1929 Wolverine, No.77 Merry Miller Sandy Andy in Original Box
Outstanding mechanical, steel litho toy complete and unused. Comes with original steel container, factory sealed full of sand. Includes beautifully illustrated full color box and cardboard. I was able to date the manufacture by the only other boxed example I've sold several years ago with its original dated packing slip. The toy was designed to represent the Merry Miller's treetop home. It rests on top of four braced leg supports. The legs are green and lithoed with twisting vines, leaves, and flowers. Some of them extend up to the base of the house and even spiral to the top of the roof. The home has four sides with lithoed clapboard siding. Each side has a window. The beveled roof has three lithoed dormers on both sides. It hinges on one side and lifts up to contain the sand which travels out through a gated chute. The first photo shows the red lever off to the right side of the house which releases the sand from the "home". As the sand pours through the gate it fills up the troughs on the mill wheel. The weight of the sand starts the wheel spinning counterclockwise. The miller, with his dog close behind and key in hand, is fixed to the end of spring-held metal lever. The lever connects to the mill wheel. As the wheel revolves the miller and dog move forward until they reach the front edge of the house. As the miller moves forward the spring pulls him back to his original starting position. In terms of the lithography the miller's wife is waiting for him to come home. She's just around the corner with rolling pin in hand. However, just as he's about to round the corner the spring pulls him back to safety. It's a really neat effect. The full color box is an older design with the sides of the cover extending all the way to the bottom of the box. For this reason many were easily torn and thrown away. On the top center of the cover is an illustration of the toy showing the sand passing through the wheel and deposited back into its container. The remaining sections of the cover look like a "crazy quilt" running diagonally in all directions. They all show basically the same thing; the miller's wife chasing the miller and his dog. Milled bags of flour are randomly scattered in their paths. It also has some brown paper packing material inside the box. Size: 12" tall x 6" x 6". Sold: Dec. 2006
Price Sold: $ 510
