Maker GOOD VIBRATIONS
Unlike in the gramophone, the styrene
speaker cone in this voice unit was fixed in
one position. A tiny spring-loaded piston
pressed the needle into the hill-and-dale modulated groove. It also acoustically coupled
the speaker cone to the curved ridge on top
of the moving T-shaped tone arm. The record
was molded out of tough, slippery nylon to
be both durable and smooth running. This
design produced loud, clear sounds with great
fidelity. The constant pressure of the piston
kept the needle in the groove so the voice unit
didn’t rely on gravity like a gramophone — it
would work upside down, or at any angle,
perfect for a toy.
To keep the record spinning at a smooth
and steady speed, it was connected via a
rubber belt and pulley to a die-cast zinc
centrifugal regulator. Like a spinning figure
skater, the arms of the regulator would move
in and out in response to any variation in
speed. Too slow and the spring-loaded arms
snapped inward, speeding itself up. Too fast
and the arms swung out, where their felted
tips dragged against the housing, subtly and
gently braking the speed.
Mattel continued to improve their voice
unit by updating to a more elegant S-shaped
negator spring, which provides constant
force in a compact size (like a self-rewinding
carpenter’s measuring tape). The powerful
spring motor had extra torque, which was
used to power additional mechanical gimmicks on various toys. The Mickey Mouse
Chatter Chum moved his head up and down
as he talked. Shrinkin’ Violet, a doll based on
ABC TV’s “The Funny Company,” fluttered
her eyelashes and moved her lips.
The same basic mechanical sound player
was used in dozens and dozens of other toys:
Barbie dolls, talking books and games, puppets, and lots more. Because these miniature
sound makers reproduced recognizable
voices and sounds, they were a natural for
items that were based on well-known characters with famous catch phrases. Just pull the
string to hear Robin Williams as Mork from
Ork say “Nanoo, Nanoo,” Herschel Bernardi
Bob Knetzger
; PULL M Y STRING (This page): Mattel’s ingenious voice
unit with interleaved spiral grooves. (Opposite): Sound-making toys from the past and present.
as Charlie the Tuna say “Hey, Stahkist, I gaht
good taste!,” or Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny say
“What’s up, doc?” The list of character voice
toys was endless: Casper the Ghost, Beany
and Cecil, Doctor Doolittle, The Monkees,
Herman Munster, Woody Woodpecker, Flip
Wilson, and Fred Flintstone, to name a few.
The pull-my-string action was so iconic that
it was used to trigger the Toy Story Talking
Woody Doll, even though this toy’s sound
player was entirely electronic.
38 Make: makezine.com/29
