A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one part that spins or whirls. It can also be a pinwheel, spinning top, buzzer, comic weathervane, gee-haw, spinner, whirlygig, whirlijig, whirlyjig, whirlybird, or simply a whirly. They are most commonly powered by the wind but can be hand-, friction- or motor-powered. They can be used as

kinetic Kinetic (Ancient Greek: κίνησις “kinesis”, movement or to move) may refer to: * Kinetic theory, describing a gas as particles in random motion * Kinetic energy, the energy of an object that it possesses due to its motion Art and ent ...

garden ornament A garden ornament is an item used for garden, landscape, and park enhancement and decoration. Garden ornaments include: * bench * bird baths * bird feeders * birdhouses *columns – cast stone * fire basket *flower box **window box *fountains ...

s, and can be designed to transmit sound and vibration into the ground to repel burrowing rodents.

Types

Whirligigs can be divided into four categories:

button A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, o ...

friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction: *Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative lateral motion of ...

, string and

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ...

-driven.

Button whirligigs

Button whirligigs, also known as button spinners and buzzers, are the oldest known whirligigs. They require only a piece of clay or bone and a strip of hide. The ancient Greeks had their own version of this toy, called an ''

iynx In Greek mythology, Iynx ( grc-gre, Ἴϋγξ, Íÿnx) was an Arcadian Oread nymph; a daughter of the god Pan and Echo. In popular myth, she used an enchantment to cast a spell on Zeus which caused him to fall in love with Io. In consequen ...

'', and Native American cultures had another in 500 BC. Many a child of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

from the southern Appalachians and Ozarks remembers a button or token, or coin and a string as the primary spinning toy of their youth. Button whirligigs are simple spinning toys whereby two looped ends of twisting thread are pulled with both arms, causing the button to spin. Button whirligigs are often seen today in craft shops and souvenir stores in the southern

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The ...

Buzzers

Buzzers are button whirligigs that make a sound which can be modulated by how quickly the button is spinning and by the tightness of the string. A buzzer is often constructed by running string through two of the holes on a large button and is a common and easily made toy. A buzzer (buzz, bullroarer, button-on-a-string) is an ancient mechanical device used for ceremonial purposes and as a toy. It is constructed by centering an object at the midpoint of a cord or thong and winding the cord while holding the ends stationary. The object is whirled by alternately pulling and releasing the tension on the cord. The whirling object makes a buzzing or humming sound, giving the device its common name. American Natives used the buzzer as a toy and, also ceremonially, as to call up the wind. Early American buzzers were constructed of wood, bone, or stone, and date from at least the Fourche Maline Culture, c. 500 B.C.

Friction and string whirligigs

String-powered whirligigs require the operator to wrap the string around a shaft and then pull the string to cause the whirligig's motion. String whirligigs have ancient origins. The

bamboo-copter The bamboo-copter, also known as the bamboo dragonfly or Chinese top (Chinese ''zhuqingting'' (竹蜻蜓), Japanese ''taketonbo'' ), is a toy helicopter rotor that flies up when its shaft is rapidly spun. This helicopter-like top originated in ...

or bamboo butterfly was invented in China in 400 BC. While the initial invention did not use string to launch a

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

, later Chinese versions did.Leishman, J. Gordon (2006). ''Principles of Helicopter Aerodynamics''. Cambridge University Press. p. 7. , The first known depictions of whirligigs are string-powered versions in tapestries from medieval times. Friction whirligigs, also called gee-haws, depend on the holder rubbing a stick against a notched shaft resulting in a propeller at the end of the shaft turning, largely as the result of the vibration carried along the shaft. The motion needed to power a friction whirligig is very similar to rubbing sticks together to create fire. Friction whirligigs are another staple of craft shops and souvenir stores in the Appalachian Mountains.

