Astronaut Orbit with 3 Mercury capsules (ATC, Japan)
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Astronaut Orbit with 3 Mercury capsules (ATC, Japan) |
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in storage |
} A boxed tinplate clockwork "roundabout"-style lever toy, ASTRONAUT ORBIT with 3 Mercury capsules, made in Japan by ATC, probably circa ~1962.
Description
The toy has a raised circular "inverted dish" base screenprinted with an image of the Earth, containing a motor and bell, the motor being wound up by sweeping a lever on the top surface, once. Attached to the base is a red and white perforated tinplate tower topped by a brightly coloured disc with edge tabs. suspended from three of the tabs on thick wire are three brightly-coloured tinplate Mercury capsules, a red capsule marked "ALAN SHEPARD", a yellow capsule marked "WALTER SCHIRRA", and a blue capsule marked "JOHN GLENN".
After the lever is operated to wind the motor, a shaft running up the centre of the tower makes the top disk rotate, the three space capsules extend on their wire supports due to centrifugal force, their speed through the air makes the lightweight propellers on their noses spin, and the small bell repeatedly sounds, making a noise that could be imagined as an approximation of an electronic Sputnik-style repeating "beep".
Development
An earlier version of the toy was called "AIR CONTROL TOWER", a roundabout-style clockwork plaything with three propellered aircraft circling an airport control tower. At some point the company seems to have decided to try to cash in on the space craze, and had the three aeroplanes, red, light blue and yellow, labelled "MARS", "MOON" and "Venus", respectively.
With the US space programme underway, the toy was redesigned and renamed "Astronaut Orbit", the printed graphics changed, and the three aircraft replaced by three orbiting Mercury space capsules ... but still with the original nose propellers!
Packaging
The box is blue (and a bit faded around the sides) around 140×120×200mm, with a printed lift-off lid on one of the larger sides, showing a US rocket on the launchpad at takeoff. Text reads ASTRONAUT ORBIT , with 3 Mercury capsules, lever action toy with bell, ATC MADE IN JAPAN, and A FLARE TOY ITEM NO 8-6024. The lid sides show smaller pictures, alternating, of an astronaut's head wearing a space helmet, and a Mercury capsule.
