It's a music box. Each of the little elves in his little place moves as the whole Ferris Wheel turns.
It plays "Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy."
This is a decoration i remember from as far back as i was aware that there was such a thing as Christmas.
We even still have the box it came in.
Photo-Finish Friday is the brainchild of Leah at The Goat's Lunch Pail.
Today is:
Ako Gishi sai -- Ako, Japan (traditional dances and warrior parades honoring the 47 Ronin)
Buy a Tree Day / Deck the Halls Day -- internet generated, and if you are going to decorate, why did you wait this long?
Christmas Bird Count begins -- sponsored by the National Audubon Society (through Jan. 5; since 1900, the longest-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations)
Halcyon Days begin -- a time of calm and tranquility (beginning seven days before the winter solstice, lasting until December 28, seven days after the solstice; named for an ancient fabled kingfisher bird [or halcyon], which hatches and raise her young during this time)
Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Stufur -- Shorty, who is also known as Ponneskefill, the pan-scraper, who will scrape food scraps from the pans left out
Khoiak Ceremony for Ploughing the Earth -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)
Monkey Day -- unofficial, by animal groups, to draw attention to the plights of simians kept in labs and as pets monkeyday.org
National Bouillabaisse Day
National Energy Conservation Day -- India
National Salesperson's Day -- US
Play An Old Song That You Didn't Like To See If You Still Don't Like It Day -- internet generated, and don't bother, bad songs don't improve with age
Precalentines Day -- an unofficial holiday for math lovers begun by a precalculus class at a Nova Scotia high school
Sarsodaw Pwe -- Myanmar (Writers' Day, especially celebrated by the press)
South Pole Discovery Day -- thank you, Roald Amundsen
St. John of the Cross' Day (Patron of contemplative life, contemplatives, mystical theology, mystics, Spanish poets; Ta' Xbiex, Malta)
St. Spyridon's Day (Patron of Corfu, Greece, and potters)
Anniversaries Today:
Princess Mary Stuart is crowned Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542
Alabama becomes the 22nd US State, 1819
Birthdays Today:
Paul "Beakman" Zaloom, 1951
Patty Duke, 1946
Lee Remick, 1935
Charlie Rich, 1932
Don Hewitt, 1922
Shirley Jackson, 1919
Morey Amsterdam, 1914
Spike Jones, 1911
Today in History:
Osman ibn Affan is appointed the third kalief of Islam, 644
The Zuider Zee seawall collapses, 50,000 lives are lost in the floods that follow, 1287
The first artificial pearls, made of gypsum pellets covered with fish scales, are manufactured by M Jacquin in Paris, 1656
The Montgolfier brothers' first balloon lifts off on its first test flight, 1782
David Wilkinson of Rhode Island patents a machine that cuts nuts and bolts, 1798
The American Academy of Political and Social Science is organized in Philadelphia, 1889
The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from Ocean Beach, San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii, 1902
Norwegian Roald Amundsen becomes the first to reach the South Pole, 1911
Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sri Lanka join the United Nations, 1955
The United Republic of Tanzania joins the United Nations. 1961
NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus, 1962
Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga join the United Nations, 1999
The Millau viaduct, the tallest bridge in the world, near Millau, France is officially opened, 2004
The decorations from childhood are the best. I have a few here that enjoy pride of place in a cabinet.
ReplyDeleteMy tree always includes a small silver bell ornament that has always been my favorite. Just about all other ornaments can be used or not used as fancy dictates on any particular Christmas, but that one MUST be on the tree :-)
ReplyDeletethis looks like An Xciting Collectors Item.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen this toy before- I would have loved it as a child!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful memento from your childhood.
ReplyDeleteLeah, these deserve the best care, don't they?
ReplyDeleteSuldog, it wouldn't be Christmas for you without that one, so yes, it must be there.
John, it dates back to the 1960's, so you have to expect the cheese.
Kathe, i've never seen another like it, either.
Stephen, it is wonderful, and thanks for taking time while your mother is still in the hospital to read.
Wow, the musical ferris wheel would be a hit here as well. Awesome. I enjoy rooting though the tree and ornament box at my father's house since I don't get to see the old good stuff anymore when he sets it up (we live to far away to visit on the holidays).
ReplyDelete