At least I think this is what we used to call "celluloid."This toy has been around for a long time. I think that 80 years ago this might have been what you bought for a baby (?) At least someone bought it for me then.
It has a ring for hanging long before there were mobiles. I cannot imagine letting an infant play with this. There are small bells hidden by the strings hanging in place of hands and feet.
The other day I was dusting and noticed that this needed the touch of a dust cloth. Well, the right arm fell off and the four beads were scattered.
This morning L. and I decided we would try to fix it. The string is not exactly rotten but it's not very strong. We found a long needle with a big eye and strung the "arm" back together. How to get it back in the tiny hole. My idea was glue. Not good. What would glue do to that old material? L. had an idea. A small piece of wood fastened to the string and poked in the hole. The wood could hold it in place.
Toothpicks split when I tried to make a hole with another needle. Metal, we needed metal. Ahhh, Another needle. With excess cut off and the eye squeezed shut to hold the string with a knot in it, we finally got it shoved in and the repair was done.
This only took about an hour and a half.
I wonder if this could be considered an antique.
Based on how badly unsafe it would be considered today, it must be an antique! It's pretty cool though. they just don't make things like they used to!
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