US1600554A

US1600554A - Amusement device

Info

Publication number: US1600554A
Application number: US87203A
Authority: US
Inventors: Marquis Bernice Maud
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1926-02-10
Filing date: 1926-02-10
Publication date: 1926-09-21
Anticipated expiration: 1943-09-21

Description

Sept. 21, 1926.

B. M. MARQUIS AMUSEMENT DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 10, 1926 ATTORNEY-2 Sept. 21 1926.

. 1,600,554 B. M. MARQUIS v AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed Feb. 10, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m; ATTORNEYJ.

. setting are Patented Sept. 21, 1926.

UNITED STATES BERNICE MAUD MARQUIS, 0F FOREST HILLS, NEW YORK.

AMUSEMENT nlivron.

Application filed February 10, 1926. Serial No. 87,203.

This invention relates to amusement .devices and more particularly to toy theatres in which the performing characters are f sionalsror by'persons who have. interested themselves particularly in creating that kind of amusement. This is mainly due to the fact-that the marionette'iigures ha've'been' diflicult to obtain'and expensive to produce and elaboratesettings have been necessary to produce the proper effect. For such reasons as these the marionettel form of amusement has not. been readily'available to the general public and has not been provided in such form that it was adapted forflhome' use. The principal object of the invention is to make the marionette form of amusement readily available tow the general public and readily availablefor use and entertainment inthehome. I Another object of the invention is to provide an improved toy theatre of the knock down type, in which the performing characters or figures and all of'the parts neces' sary for the construction of a complete stage furnished in the form of a selfcontained portable packa e. I

A-further object of the inventionis to provide a toy theatre ofjthe knock-down type in the form of a portable containeradapted to contain the performing characters or figures and all of the necessary parts from which a stage setting maybe constructed, parts of the container itself being employed in the construction of the stage setting. j 7 Various other objects of the invention'will appear hereinafter. I

One form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in Which Fig. 1 is a perspective. view of the container for housing the figures and all parts from which the toy theatre may .be constructed,rand which itself constitutes apart of the assembled theatre;

Fig. 2 is a perspectiveview illustrating the manner inwhic'h the proscenium, arch for the stage is assembled; A

Figs. 3 and at are front elevations showing the configuration of certain types'ofscenery which may be employed; i

5 is a detail sectional view illustrating the manner in which the scenery is supported on the stage; Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the assembled theatre; and I Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the assembledi theatre.

Referring firstto the toytheatre includes a box or container shown at 1 made of any'suitable material suchv as' wood, stiff cardboard or thelike. Thezcontainer 1- is preferably provided with a handle 2 or any other suitable means of carrying it from one place to another. One side ofthe container is in the form of a hinged cover, 3 which normally maybe held closed by any suitable type of fastening means such as the hooks 4 on the body. portion of the container adapted toengage with pins 5 on the cover. One part ofthe, interior ofthe container 1 is divided ,intoa plurality of compartments 6 by means "of Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive suitablepartitions 7. Thesecompartments r are adapted to receive the marionette figures or} characters. The partitions 7' areso ar rangedin the container 1 as to provide an additional compartment 8 .adaptedto receive various parts employed in setting up thedevice. such as the jstructuralparts of the proscenium arch and any nuts, bolts and the like which are required to secure it inplace. I As shown ,inFig. 1 the cover-3isadapted to move down to a' substantial horizontal position and in this position it constitutes the floor ofthe stage. Near its. r-ear edge it is provi'ded with a plurality of projections 9 of wood or thelike which extend across substantially I the entire face .of the cover. These pro ect1ons rorm between them a series of grooves 10 which may receive one ormore pieces 'of scenery adapted to [constitute the background of the stage setting as herein after described. In front of the projections Q there' may be several additional sets of projections llformin'g between them grooves '12 adapted to support additional sceiiery'i'n theforin of side wingsfwhich: donot extend entirelyI across thestage.

The parts froniwhi'ch theprosceniuin' arch may be constructed are shown in Fig.

