Folk Art Action Figure
- Valerie Thompson
- Nov 6, 2016
- 1 min read
After Grandma died in 2002, Uncle Paul said I should take something to remember her by. I hesitated and asked for the “clacking chickens.” I was in my 30s, and my uncle closer to 50. He said, “Not that.” He realized how silly it sounded; yet I needed no explanation. In fact, if she’d had a valuable piece of jewelry I’d wanted, that would have been fine, and we both knew it. The toy in question averages around 10 bucks on eBay, yet it’s steeped in memories for both of us.
The toy with holes drilled through it resembles a ping-pong paddle held horizontally. A ball is attached to strings that run up through the paddle to the birds’ heads—and that ball swings like a pendulum underneath. As the ball rotates, the birds’ heads dip down to peck at painted corn. I used to experiment with different speeds, peering at the toy from every angle.
Years ago, I picked up this one at a tag sale. Grandma’s had a black lacquer handle, overall varnish, and more detail in the painting. Still, this is a case in which occupying the same space will suffice. I look at my toy and remember myself as a child trying to find something to do in a house with an out-of-tune piano, a box of blocks, and a surprisingly entertaining brood of “clacking chickens.”
Pecking-hens wooden toy, stamped “Made in Sweden”
Reluctant son demonstrating how the toy works
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