Charlie the Chimp: A 1950s Japanese Hula-Hoop Wonder

Meet the Hula Hoop Monkey — collectors call him "Charlie the Chimp" — a wind-up tin toy born in 1950s Japan, made by Plaything and stamped "Made in Japan" on his base. Wind the key, and his legs hop atop a diamond-painted barrel while the hoop spins merrily around him, still keeping the rhythm after seventy years.

Charlie wears his original tin-lithographed checkered romper and softly worn cloth "fur" — the hand-finished detail mass production left behind. A little wear on his face and fraying at the ears are marks of a well-loved life, not flaws; with vintage tin toys, it's a working mechanism collectors prize most.

9.5" H x 5" W