A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one part that spins or whirls. It can also be a pinwheel,

spinning top A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be rotation, spun on its vertical Axis of rotation, axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect. Once set in motion, a top will ...

, buzzer, comic weathervane, gee-haw, spinner, whirlygig, whirlijig, whirlyjig, whirlybird, or simply a whirly. They are most commonly powered by the wind but can be hand-, friction- or motor-powered. They can be used as

kinetic Kinetic (Ancient Greek: κίνησις “kinesis”, movement or to move) may refer to: * Kinetic theory, describing a gas as particles in random motion * Kinetic energy, the energy of an object that it possesses due to its motion Art and ente ...

garden ornament A garden ornament or lawn ornament is a non-plant item used for garden, landscape, and park enhancement and decoration. History Early examples of the use of garden ornaments in western culture were seen in Ancient Roman gardens such as th ...

s, and can be designed to transmit sound and vibration into the ground to repel burrowing rodents.

Types

Whirligigs can be divided into four categories:

button A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, or ...

friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. Types of friction include dry, fluid, lubricated, skin, and internal -- an incomplete list. The study of t ...

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

, and

wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

-driven.

Button whirligigs

Button whirligigs, also known as button spinners and

buzzers A buzzer or beeper is an audio signaling device, which may be mechanical, electromechanical, or piezoelectric (''piezo'' for short). Typical uses of buzzers and beepers include alarm devices, timers, train and confirmation of user input such as a ...

, are the oldest known whirligigs. They require only a piece of clay or bone and a strip of hide. The ancient Greeks had their own version of this toy, called an ''

iynx In Greek mythology, Iynx () was an Arcadian nymph; a daughter of the god Pan and the nymph Echo. In popular myth, she used an enchantment to cast a spell on Zeus, which caused him to fall in love with Io. In consequence of this, Hera metamorph ...

'', and

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

cultures had another in 500 BC. Many a child of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

from the southern

Appalachians The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

and

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...

remembers a button or token, or coin and a string as the primary spinning toy of their youth. Button whirligigs are simple spinning toys whereby two looped ends of twisting thread are pulled with both arms, causing the button to spin. Button whirligigs are often seen today in craft shops and souvenir stores in the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Buzzers

Buzzers are button whirligigs that make a sound which can be modulated by how quickly the button is spinning and by the tightness of the string. A buzzer is often constructed by running string through two of the holes on a large button and is a common and easily made toy. A buzzer (buzz, bullroarer, button-on-a-string) is an ancient mechanical device used for ceremonial purposes and as a toy. It is constructed by centering an object at the midpoint of a cord or thong and winding the cord while holding the ends stationary. The object is whirled by alternately pulling and releasing the tension on the cord. The whirling object makes a buzzing or humming sound, giving the device its common name. American Natives used the buzzer as a toy and, also ceremonially, as to call up the wind. Early American buzzers were constructed of wood, bone, or stone, and date from at least the

Fourche Maline Culture The Fourche Maline culture (pronounced foosh-ma-lean) was a Woodland Period Native American culture that existed from 300 BCE to 800 CE,bamboo-copter The bamboo-copter, also known as the bamboo dragonfly or Chinese top ( Chinese ''zhuqingting'' (竹蜻蜓), Japanese ''taketonbo'' ), is a toy helicopter rotor that flies up when its shaft is rapidly spun. This helicopter-like top originated in ...

or bamboo butterfly was invented in China in 400 BC. While the initial invention did not use string to launch a

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

, later Chinese versions did.Leishman, J. Gordon (2006). ''Principles of Helicopter Aerodynamics''. Cambridge University Press. p. 7. , The first known depictions of whirligigs are string-powered versions in tapestries from medieval times. Friction whirligigs, also called gee-haws, depend on the holder rubbing a stick against a notched shaft resulting in a propeller at the end of the shaft turning, largely as the result of the vibration carried along the shaft. The motion needed to power a friction whirligig is very similar to rubbing sticks together to create fire. Friction whirligigs are another staple of craft shops and souvenir stores in the Appalachian Mountains.