2. .These parts preferably comprise two upright side'members l3 and is each of which carries near its lower end a bracket 15. Each bracket 15 has a horizontally disposed leg 16 provided with openings 17. These openings are adapted to slip over the projecting ends of bolts 18 secured in blocks 19 mounted nearthe forward corners of the cover 3 as shown in Fig. 1;. Wing nuts 20 may be employed to clamp the brackets in place. The upper end of each of the uprights 13 and let is provided with one or more pins 21 adapted to slip in corresponding openings in the ends of the top cr oss piece 22 01 thearch. The rear face of the cross piece 22 may be provided with a rod 23 on which oneor more curtains 24 (Fig. .7 may be suspended. V p

When not in use all parts necessary for constructing the toy theatre are contained in and housed by the box 1, the marionettes beingpositioned in the compartments 6 and certain other parts, such as the parts of the proscenium arch, are contained inthe com part nent8. The scenery which may he in the form of one-or more background pieces 25 (Fig. 3) and any desired numberof wing pieces 26 (F may be laid {down flat over the compartments :6 and ,8, there being a special clearance provided between the edges of the partitions 7 and the inner face of the cover 3 to receive the scenery when the cover 3 is closed. If desired, several different sets of scenery may be furnished from which difi erent stage settings may be produced.

hen it is desired to use the toy theatre the container 1 is placed on the floor or on a table and the cover 3 is opened. The pro' scenium arch is then. assembled in the her described above. In its assembled con dition it will appear as shown in Figs. 6 and .7.- The necessary background pieces 25 are then positioned in the grooves lOof the projections 9, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7', and the appropriate wing pieces 26 are positioned in the grooves12 of the projections 11. [A curtain 27 (Fig. 6) may be placed in front of the entire device to conceal everything but the proscenium arch and the stage setting and this curtain may be used to conceal the person manipulating the marionettes. If it be desired to interrupt apart of the oblique vision through the proscenium arch, side pieces 28 of suitable scenery (Fig.7) may be positioned as indicated in this figure and for this'purpose projections 29 may be provided on the cover 3' adjacent to the blocks 19 as shown in Fig. 1, so as to form between each .b1ock 19 and the corresponding projection 29 a groove for receiving the lower edge'of one of the side pieces 28.

Fig. 6 shows a complete stage setting with two marionette figures represented at 30.

'They may be'manipulated in the usual manner by means o fc'ords or strings '31. H It will now be seen that the entire device is portable and self-contained. The box 1 con tains all the parts necessary for the erection of a toy theatre and one or more complete stage settings and also contains a set of marion'ettes. It will also be noted that the container 1 also forms a structural part of the theatre itself, the cover 3 being used for the floor o f the stage and being provided with various parts for supporting the proscenium arch and the scenery. The marionettes maybe designed to represent certain characters and if desired a book or pamphlet maybe provided in the container 1 setting forth instructions for erecting the toy theatre and for manipulating the marionettes,

and containing a story to be reproduced by the marionettes. The marioneaes, for instan'c'e, may be Mother Goose characters and the ljoolr may contain a Mother Goose story to be reproduced by the inarionettes. The eiitire device is in the form of an article of manufacture which may be soldfa's' acom plete unit. In this way complete amuseneiit device of the marionette type becomes available to the general public for home use because it may be conveniently purchased at a reasonable price and it is so designed to be capable of use in the home either by children or adults.

A toy theatre comprising a container, a cover therefor adaptedto constitute the floor of the stage, scenic pieces adapted to be housed by said container, a knock-downarch adapted to be housed by said mnfiaine'r, me ns on i ove f r suppo ting and ceni Pi ces, and me a c t d w h. Sai gcycr for supporting the arch when assemolf said arch, a plurality of scenic pieces, said container having a spa'ceto receive and house said scenic pieces, a cover associated with said container adapted when opened "to constitute the 11001- of the stage, means on said cover forsupporting said scenic pieces and means on the cover for supporting said arch when assembled. I j

3 A toy theatre comprising afjcon'tainer, a plurality of compartments therein ada'pted to receive and house marionette's, pieces of sceneryjand an arch from which "a: stagelsetting may beconstructed, said container havingcompartments adapted to, receive said pieces of scenery and said arch, a part of said container being' designed to constitute the floor of the stage, andineans onsaid part 12, A toy theatre comprising a fcontainer, a plurality of compartments therein adapted to contain and house marionettes, a knock 'doWn arch comprising detachable side and top members, a compartment in said container for receiving the members of said arch, scenic pieces for use in constructing a stage setting, compartment for containing and housing said scenic pieces, means on said hinged cover for supporting said scenic ieces, and means on said cover for detachab y supporting said arch when assembled.

5. A toy theatre comprising a container having a hinged cover adapted When opened to constitute the floor of the stage, a knockdown arch comprisingfdetachable side and said container having a top members, a compartment in said container for receiving the members of said arch, scenic pieces for use in constructinga stagesetting, said container having a compartment for containing and housing said scenic pieces, means on said hinged cover for supporting said scenic pieces, and means on said cover for detachably supporting said arch when assembled, said container having a plurality of compartments adapted to receive and house a plurality of marionettes.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

BERNIGE MAUD MARQUIS.