Wind-driven

A wind-driven whirligig transfers the energy of the wind into either a simple release of

kinetic energy In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion. It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acce ...

through rotation or a more complicated transfer of

rotational energy Rotational energy or angular kinetic energy is kinetic energy due to the rotation of an object and is part of its total kinetic energy. Looking at rotational energy separately around an object's axis of rotation, the following dependence on the ob ...

to power a simple or complicated mechanism that produces repetitive motions and/or creates sounds. The wind simply pushes on the whirligig turning one part of it and it then uses inertia. The simplest and most common example of a wind-driven whirligig is the pinwheel. The pinwheel demonstrates the most important aspect of a blade surface. Pinwheels have a large cupped surface area which allows the pinwheel to reach its

terminal speed Terminal velocity is the maximum velocity (speed) attainable by an object as it falls through a fluid (air is the most common example). It occurs when the sum of the drag force (''Fd'') and the buoyancy is equal to the downward force of grav ...

fairly quickly at low wind speed. Increasing the blade area of the whirligig increases the surface area so more air particles collide with the whirligig. This causes the

drag force In fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called air resistance, a type of friction, or fluid resistance, another type of friction or fluid friction) is a force acting opposite to the relative motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding flu ...

to reach its maximum value and the whirligig to reach its terminal speed in less time. Conversely the terminal speed is smaller when thin or short blades with a smaller surface area are utilized, resulting in the need for a higher wind speed to start and operate the whirligig. Whirligigs come in a range of sizes and configurations, bounded only by human ingenuity. The two blade non-mechanical model is the most prevalent, exemplified by the classic Cardinal with Wings illustrated at right.

History

Etymology of the word

The word ''whirligig'' derives from two

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old Englis ...

words: ''whirlen'' (to whirl) and ''gigg'' (top), or literally "to whirl a top". The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' cites the '' Promptorium parvulorum'' (c. 1440), the first English-Latin dictionary, which contains the definition "Whyrlegyge, chyldys game, Latin: giracu-lum It is therefore likely the 1440 version of whirligig referred to a spinning toy or toys.

Origins and evolution

The origin of whirligigs is unknown. Both farmers and sailors use weather vanes and the assumption is one or both groups are probably the originators. By 400 BC the

or dragon butterfly, a helicopter-like rotor launched by rolling a stick, had been invented in China. Wind-driven whirligigs were technically possible by 700 AD when the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

began using

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...

s to lift water for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

. The

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

, which dates to the

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of ...

ians in 1600–1800 BC, is the second component of wind-driven whirligigs. In early Chinese, Egyptian,

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

civilizations there are ample examples of weathervanes but as yet, no examples of a propeller-driven whirligig. A grinding corn doll of ancient Egyptian origin demonstrates that string-operated whirligigs were already in use by 100 BC. The first known visual representation of a European whirligig is contained in a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

tapestry Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads ma ...

that depicts children playing with a whirligig consisting of a

hobby horse The term "hobby horse" is used, principally by folklorists, to refer to the costumed characters that feature in some traditional seasonal customs, processions and similar observances around the world. They are particularly associated with May Da ...

on one end of a stick and a four-blade propeller at the other end. For reasons that are unclear, whirligigs in the shape of the cross became a fashionable allegory in paintings of the fifteenth and sixteenth century. An oil by

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/ Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on o ...

, probably completed between 1480 and 1500 and known as the ''Christ Child with a Walking Frame'', contains a clear illustration of a string-powered whirligig. A book published in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

in 1500 shows the

Christ child The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12. The four canonical gospels, a ...

in the margin with a string-powered whirligig. The

Jan Provoost Jan Provoost, or Jean Provost, or Jan Provost (1462/65 – January 1529) was a Belgian painter born in Mons. Provost was a prolific master who left his early workshop in Valenciennes to run two workshops, one in Bruges, where he was made a burghe ...

attributed late sixteenth-century painting ''Virgin and Child in a Landscape'' clearly shows the Christ child holding a whirligig as well. The American version of the wind-driven whirligig probably did not originate with the immigrant population of the United Kingdom as whirligigs are mentioned in early American colonial times. How the wind-driven whirligig evolved in America is not fully known, though there are some markers.

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

brought ''whilagigs'' home from the Revolutionary War. What type is unknown. By the mid-18th century weathervanes had evolved to include free moving "wings". These "wings" could be human arms; pitchforks; spoons, or virtually any type of implement. The 1819 publication by

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

of ''

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a gothic story by American author Washington Irving, contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories titled '' The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'' Written while Irving was living abroad in Bi ...

