| The Public Paperfolding History Project
Last updated 9/2/2025 x |
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| Active Play Paperfolds / Action Designs | |||||||
| This
page is being used to collect information about the
history of Active Play Designs (designs which change
their shape when played with). Please contact me if you
know any of this information is incorrect or if you have
any other information that should be added. Thank you. ********** The Talking Fish - 1863 onwards
********** 1873 This design appears as 'Butterstampfe' (The Butterchurn) in 'Die Praxis Des Kindergartens' by Auguste Koehler, which was published by Herman Bohlau in Weimar in 1873. The text explains how in this action design a strip of paper is first rolled up and then the centre of the roll is pulled out and pushed back in to simulate the action of churning butter.
********** The Flapping Bird - 1883 onwards
********** The Monster Fish - 1883 onwards
********** The Paper Spring - 1911 onwards
********** The Mazuma Fish - 1912 onwards
********** 1915 'Occupational Therapy: A Manual for Nurses' by William Rush Dunton was published by the W B Saunders Company in Philadelphia and London in 1915,. contains an active play design called 'A Fish's Mouth', which I have attempted to reconstruct from the text.
********** The Flapping Dove - 1932
********** The Sugar Tongs - 1932 onwards
********** The Laughing Man - 1932 onwards
********** The Flapping Butterfly - 1932 onwards
********** 1932 A design for 'L'Accordeon' (The Accordion) appears in Booklet 6 of 'Images a Plier', a series of 6 booklets published by Librairie Larousse in Paris in 1932.
********** The Bonbon Bird - 1939 onwards
********** 1956 'Paper Magic' by Robert Harbin, which was published by Oldbourne in London in 1956 contains diagrams for Harbin's 'Shy Tortoise'.
********** 1963 A design for a simple puppet called 'Freddy Finger' appears in 'Folding Paper Toys' by Shari Lewis and Lillian Oppenheimer, which was first published by Stein and Day, Inc in the USA in 1963.
********** 1968 A snapper made from a dollar bill, titled 'Money Talks' and attributed to Robert Neale, appears in 'Folding Money, Volume Two' edited by Samuel Randlett, which was published by Magic Inc of Chicago in 1968.
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