Wind-driven

A wind-driven whirligig transfers the energy of the wind into either a simple release of

kinetic energy In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the form of energy that it possesses due to its motion. In classical mechanics, the kinetic energy of a non-rotating object of mass ''m'' traveling at a speed ''v'' is \fracmv^2.Resnick, Rober ...

through rotation or a more complicated transfer of

rotational energy Rotational energy or angular kinetic energy is kinetic energy due to the rotation of an object and is part of its total kinetic energy. Looking at rotational energy separately around an object's axis of rotation, the following dependence on the ob ...

to power a simple or complicated mechanism that produces repetitive motions or creates sounds. The wind simply pushes on the whirligig turning one part of it and it then uses inertia. The simplest and most common example of a wind-driven whirligig is the pinwheel. The pinwheel demonstrates the most important aspect of a blade surface. Pinwheels have a large cupped surface area which allows the pinwheel to reach its

terminal speed Terminal velocity is the maximum speed attainable by an object as it falls through a fluid (air is the most common example). It is reached when the sum of the drag force (''Fd'') and the buoyancy is equal to the downward force of gravity (''FG ...

fairly quickly at low wind speed. Increasing the blade area of the whirligig increases the surface area so more air particles collide with the whirligig. This causes the

drag force In fluid dynamics, drag, sometimes referred to as fluid resistance, is a force acting opposite to the direction of motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding fluid. This can exist between two fluid layers, two solid surfaces, or b ...

to reach its maximum value and the whirligig to reach its terminal speed in less time. Conversely the terminal speed is smaller when thin or short blades with a smaller surface area are utilized, resulting in the need for a higher wind speed to start and operate the whirligig. Whirligigs come in a range of sizes and configurations, bounded only by human ingenuity. The two blade non-mechanical model is the most prevalent, exemplified by the classic Cardinal with Wings illustrated at right.

History

Etymology of the word

The word ''whirligig'' derives from two

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English pe ...

words: ''whirlen'' (to whirl) and ''gigg'' (top), or literally "to whirl a top". The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' cites the ''

Promptorium parvulorum The ''Promptorium parvulorum'' (Latin: "Storehouse for children") is an English-Latin bilingual dictionary completed around 1440 AD. It was the first English-to-Latin dictionary. It occupies about 300 printed book pages.

Origins and evolution

The origin of whirligigs is unknown. Both farmers and sailors use weather vanes, and the assumption is one or both groups are probably the originators. By 400 BC the

bamboo-copter The bamboo-copter, also known as the bamboo dragonfly or Chinese top ( Chinese ''zhuqingting'' (竹蜻蜓), Japanese ''taketonbo'' ), is a toy helicopter rotor that flies up when its shaft is rapidly spun. This helicopter-like top originated in ...

or dragon butterfly, a helicopter-like rotor launched by rolling a stick, had been invented in China. Wind-driven whirligigs were technically possible by 700 AD when the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

began using

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

s to lift water for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

. The

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

, which dates to the

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...

ians in 1600–1800 BC, is the second component of wind-driven whirligigs. In early

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

civilizations there are ample examples of weathervanes but as yet, no examples of a propeller-driven whirligig have been found. A grinding corn doll of ancient Egyptian origin demonstrates that string-operated whirligigs were already in use by 100 BC. The first known visual representation of a European whirligig is contained in a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

tapestry Tapestry is a form of Textile arts, textile art which was traditionally Weaving, woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical piece ...

that depicts children playing with a whirligig, consisting of a

hobby horse In folklore, a hobby horse is a costumed character that features in some traditional seasonal customs, processions and similar observances around the world. In England, they are particularly associated with May Day celebrations, mummers' plays a ...

on one end of a stick and a four-blade propeller at the other end. For reasons that are unclear, whirligigs in the shape of the cross became a fashionable allegory in paintings of the fifteenth and sixteenth century. An oil by

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...

, probably completed between 1480 and 1500 and known as the ''Christ Child with a Walking Frame'', contains a clear illustration of a string-powered whirligig. A book published in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

in 1500 shows the

Christ child The Christ Child—also known as Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, Child Jesus, Divine Child, Divine Infant and the Holy Child—refers to Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ during his early years. The term refers to a period of life of Jesus, Jesus' l ...

in the margin with a string-powered whirligig. The

Jan Provoost Jan Provoost, or Jean Provost, or Jan Provost (1462/65 – January 1529) was a painter born in Mons, Belgium, Mons. Provost was a prolific master who left his early workshop in Valenciennes to run two workshops, one in Bruges, where he was made a ...

attributed late sixteenth-century painting ''Virgin and Child in a Landscape'' clearly shows the Christ child holding a whirligig as well. The American version of the wind-driven whirligig probably did not originate 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 George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

brought ''whilagigs'' of an unknown design, while returning from the Revolutionary War. 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 Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

of ''

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is an 1820 short story by American author Washington Irving contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories titled '' The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'' Irving wrote the story while living in Bi ...

'' 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". 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 there continued to produce whirligigs into the 20th century. During the

a resurgence in production by craftsman and amateurs was attributed to the need for ready cash. Today whirligigs are used as toys for children, as garden structures designed to keep birds or other garden pests away, as decorative yard art, and as art for indoors display.

