Canary Shaped Toy: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Molded celluloid balance toy, in the shape of a bird (canary). Yellow body, head tinted orange at top, orange beak and feet, black dot for eyes, with black eyebrows. Feet are shaped into a small hook, which would enable the toy to balance on the side of a bowl or glass. Possibly used for a christmas ornament as well. See similar ornaments: 1993.0157.20, 1993.0157.19, 1993.0157.17, 1993.0157.16, 1993.0157.15.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1930 - 1950
• Object Name: ornament, christmas
• Other Terms: Ornament; Decoration
• Physical Description: celluloid (overall material)
• Physical Description: paint (decoration material)
• Measurements: overall: 1 1/8 in x 4 1/2 in x 1 1/8 in; 2.8575 cm x 11.43 cm x 2.8575 cm
• place made: Germany
• DELETE: Germany
• place used: United States: District of Columbia, Washington
• subject association: Christmas
• Subject: Animals
• ID Number: 1993.0157.18
• catalog number: 1993.0157.18
• accession number: 1993.0157
• Credit Line: Gift of Nancy M. and Robert R. Garvey, Jr.
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.