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For other uses, see Whirligig (disambiguation).  A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one member that spins or whirls. Whirligigs are also known as buzzers, comic weathervanes, gee-haws, spinners, whirlygigs; whirlijig; whirlyjig; whirlybird; or plain whirly. Whirligigs are most commonly powered by the wind, but can be hand or friction powered, or even powered by a motor.
[edit] Types of WhirligigsWhirligigs can be divided into three categories: Button; Friction and String; and Wind Driven. [edit] Button WhirligigsButton whirligigs (also known as button spinners and buzzers) may be the oldest whirligigs in historical terms, requiring only a piece of clay or bone and a strip of hide. Native American cultures had their own version of this toy in 500 BC, long before European settlement. Many a child of the Great Depression 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. To build a button spinner, loop a string or heavy thread through two opposing holes of the button, and tie the ends together. Put the loop over your thumbs with the button hanging. Spin the button around until the strings are completely twisted on both sides. Then pull the strings taut. The button will spin rapidly as the string unwinds. When nearly unwound, release tension, but keep the string relatively straight between the thumbs. The angular momentum of the button will cause the strings to twist again in the opposite direction. As the button slows, pull on the string again and its direction will reverse.[1] 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. Button whirligigs are often seen today in craft shops and souvenir stores in the southern Appalachian Mountains [edit] Friction and String WhirligigsString 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 or bamboo butterfly, was invented in China in 400 BC. While the initial invention did not use string to launch a propeller, later Chinese versions did. [2]. The first known depictions of whirligigs are string powered versions in tapestries from medieval times. Friction whirligigs, also called Gee-Haw's, 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. [edit] Wind Driven WhirligigsA wind driven whirligig transfers the energy of the wind into either a simple release of kinetic energy through rotation or a more complicated transfer of rotational energy to power a simple or complicated mechanism that produces repetitive motions and/or creates sounds.  The simplest and most common example of a wind driven whirligig is the pinwheel. The pinwheel demonstrates the most important aspect of a whirligig, blade surface. Pinwheels have a large cupped surface area which allows the pinwheel to reach its terminal speed 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 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 [3] 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 left. [edit] History[edit] Etymology of the Word WhirligigThe word whirligig derives from two middle English words: whirlen (to whirl) and gigg (top)[4], or literally ‘to whirl a top’. The Oxford English Dictionary cites the 1440 Promptorium Parvulorum, the first English-Latin Dictionary, which contains the definition, "Whyrlegyge, chyldys game, Latin: giracu-lum[5] Thus, it is likely the 1440 version of whirligig referred to a spinning toy or toys. [edit] Origins and EvolutionThe actual origin of whirligigs is unknown. Both farmers and sailors use weathervanes on an ongoing basis and the assumption is one or both groups are likely the originators. By 400 BC the dragon butterfly, a propeller launched by rolling a stick had been invented in China[6]. Wind driven whirligigs were technically possible by 700 AD when the Sasanian Empire began using windmills to lift water for irrigation. The weathervane which dates to the Sumerians in 1600-1800 BC, is the second component of wind driven whirligigs [7] In Chinese, Egyptian, Persian, Greek and Roman civilizations there are ample examples of weathervanes but as yet, no examples of a propeller driven whirligig. A grinding corn doll of Egyptian origin demonstrates that string operated whirligigs were already in use by 100 BC[8] The first known visual representation of a European whirligig is contained in a medieval tapestry that depicts children playing with a whirligig consisting of a hobbyhorse on one end of a stick and a four blade propeller at the other end [9] For reasons that are not clear, whirligigs in the shape of the cross became a fashionable allegory in paintings of the fifteenth and sixteenth century. An oil by Hieronymus Bosch 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 [1] A book published in Stuttgart in 1500 shows the Christ child in the margin with a string powered whirligig [10]. The Jan Provost attributed late sixteenth century painting ‘’Virgin and Child in a Landscape’’ clearly shows the Christ child holding a whirligig as well [11] The American version of the wind driven whirligig probably originated 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 brought ‘’whilagigs’’ home from the Revolutionary War[12]. What type is unknown. 