As folk art

A number of

encyclopedic museum Encyclopedic museums are large, mostly national, institutions where objects from all over the world, representing different cultures are kept in one building or a complex of buildings. They offer visitors an abundance of information on a variety o ...

s and more-specialized

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

museums now have collections or examples of whirligigs in their collections. When whirligigs became recognized as American folk art is unclear, but today they are a well established sub-category. With recognition, folk art whirligigs have increased in value. The photo on the right is of a traditional whirligig commonly found in Bali, Indonesia. They are still available, and are often used in the rice paddies as the sound they make when the wind blows scares birds away. This example was found near Clarkrange, Tennessee, on the

Highway 127 Corridor Sale The Highway 127 Corridor Sale, also called the 127 Yard Sale, is an outdoor second-hand sale held annually for four days beginning the first Thursday in August along U.S. Route 127 (US 127). The event has been promoted as "The World's Longest ...

. It represents an interesting example of a combination mechanical and sound producing whirligig. The propeller, the Balinese farmer and the bull are of tin. The farmer and bull are painted but the propeller blades are not. The body is of hand whittled

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

, fastened with rusty nails and

wire file:Sample cross-section of high tension power (pylon) line.jpg, Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample d ...

and a single piece of string. There are still pencil marks where various pieces were centered and/or aligned. The farmer is connected to the shaft of the whirligig by a bamboo stick with an offset where the stick connects to the shaft. The result is: as the shaft turns the farmer's arm lifts from the offset shaft which makes the farmer pull the string which lifts the bull's head. The shaft contains a second feature, a set of knockers that create a bit of music on raised pieces of bamboo. There are a total of six knockers which strike six bamboo plates. The bamboo plates are raised by placing a circular piece of bamboo or something similar between the knockers and the bamboo base. Each rotation causes three knockers to hit plates so the sound is actually different at each rotation. The knockers are nailed in pattern to the shaft. Whirligigs from folk artist Reuben Aaron Miller and others are considered highly collectable. However, whirligigs' monetary value as folk art has been uneven. At a 1998 auction at Skinner Galleries, a 19th-century Uncle Sam with saw and flag in excellent condition sold for $12,650. At a 2000 auction at Skinner Galleries a 19th-century polychrome carved pine and copper band figure whirligig in excellent condition sold for $10,925 and an early 20th-century bike rider of painted wood and sheet metal sold for $3,450. In 2005, a 20th-century folk art whirligig in good condition brought $2,900 at an auction at Horst Auction Center in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...

In literature

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, in ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

'', uses the whirligig as a metaphor for "what goes around, comes around". In his play ''

Cupid's Whirligig ''Cupid's Whirligig'', by Edward Sharpham (1576-1608), is a city comedy set in London about a husband that suspects his wife of having affairs with other men and is consumed with irrational jealousy. It was first published in quarto in 1607, e ...

'',

Edward Sharpham Edward Sharpham (baptised 1576 – 1608) was an English playwright and pamphleteer. Life He was baptised on 22 July 1576, the third son of Richard Sharpham of Colehanger, a manor in the parish of East Allington. His father having died when Sharph ...

has the deity of love cast a spell over a group of Londoners so that one falls for another, who falls for another, and so on until the final person falls for the first: a cupid's whirligig.

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Ma ...

wrote a short story called "The Whirligig of Life", about a mountain couple who decide to divorce and the events that lead to their remarriage told from the perspective of the judge. The collection of O.Henry's short stories in which "The Whirligig of Life" appeared in 1910 was titled "Whirligigs". Lloyd Biggle, Jr. wrote a novel titled ''The Whirligig of Time'' as part of his science fiction series featuring Jan Darzek, a former

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigat ...

. In ''

Whirligig A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one part that spins or whirls. It can also be a Pinwheel (toy), pinwheel, Top (toy), spinning top, buzzer, comic weathervane, gee-haw, spinner, whirlygig, whirlijig, whirlyjig, whirl ...

'', a novel by

Paul Fleischman Paul Fleischman (born 1952) is an American writer of children's books. He and his father Sid Fleischman have both won the Newbery Medal from the American Library Association recognizing the year's "most distinguished contribution to American lit ...

, a boy makes a mistake that takes the life of a young girl and is sent on a cross-country journey building whirligigs. In the

Newbery Award The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

-Winning young adult novel '' Missing May'' by Cynthia Rylant, Ob, the main character's uncle, makes whirligigs as a hobby. After his wife who loved the whirligigs dies, the whirligigs continue to move and symbolize the fact that life must go on for Ob.

In films

In the movie ''

Twister Twister most commonly refers to a tornado. Twister or Twisters may also refer to: Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paragli ...

'',

Helen Hunt Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American actress. Her accolades include an Academy Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. Hunt rose to fame portraying newlywed Jamie Buchman in the sitcom '' Mad Abou ...

