Mechanical figure:Ring-a-Ling Circus

"The greatest mechanical toy of the year," boasted toy manufacturer Louis Marx & Company when it first introduced its "Ring-a-Ling Circus" in 1925. Made of colorfully lithographed tin by New York's Louis Marx & Company, the windup toy features four classic circus performers doing their tricks as they circle around the ringmaster. As the ringmaster cracks his whip, the clown spins on a crossbar, the monkey climbs a pole, and the lion and elephant rear up on their hind legs. By the mid-1920s, the Marx company had established a national reputation creating clever mechanical toys solely for the delight of children. Testifying to Louis Marx's belief that toys should be "fun," "familiar," and "surprising," this mechanical toy plays on the sustained popularity of the circus at the end of its heyday, representing key figures in virtually every circus at the time. However, the popularity of the circus declined as movies became increasingly popular, especially after the advent of sound in the late 1920s. Louis Marx & Co. stopped manufacturing the Ring-a-Ling Circus by the end of the decade.