An example of an 1800 to 1850 whirligig can be found at the McCord Museum of Canadian History: [3] 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 from the southern Appalachians continued to produce whirligigs into the 20th century. During the Great Depression 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. [edit] The Modern Scene [edit] Whirligigs as ArtWhirligigs have become art. A number of museums now have collections, or examples in their collections. [14] [edit] Whirligigs in LiteratureO. Henry 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. In Whirligig by Paul Fleischman a boy makes a mistake that takes the life of a young girl and is sent on a cross country journey building whirligigs. [edit] Whirligigs in the MoviesIn Twister, Helen Hunt's aunt Meg (played by Lois Smith) has large collection of whirligigs in her front yard to warn her of approaching tornadoes.[15] [edit] Whirligigs as Folk ArtWhen whirligigs became recognized as American folk art isn’t clear, 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 an undated folk art whirligig called Indian Pulling Bull which was found near Clarkrange, Tennessee on the Highway 127 Corridor Sale. Indian Pulling Bull represents an interesting example of a combination mechanical and sound producing whirligig. The propeller, the Indian and the bull are of tin. The Indian and bull are painted but the propeller blades are not. The body is of hand whittled bamboo, fastened with rusty nails and wire and a single piece of string. There are still pencil marks where various pieces were centered and/or aligned. The Indian 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 Indian’s arm lifts from the offset shaft which makes the Indian 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 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[16]. 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. [17] In 2005, a 20th Century folk art whirligig in good condition brought $2,900 at an auction at Horst Auction Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania[18]. [edit] The Modern CraftsmanThere is still a role for the solitary craftsman, whittler or inventor as evidenced by the following cast of modern whirligig builders Lester Gay, Fountain, North Carolina Lester Gay of Fountain, NC made whirligigs from his retirement until his death in 1998. Mr. Gay’s wind driven whirligigs were made of bicycle rims placed at nearly uniform height to create a “garden of whirligigs”. He never sold one personally. At the end of his life there were said to be over 250 whirligigs in his yard. The whole collection was donated to the Fountain, NC Volunteer Fire Department which sold them off at $75 each. [19] Edith Lawrence, Plantersville, Alabama Near Plantersville, Alabama between 2001 and 2008 Edith Lawrence made whirligigs which her husband Gene sold from their front yard. Gene became known locally as Whirligig Man. Edith’s whirligigs were of the wind driven type, typically of cast off plastic. All of the proceeds they earned went to their local church. Edith died in December 2008 and Gene abandoned the business soon after[20]. Ander S. Lunde, Chapel Hill, North Carolina Ander Lunde is credited with reviving the whirligig during the 1980’s. A well-known painter and wood sculptor, Lunde won First Prize for a whirligig sculpture in the 1981 Durham (North Carolina) Art Guild Juried Exhibition. Lunde received two honorable mentions for his whirligigs at the first statewide Juried Exhibition of North Carolina Crafts in 1983[21] Lunde’s contribution to the literature on whirligigs is substantial, with a total of eight how-to build whirligig books to his credit (see bibliography) Vollis Simpson, Lucama, North Carolina The most famous of modern wind driven whirligig makers is probably Vollis Simpson. Mr. Simpson has constructed a “whirligig farm” on his land in Lucama, NC which has been profiled by PBS [22] the subject of a online photographic essay at the Minnesota Museum of Science[4][23], and an article in American Profile [24] One of Mr. Simpson’s creations stands in front of the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Simpson’s farm contains some thirty to forty whirligigs at any given time, some of which reach fifty feet in height. The whirligigs are made from castoff metal machine parts and an assortment of odd and colorful pieces of various origins. [25] He sells smaller versions to the public but only from his farm. Wilson, North Carolina holds an annual Whirligig Festival in November of each year which includes a whirligig building contest complete with nominal cash prizes. The contest is judged in part by Vollis Simpson[26]. [edit] Mass Production Today, large volumes of traditional American whirligigs are produced in stamped and painted metal in China and are widely available across the country. More limited production of wood whirligigs in traditional patterns can be found in virtually every sizable community along the Appalachian Mountains. [edit] Bibliography
[edit] References
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