There are very few toys that have truly withstood the test of time; the doll, Jacob’s Ladder, marbles and hobby horse all come to mind. After going through a box of items from my parent’s house, I came across an old jack-in-the-box, and I couldn’t resist the urge to turn its magical crank. Even though it had the same result as it has as long as I can remember, it brought a smile to my face and I remembered why I kept it all of these years. It would never go out of style and will be a toy that I can share with my own children someday. And, I was surprised to learn that I probably wasn’t the only one to share a jack-in-the-box across generations; the jack-in-the-box dates back to the 1500’s. Here are some fun facts about this popular classic toy.
There are a lot of different theories and stories behind the jack-in-the-box, but the most widely-accepted version entails a 16th century German clockmaker named Claus. As a birthday present for a young prince, Claus made a simple wooden box with metal edges and crank, a simple tune and a comical devil that popped out. This theory may explain why in French, a jack-in-the-box is called a “diable en boîte” (literally “boxed devil”).
Thankfully, the devil character was changed to a jester or clown figure over the course of several generations. Of course these days, its not just a clown that emerges from a jack-in-the-box. Many popular characters and figures are used in modern versions, including Curious George. Modern jack-in-the-boxes also use rubber belts to convey the motion of the crank to the music box and release mechanism.
Use of the song Pop Goes the Weasel in jack-in-the-boxes was originally a feature only of those made by popular toy maker Mattel in the 1960’s. Of course, Mattel jack-in-the-boxes famously became part of the opening to the long-running television show Romper Room. Most Jjack-in-the-box use 18 tines to play the song.
[Toys featured in this post are available at Arsa Toys: Jester Jack-in-the-Box $15.99; Curious George Jack-in-the-Box $17.99]
