Jumping jack (toy) on:
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The jumping jack is a jointed, flat wooden figure, a cross between a
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Ancient Egyptian games: Children's games, toys, board games
puppet
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move ...
and a paper doll
Paper dolls are figures cut out of paper or thin card, with separate clothes, also made of paper, that are usually held onto the dolls by paper folding tabs. They may be a figure of a person, animal or inanimate object. Paper dolls have been ine ...
that is considered a mechanical toy. The figure's joints are connected to a pull string that causes the arms and legs move up and down when the string is pulled and released. Jumping jacks were popular in many contemporary countries including England, France, and Germany, but similar mechanical toys date back to the Ancient Egyptians.
History
Although the jumping jack is popularly thought of as a European toy, such mechanical toys have a long history that dates back to Ancient Egyptian toy figures with movable limbs. Among the earliest-known examples are ivory dancing figures, made to spin by pulling their strings that were among artifacts found at the archaeological site, El-Lisht.Pantin
In France jumping jacks were especially popular and generally known as “''pantins''”. In the mid-1700s, “''pantins''” were popular among the French nobility, and versions were sold that satirized famous figures of the time.Edmond Barbier
Edmond is a given name related to Edmund. Persons named Edmond include:
* Edmond Canaple (1797–1876), French politician
* Edmond Chehade (born 1993), Lebanese footballer
* Edmond Conn (1914–1998), American farmer, businessman, and politician
...
wrote in 1747 that "one cannot go into any house without finding a ''pantin'' hanging by the mantelpiece".
Hampelmann
In 1832, ''Hampelmann'' was a character created by Carl Malß as a figure for the burlesque atFrankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
. Later, jumping jacks became known as ''Hampelmann'' in German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
-speaking countries. The mechanical toys were manufactured in the Erzgebirge mountain range in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
.
During in her first year as a student at the famous Bauhaus
The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...
design school in Dessau
Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßl ...
, Germany, Margaretha Reichardt, who would become a textile designer, undertook a preliminary course run by Josef Albers and László Moholy-Nagy in 1926. As part of the course she designed a modern version of the ''Hampelmann'' that was set in a wooden frame and featured articulated limbs that move when a string is pulled. Later, her design was produced commercially by Naef, a Swiss toy company.
Quockerwodger
Oxford Reference cites the word "quockerwodger" as "a wooden puppet which can be made to 'dance' by pulling its strings". By analogy, quockerwodger came to be used as a negative appellation for a politician whose "strings" are pulled entirely by their own "puppetmaster".._Twitter.html" ;"title="Susie Dent">Susie Dent
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External links
Ancient Egyptian games: Children's games, toys, board games
References
Traditional toys Wooden toys {{puppet-stub