's aunt Meg (played by

Lois Smith Lois Arlene Smith (née Humbert; born November 3, 1930) is an American actress whose career spans 7 decades. She made her film debut in the 1955 drama film '' East of Eden'', and later played supporting roles in a number of movies, including '' ...

) has a large collection of metal

kinetic art Kinetic art is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or that depends on motion for its effects. Canvas paintings that extend the viewer's perspective of the artwork and incorporate multidimensional movement are ...

whirligigs in her front yard to warn her of approaching tornadoes.

In science

Manu Prakash, an assistant professor of bioengineering, and Saad Bhamla, a postdoctoral student at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

built in 2016 an inexpensive, hand-powered

centrifuge A centrifuge is a device that uses centrifugal force to subject a specimen to a specified constant force - for example, to separate various components of a fluid. This is achieved by spinning the fluid at high speed within a container, thereby ...

based on this ancient toy, that could help doctors working in developing countries.

Citations

General bibliography

* * Bishop, Robert and Coblentz, Patricia; ''A Gallery of American Weathervanes and Whirligigs'' ( / 0-525-47652-0); E.P. Dutton, NY, 1981. * Bridgewater, Alan; and Bridgewater, Gill; ''The Wonderful World of Whirligigs and Wind Machines'' ( / 0-8306-8349-6); Tab Books, 1990 * Burda, Cindy; ''Wind Toys That Spin, Sing, Twirl & Whirl''; ( / 0-8069-3934-6); Sterling, New York, 1999 * Fitzgerald, Ken; ''Weathervanes and Whirligigs''; Bramhall House, 1967 * Hall, A. Neely; Perkins, Dorothy. ''Handicraft for Handy Girls: Practical Plans for Work and Play''. Boston: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. (1916). * Kroeber, Alfred L. "The Arapaho," Part IV "Religion", ''Bulletin American Museum of Natural History'' Vol. XVIII. New York: Published by Order of the Trustees (1907) * Lunde, Anders S.; "Whirligigs: Design and Construction"; Mother Earth News, 1983 * Lunde, Anders S.; ''Whirligigs In Silhouette: 25 New Patterns'' ( / 0-86675-014-2); Modern Handicraft Inc., Kansas City, MO; 1989 * Lunde, Anders S.; ''Whirligigs for Children Young and Old''; (); Chilton Book Co., Radnor, PA; 1992 * Lunde, Anders S.; ''Easy to Make Whirligigs''; Dover Publications, 1996 * Lunde, Anders S.; ''Making Animated Whirligigs''; Dover Publications, 1998 * Lunde, Anders S.; ''Whimsical Whirligigs''; (); Dover Publications, 2000 * Lunde, Anders S.; ''Action Whirligigs: 25 Easy-to-Do Projects''; Dover Publications, 2003 * Marling, Karal Ann; ''Wind & Whimsy: Weathervanes and Whirligigs from Twin Cities Collections''; Minneapolis Institute of Arts,2007 * Pettit, Florence Harvey; ''How to Make Whirligigs and Whimmy Diddles and Other American Folkcraft Objects'' ( / 0-690-41389-0); Thomas Y. Crowell, New York, New York, 1972 * Pierce, Sharon; ''Making Whirligigs and Other Wind Toys''; ( / 0-8069-7980-1); Sterling Pub Co Inc; New York, New York; 1985 * Powell, J.W. (Director). ''Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1887-'88''. Washington, D.C.: Government printing Office (1892). * Schoonmaker, David & Woods, Bruce; ''Whirligigs & Weathervanes: A Celebration of Wind Gadgets With Dozens of Creative Projects to Make''; Sterling/Lark, New York, 1991 * Schwartz, Renee, ''Wind Chimes & Whirligigs'', Kids Can Press, 2007 * Skinner, Alanson. "Notes on the Eastern Cree and Northern Saulteaux", ''Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History'', pp. 1–178. New York: Published by Order of the Trustees (1912). * Wells, J.B. ''Toy Buzz''. US Patent #193201. US Patent Office (May 21, 1877). * Wiley, Jack; ''How to Make Propeller-Animated Whirligigs: Penguin, Folk Rooster, Dove, Pink Flamingo, Flying Unicorn & Roadrunner'', Solipaz Publishing Co., 1993

External links

Whirligig Carver Inspired by Slovenian Childhood Memories
Video produced by

Wisconsin Public Television PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television or WPT) is a network of non-commercial educational television stations operated primarily by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It compri ...

* Whirligig physics analyzed and used to design a cheap centrifuge (paperfuge
Hand-powered ultralow-cost paper centrifugeSpinning toy reinvented as low-tech centrifuge
{{Lawn and garden ornaments Traditional toys Garden ornaments