'' contains the following description: "a little wooden warrior who, armed with a sword in each hand, was most valiantly fighting the wind on the pinnacle of the barn". By the latter half of the 19th century, constructing wind-driven whirligigs had become a pastime and art form. What began as a simple turning of artificial feathers in the wind advanced into full-blown mechanisms producing both motion and sound. Unfortunately, both the exposure to the weather and the fragile nature of whirligigs means very few wind-driven whirligigs from this era survive. The period between 1880 and 1900 brought rapid geographic expansion of whirligigs across the US. After 1900, production seemed for the most part to center on the southern Appalachians. Craftsman there continued to produce whirligigs into the 20th century. During the

a resurgence in production by craftsman and amateurs was attributed to the need for ready cash. Today whirligigs are used as toys for children, as garden structures designed to keep birds or other garden pests away, as decorative yard art and as art.

Whirligigs as art

Whirligigs have become art. A number of

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

s now have collections, or examples in their collections.

In literature

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, in ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...

'', uses the whirligig as a metaphor for "what goes around, comes around". In his play '' Cupid's Whirligig'', Edward Sharpham has the deity of love cast a spell over a group of Londoners so that one falls for another, who falls for another, and so on until the final person falls for the first: a cupid's whirligig.

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the ...

wrote a short story called "The Whirligig of Life", about a mountain couple who decide to divorce and the events that lead to their remarriage told from the perspective of the judge.

Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Lloyd Biggle Jr. (April 17, 1923 – September 12, 2002), was an American musician, author, and internationally known oral historian. Biography Biggle was born in 1923 in Waterloo, Iowa. He served in World War II as a communications sergeant ...

wrote a novel titled ''The Whirligig of Time'' as part of his science fiction series featuring Jan Darzek, a former

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

. In '' Whirligig'', a novel by

Paul Fleischman Paul Fleischman (born 1952) is an American writer of children's books. He and his father Sid Fleischman have both won the Newbery Medal from the American Library Association recognizing the year's "most distinguished contribution to American lit ...

, a boy makes a mistake that takes the life of a young girl and is sent on a cross-country journey building whirligigs. In the

Newbery Award The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

-Winning young adult novel '' Missing May'' by Cynthia Rylant, Ob, the main character's uncle, makes whirligigs as a hobby. After his wife who loved the whirligigs dies, the whirligigs continue to move and symbolize the fact that life must go on for Ob.

In films

In the movie '' Twister'',

Helen Hunt Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Hunt rose to fame portraying Ja ...

's aunt Meg (played by Lois Smith) has a large collection of metal kinetic art whirligigs in her front yard to warn her of approaching tornadoes.

In science

Manu Prakash, an assistant professor of bioengineering, and Saad Bhamla, a postdoctoral student at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

built an inexpensive, hand-powered centrifuge in 2016 based on this ancient toy that could help doctors working in developing countries.

As folk art

When whirligigs became recognized as American

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically tr ...

is unclear, but today they are a well established sub-category. With recognition, folk art whirligigs have increased in value. The photo on the right is of a traditional whirligig commonly found in Bali, Indonesia. They are still available, and are often used in the rice paddies as the sound they make when the wind blows scares birds away. This example was found near Clarkrange, Tennessee, on the Highway 127 Corridor Sale. It represents an interesting example of a combination mechanical and sound producing whirligig. The propeller, the Balinese farmer and the bull are of tin. The farmer and bull are painted but the propeller blades are not. The body is of hand whittled

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

, fastened with rusty nails and

wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is co ...

and a single piece of string. There are still pencil marks where various pieces were centered and/or aligned. The farmer is connected to the shaft of the whirligig by a bamboo stick with an offset where the stick connects to the shaft. The result is: as the shaft turns the farmer's arm lifts from the offset shaft which makes the farmer pull the string which lifts the bull's head. The shaft contains a second feature, a set of knockers that create a bit of music on raised pieces of bamboo. There are a total of six knockers which strike six bamboo plates. The bamboo plates are raised by placing a circular piece of bamboo or something similar between the knockers and the bamboo base. Each rotation causes three knockers to hit plates so the sound is actually different at each rotation. The knockers are nailed in pattern to the shaft. Whirligigs from folk artist Reuben Aaron Miller and others are considered highly collectable. However, whirligigs' value as folk art has been uneven. At a 1998 auction at Skinner Galleries, a 19th-century Uncle Sam with saw and flag in excellent condition sold for $12,650. At a 2000 auction at Skinner Galleries a 19th-century polychrome carved pine and copper band figure whirligig in excellent condition sold for $10,925 and an early 20th-century bike rider of painted wood and sheet metal sold for $3,450. In 2005, a 20th-century folk art whirligig in good condition brought $2,900 at an auction at Horst Auction Center in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

