeah, I would totally buy that!
Somebody please make these! Please please please!
you are so lucky and unlucky -- this was a prototype anti-gravity machine -- it was a revolutionary product which never made it to mass production -- if you only had a string -- you could have pulled it and the dog would have floated up a few inches and barked 3 times -- unfortunately NASA was unimpressed --the string broke at the trials -- their scientists were unable to find a suitable substitute for the string -- there was another proto-type -- you had to pull the leg on that one to get it to levitate --unfortunately the manufacturer had another product on the same platform that would drop a small smelly pellet -- the company had all kinds of shipping problems with shipping mix-ups -- the whole ordeal was very frustrating -- I really wanted an anti-gravity machine for my desk -- I guess NASA wanted the just keep the big boosters -- can we say kick back --
might be a crystal radio
VERY COMMON toy in my childhood in India.
This is a toy Lion. It roars when you pull the string.
I used to buy these in village fairs for half a rupee. The string was waxed with a resin from some tree to make it rough. On pulling, it rubbed with a diaphragam, that viberated and made a loud roaring noise. They gave you a pea sized ball of resin with the toy. Rub the resin on the string, and pull - the Loin roared loudly. It was very cool.
Walking Dog
pull string winds spring
release string, eccentric runs and dog "walks" across table.
Gram has one from her trip to Japan in 1955, but hers is a cat. The spring broke long ago.
The coils in the right side and the cetered aparatus suggest it is a vibrating device. when wou power up the thing it can just make noises (like a humming) or the vibrations can be stronger in order to have some other uses.
At first glance, it looks like an electric motor.
I can see what looks like two wires leading into the device, and what looks like a dark ring shaped magnet behind the front housing. No evidence of copper winding though....
Was there ever a place for batteries?
That rounded part is a speaker.
It probably barked.
Maybe pulling the string reverses time?
May I suggest a paper shredder?
I know what this is!!!
Back when Godzilla and other Monsters from space or Monster Island came to destroy Japan, a little boy would grab this totem and pull the string and Kiro Buitchi the Power Mastiff would come and defeat the evil Monsters. Afterwhich the said Boy would give the dog a treat, and he would turn back into the totem.
There you have it! I hope this helps. Did I win a prize or something?
It's a listening device from the looks of it. Not uncommon in large estates or government buildings where people had the funds to disguise them in with the rest of the decor.
Nowadays, this can be extremely common but in the 50's and 60's this was very high tech.
Xeno
Unless I'm being completely influenced by shadows, it looks a lot like the mechanical parts are somewhat skewed off center of their axis.
Is it possible that the whole point of pulling the string was to start the off-center core spinning, resulting in a vibrating doggie?
This was my exact thought as well. It looks similar to things I saw in some old toys and gadgets that my grandfather had, which did essentially that - caused a vibration, with an occassional sound effect.
It is an antique cigarette lighter. You guys are too young to remember the days when everyone smoked! If you do an Ebay search, there are several examples that show the bottom of one.
My best guess is that it a mechanical spring-loaded pull switch. No electrical wires or power needed. You know those lamps that you "pulled" the string it clicked and turned on the lamp and the string retracted again. Same principle, except the string ran through furniture then to the lamp.
An old bulldog that does something when it has it's string pulled by an american? Sounds like another situation to me. As for why, Hmmm?
I think it's a time machine.
I think that this is a type of doorbell.
I believe it is a toy that would vibrate on the table or flat surface when the string was pulled. I'v seen others like it in the past.
Looks like a door bell. Sit the pooch on a shelf by the front door and run the string outside through a small enough openning to allow the visitor to pull on it but not so large a whole to allow a draft into the house. This is just a guess.
Looking at the design, I would say it's some sort of clockwork noisemaker.
It appears to have a coiled spring in the center cavity area, an armature (the flared stamped bit with an apparently random pattern), and a striker (the cross shaped silver part). Pulling the string would cause the spring to compress, and when released, spin around and scrape against the striker, making a noise. It doesn't appear to be electromechanical in any way. I'm thinking a servent's bell or just a toy is the most probable purpose.
ZENER DIODE?
Oh, so _that's_ where the trigger to my Doomsday Device went!
Um, I don't suppose you'd like to return it? You can have a share of the Million Dollar Ransom I was going to demand . . .
Signed,
Dr. Evil (no, wait, NOT Dr. Evil! Really!)
Dude...you didn't give enough information.
Is there a switch on the thing? An electrical chord?
The photo you showed looked almost like a motor, but since the part doesn't look designed to move, I'll guess it was an electromagnet of some kind.
Pull the string. A spring winds. On releasing, the eccentric centered weight spins, causing the dog to vibrate.
The tabbed section looks to be a shim to hold the mechanism inside the cast housing.
Early 20th century toy. Deliciously crude.
It's a....
It looks like it's a device for ringing a servant's bell. The coil and the bent bit of metal that spins is an impulse generator that sends a signal down some (missing)twisted wires to a board in the servant's quarters that rings a bell and swings a little plaque to show which room it was in. Sounds plausible? The fact it is made in Japan surprises me but why not?
