{"product_id":"decommissioned-early-20th-century-rare-original-allover-crazed-polychromed-whirligig-depicting-a-traffic-officer-with-stop-and-go-rotating-arms-on-a-custom-base","title":"decommissioned early 20th century rare original allover crazed polychromed whirligig depicting a traffic officer with \"stop\" and go\" rotating arms on a custom base","description":"very rare and highly unusual early 20th century american folk art street traffic officer whirligig figure. comprised of hand-carved pine wood with original polychrome enameled finish largely intact. the eerie looking figure contains wind-driven rotating arms with the words \"stop\" and \"go\" applied in black. the simple spinning mechanism is comprised of a thin metal rod affixed to a metal base plate. the block of wood was made specifically for displaying the whirligig. the original enameled finish is virtually intact, with allover crazed finish, consistent with age. recently decommissioned from a california museum. artists unknown. a whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one member that spins or whirls. whirligigs are most commonly powered by the wind, but can be hand or friction powered, or even powered by a motor. they can be used as a kinetic garden ornament. the actual origin of whirligigs is unknown. both farmers and sailors use weathervanes on an ongoing basis and the assumption is one or both groups are likely the originators. the american version of the wind driven whirligig probably originated with the immigrant population of the united kingdom as whirligigs are mentioned in early american colonial times. how the wind driven whirligig evolved in america is not fully known, though there are some markers. george washington brought whirligigs home from the revolutionary war. what type is unknown. by the mid 18th century weathervanes had evolved to include free moving wings. these wings could be human arms; pitchforks; spoons, or virtually any type of implement. the 1819 publication by washington irving of the legend of sleepy hollow contains the following description: \"a little wooden warrior who, armed with a sword in each hand, was most valiantly fighting the wind on the pinnacle of the barn.\" an example of an 1800 to 1850 whirligig can be found at the mccord museum of canadian history: by the latter half of the 19th century constructing wind driven whirligigs had become a pastime and art form. what began as a simple turning of artificial feathers in the wind advanced into full blown mechanisms producing both motion and sound. unfortunately both the exposure to the weather and the fragile nature of whirligigs means very few wind driven whirligigs from this era survive. the period between 1880 and 1900 brought rapid geographic expansion of whirligigs across the us. after 1900, production seemed for the most part to center on the southern appalachians. craftsman from the southern appalachians continued to produce whirligigs into the 20th century. during the great depression a resurgence in production by craftsman and amateurs was attributed to the need for ready cash.","brand":"vendor-unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50671879291178,"sku":"UR-22674-17","price":1900.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0959\/7075\/4858\/files\/20170614-4v0a0222_2.jpg?v=1760197746","url":"https:\/\/urbanremainschicago.com\/products\/decommissioned-early-20th-century-rare-original-allover-crazed-polychromed-whirligig-depicting-a-traffic-officer-with-stop-and-go-rotating-arms-on-a-custom-base","provider":"Urban Remains Chicago","version":"1.0","type":"link"}