.''Sunday News'' Lancaster, PA "Whirligig spins way to $2,900". February 27, 2005

Citations

General bibliography

* Beard, D.C. ''The American Boys Handy Book: What to Do and How to Do It''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. (1907). * Bishop, Robert and Coblentz, Patricia; ''A Gallery of American Weathervanes and Whirligigs'' ( / 0-525-47652-0); E.P. Dutton, NY, 1981. * Bridgewater, Alan; and Bridgewater, Gill; ''The Wonderful World of Whirligigs and Wind Machines'' ( / 0-8306-8349-6); Tab Books, 1990 * Burda, Cindy; ''Wind Toys That Spin, Sing, Twirl & Whirl''; ( / 0-8069-3934-6); Sterling, New York, 1999 * Fitzgerald, Ken; ''Weathervanes and Whirligigs''; Bramhall House, 1967 * Hall, A. Neely; Perkins, Dorothy. ''Handicraft for Handy Girls: Practical Plans for Work and Play''. Boston: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. (1916). * Kroeber, Alfred L. "The Arapaho," Part IV "Religion", ''Bulletin American Museum of Natural History'' Vol. XVIII. New York: Published by Order of the Trustees (1907) * Lunde, Anders S.; "Whirligigs: Design and Construction"; Mother Earth News, 1983 * Lunde, Anders S.; ''Whirligigs In Silhouette: 25 New Patterns'' ( / 0-86675-014-2); Modern Handicraft Inc., Kansas City, MO; 1989 * Lunde, Anders S.; ''Whirligigs for Children Young and Old''; (); Chilton Book Co., Radnor, PA; 1992 * Lunde, Anders S.; ''Easy to Make Whirligigs''; Dover Publications, 1996 * Lunde, Anders S.; ''Making Animated Whirligigs''; Dover Publications, 1998 * Lunde, Anders S.; ''Whimsical Whirligigs''; (); Dover Publications, 2000 * Lunde, Anders S.; ''Action Whirligigs: 25 Easy-to-Do Projects''; Dover Publications, 2003 * Marling, Karal Ann; ''Wind & Whimsy: Weathervanes and Whirligigs from Twin Cities Collections''; Minneapolis Institute of Arts,2007 * Pettit, Florence Harvey; ''How to Make Whirligigs and Whimmy Diddles and Other American Folkcraft Objects'' ( / 0-690-41389-0); Thomas Y. Crowell, New York, New York, U.S.A., 1972 * Pierce, Sharon; ''Making Whirligigs and Other Wind Toys''; ( / 0-8069-7980-1); Sterling Pub Co Inc; New York, New York; 1985 * Powell, J.W. (Director). ''Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1887-'88''. Washington, D.C.: Government printing Office (1892). * Schoonmaker, David & Woods, Bruce; ''Whirligigs & Weathervanes: A Celebration of Wind Gadgets With Dozens of Creative Projects to Make''; Sterling/Lark, New York, 1991 * Schwartz, Renee, ''Wind Chimes & Whirligigs'', Kids Can Press, 2007 * Skinner, Alanson. "Notes on the Eastern Cree and Northern Saulteaux", ''Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History'', pp. 1–178. New York: Published by Order of the Trustees (1912). * Wells, J.B. ''Toy Buzz''. US Patent #193201. US Patent Office (May 21, 1877). * Wiley, Jack; ''How to Make Propeller-Animated Whirligigs: Penguin, Folk Rooster, Dove, Pink Flamingo, Flying Unicorn & Roadrunner'', Solipaz Publishing Co., 1993

External links

Whirligig Carver Inspired by Slovenian Childhood Memories
Video produced by Wisconsin Public Television * Whirligig physics analysed and used to design a cheap centrifuge (paperfuge

{{Lawn and garden ornaments Traditional toys Garden ornaments