Name/Title
Riding Chicken ToyDescription
Wooden handmade riding chicken toy painted red and white.
From Donor:
"About 1945, awaiting the birth of a second child, our father, George Wilson Spencer, decided to make a riding toy for his growing brood. While not a toy maker, he was handy with his hands, and created a rocking chicken in which his children could sit and rock. Dad painted the chicken red and white. A third child soon followed, and with three children, 2 years old and younger, the chicken was a diversion while our mother Viola (Day) Spencer made dinner, cleaned the house, etc. Judy remembers riding and rocking in the chicken when she could not have been more than 4 or 5. After Janet (Spencer) Foley and Donald Spencer outgrew the riding chicken, the toy was relegated to the loft in the barn on the property at the corner of Marshall and Dibble in Hastings. When Judy's first child, Lisa Sharp, was a toddler, the chicken was dug out of the loft. She repainted the fading colors, true to the red and white Dad had used. In January 1974, Judy snapped the only picture [attached to this record] we can find of the chicken with 14-month-old Robb rocking with his favorite blanket!
Judy Spencer, Tucson Arizona
Janet (Spencer) Foley, Hastings, Michigan"Acquisition
Accession
2015.9Source or Donor
Janet FoleyAcquisition Method
DonationCredit Line
In memory of George Wilson Spencer & Viola (Day) SpencerDimensions
Height
18 inWidth
12-1/2 inLength
31 in