Doorbell, hand zapper, noisemaker, pencil sharpener...who knows? Most importantly, you can hide your weed in it.
Looks a little like a thermostat.
-Strixy
What you are seeing is a purely mechanical device in my opinion. This is the same mechanism that is used to start a lawnmower or any engine for that matter...
I suspect a pull of the cord started something spinning something inside the dog, making it hard to move, hence the novelty effect. Try to pick it up and it would vibrate and refuse to move. This is like trying to pick up a gyroscope.
A toy or novelty item...
Dan
I agree with the servents bell idea. It probably was set above a doorway or some where out of the way. The "master" could then pull the string or pull a lever which would pull the string through the dog making somesort of noise. The only contridictory aspects of this idea are:
1)It looks like the dog is one piece which means, you wouldn't get a very clean ringing sound with a bell when the dog is conected to a wall or a desk.
2)The hole is on the side of the dog. If this was connected to a desk of above a door, you would think the string would come throught the bottom of the dog.
3)It has felt on the bottom which leads you to believe that it was never anchored down to anything (ex. above a door). The felt sugests that it sat on a desk and the felt was there to protect the finish of the wood.
Well thats my thought on it. Hope you figure out what it is.
Someone earlier suggested a Mack Truck connection, but I don't think so. IIRC, the Mack dog is standing, whereas this doggie sits. Same collar, though?
It looks a bit like an antique pencil sharpener. You mentioned bits of wood/paper/cloth...pencils perhaps? But you would need to investigate the hole in the side a bit further.
What about sticking a pencil in it?
bottle top opener
From what I can see this object was held whilst pulling the string.There doesn't appear to anything anywhere on it to fix it to another object. This limits the number of uses it could have had greatly.
With regards to the use of it as a shocking prank device I don't think it would work, it appears to be made of some sort of cast alloy that wouldn't conduct electricity all that well.
Who knows??
it's a hat, obviously.
A Nonymous
could it possibly be some ageing mind control apparatus. It is believed that if an electromagnetic object is placed near to a subject and rotates at 2hz, same as the brain, then another subject focussing their 'powers' from 'mindcontrol central', nearby, (wearing some wierd contraption that focusses the minds power) could actually influence the subject.... maybe?
When you pull the string it says "sausages" in a kinda dog like growlly voice?
I've read all the comments. I've searched the web. I am not satisfied.
I am sure I speak for others when I say that this has become a minor obsession. We need closure.
I implore you: send more info, take more photos, have your most mechanically-minded friend remove that screw.
My best guess would be a microphone. After all, who would look for a microphone in a dogs butt?
it is evil
i got 5 of those. its a 'hugyutied', a dog statue that barks in russian.
Your comment has been saved and will be visible after blog owner approval. <--- crap! just wanted to stir things up... oh well..
Looks a lot like a paper-cone speaker to me. Possibly the "string" coming out the hole was actually cloth-wrapped wire?
My Grandmother had many "bastardized" knick-nacks like this. They were born out of time when everything was re-used. A broken lamp base often paired with the remnants of a hood ornament or decorative cane handle or whatever, makes a nice new statuette.
Look at the sheen of the dog metal and base metal. Dog metal shiny, base metal flat(ter). Dog metal cast, base metal pressed. Probably two scavenged items that were cleverly mated.
Look at the "tabs" in the interior view. They are uneven and crudely bent. They are not part of a gear or mechanism. They are bent to increase the apeture of the base, the dog is seated into the base, the screw sandwiches a circular plate (washer) against the tabs hold the dog figurine in place.
The wire is probabaly misleading. The wire may have been a shim, or held a loose piece in place, or tensioned 2 pieces together.
JMO
I think it was an electric doorbell in of itself. Twist it and it would create an electric current connection that could be wired into a standard door bell. Like, "ring, ring."
should be a cylinder inside the coil, the casing should be puiter or knickle (dog itself) then it set on a wooden box that had a electro magnet in it, It is a object used in magic shows from times past, contact a place in Colon Michigan (the maji capt) USA
one of the old timers could tell you more than me.
Could it be a secret dog-language decoder?
Hood ornament for a Mack truck?
I'm thinking it could be a string dispenser; perhaps a spool of string was secured inside by means of the screw, and the string itself dispensed through the little hole. It's hard to tell just by looking at the picture; just my own SWAG.
Its a machine to generate wild and silly ideas.
its a secret tracking device for collectors of novelty dog items...
It's simple, you pull the string, that winds up the spring, when you let go, the spring spins the off-axis weight back to where it began, taking the string with it. ie. Pull the string, let go, watch it bounce around for about 7 seconds. The bent over teeth most likely rubbed against something as it spun, making a sort-of "playing card on bike tire spokes" sound, a little like a growl.
I think the lamp top with hole for the pull-chain sounds like a good answer. But I'm also wondering if it couldn't be part of an old ashtray...the kind that were tall and had the electric lighter connected? Sometimes a figure in the middle of a large ashtray bowl would be super-heated metal and gentlemen would lean into the object to light their cigars. Just a guess.
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