Spooky October continues with some objects from the Smithsonian, specifically the automaton collection. There is the 1871 patent model for the Natural Creeping Baby Doll as well as the Wonderful Creeping Baby Doll from a few decades later. Although these dolls are not supposed to give you the heebie jeebies, there’s just something about them that gives me the creeps…or the creepy crawlies to be exact. George Pemberton Clarke’s patent submission for a moving baby doll has a head, two arms, and two legs are made of plaster, while the arms and legs are hinged to a brass clockwork body that imitates crawling by rolling along on two toothed wheels. Then there is the doll from 1900, which is an improvement on Clarke’s design, but just as frightening. Inside the doll’s body is a spring-driven brass mechanical movement that actuates the arms and legs in imitation of crawling, though the doll actually moves along on two concealed wheels. Imagine these dolls slithering their way towards you while you are stuck inside a spooky mansion alone during a thunderstorm…the lights have gone out…and you know you’re gonna die.
Natural Creeping Baby Doll as well as the Wonderful Creeping Baby Doll
