Gourd Toys: An Historical Look at Using the Fruits as Playthings

When I was a younger man, I called the hammer the universal tool. I have to say, if there is anything in the history of man that seemed to have a universal purpose, it was the gourd. From bird houses to storage containers, from water dippers to sifters, from bowls and canteens to toys. Yes, gourds were a source of toys to occupy the kids.

In many tourist stands we've seen toys that have been passed down from the days of gourds and wood, before plastics and metals. Remember the toy with the stick and the ball tied to a string, and you try to swing the ball into the air and try to catch the ball on the stick? Yes, these were antique gourd toys.

The Tennessee Spinner is a toy all on its own, right off the vine. they can be played with when they are green, and they can be played with when they are dried. We like to think the Frisbee is an invention of the '50s, but I would not be at all surprised if we could go back two hundred years and saw kids playing catch with the bottom of a dried out gourd, tossing it the same way we toss a Frisbee.

Today is a little different in that there are so many manufactured toys that gourd toys have taken a seat to all but obscurity. Even so, we grew Tennessee Spinners and sold them at festivals and craft shows as spin tops for kids. We are not alone, if you visit the website Happiness Africa, they actually sell Bobble Head gourd toys. Dolls are made from gourds, and some gourds are almost ideal for a doll face. Oh, and let's not forget the youngest of our children, for them we have gourd rattles. Some are just made from the small gourd itself, some varieties of which are shaped like a rattle to begin with and when they dry, the seeds themselves will rattle, others are cut and mounted to s stick, the seeds removed and small pebbles inserted. Rattles were also made and used for ceremonial purposes.

Gourds are an artistic medium. If you would like to learn more about gourds, please visit The Gourd Reserve, with over 800 pages of gourd related information and artwork. You can also find more short articles on gourds and growing gourds here on my AC producer page.