Friction Toys

1950?  “OK Hare and Tortoise.”  Friction toy with bobbing head and hare rider.  No. 3383. Made in Hong Kong.  Two additional exemplars.  Unknown sources.

The box reads “The old fable tells us that the tortoise won the race by a short head.”  Further: “Powerful friction motor.  Hare moves like a jockey.  Realistic tortoise head movement.  Tail Wags.  Lots of action – lots of fun.  I have only recently learned of the syncretism that puts together the Aesopic race with a Panchatantra story in which the hare rides the tortoise – to go home supposedly to fetch his heart.