By Jacqueline Reid-Walsh
String as a Pull
I have long been interested in the affordances of materials used to make interactive books. These include substrates like handmade paper, machine paper, rag books, and tyvac books. I am also intrigued by materials used to make movables move in specific ways to achieve specific effects, such as the wires in Raphael Tuck card toys and in the handmade creations of Louisa Terzi that wave in a slight air current. In this post I share my observations and mullings about string (including, thread, cord, ribbon) and some of the uses and affordances to enable different kinds of motion. In this blog I focus a specific use of string: as a pull.
I focus on two books that use string as a prosthetic device to enable motion, and are a basic version of the pull-tab. Unlike the elaborate pull tab which is quite sturdy, the qualities of string — flexible, inconspicuous, readily available — easily enables movement in one direction, pulling down or lifting up away from the main surface. Yet the device cannot be moved easily and effectively in the opposite direction. In terms of their design, I consider the first to be a good example of transparent design since an interactor can easily discover how the effects are created, while the second is an instance of opaque design because the interactive elements are buried in the structure of the artifact (Reid-Walsh, ch. 1).
I draw on two l examples produced for children in the mid-late 19th century in England and Germany and America. They are Robinson Crusoe with Scenic Effects (Dean and Sons, 1871?; at Cambridge), and The Speaking Picture Book (circa 1880’s-90’s; at Penn State, McGill and Cambridge). In each case I examine the strings and ask what the function(s) are by carefully touching the material and observing the effects.
The first book is described by Leslie McGrath of the Osborne Library as a “raised scene” book where the movement of the scenes are “operated by the reader.” (McGrath, 20). When the device is pulled it lifts a scene on its paper hinges to a vertical right angle to the page. Some scenes are multilayered creating a three-dimensional perspective (McGrath, 20). The book was part of a set of four titles: Aladdin, Robinson Crusoe, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood; they were published in different sizes with different numbers of standup scenes. For instance, a larger (25 cm) Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (c. 1857-65) held by the Osborne Collection in Toronto has five full-page, hand-coloured engravings that stand up when a yellow string is pulled (McGrath, 21).
By contrast, the edition of Robinson Crusoe I saw at Cambridge University Library is small and when closed comparable to a folded chapbook or harlequinade easily fitting in a hand. The photo with rulers kindly sent by by Mrs C. A. Welford-Elkin, the Rare Books Superintendent at Cambridge University Library, shows the dimensions effectively (personal communication, March 27, 2025).
Here the prosthetic “mechanical’ device is thick navy wool or thread. An interactor pulls the string out and the entire perspective print stands up. To let it back down you carefully reverse the process aided by the weight of the flap. The analogy to me is that of a drawbridge. Examining Robinson Crusoe with Scenic Effects published by Dean and Sons (1871?), I learned that to enable actions the book has to be set up in a specific way. The strings have to be set in place on the illustrations and arranged so they hang below the lower edge of the book. There animate four key moments in the story. As an interactor opens each two-page spread there is a narrative on the left side and an illustration on the right. You pull the string for each set. The effect of engaging with different sizes of the diorama in the various editions would be striking since the layered prints are more visible as size increases. In this case, when an interactor lifts the string, the small size gives the impression that you are operating your own private enactment in your hand.
The next example is an unusual audio book called The Speaking Picture Book: A New Picture Book with Characteristical Voices. First published in Germany by Theodore Brand (1881?), it was translated into English, French, Spanish, and Dutch in the late 19th century and was the most expensive children’s book at the time (note 1).
An excellent example of elaborate opaque design, it resembles a large, thick picture book with ornate gilded foredges. It measures 32 x 24 x 6 cm (approximately 12.5 X 9.75 X 2.33 inches) thick. In the early editions the string is actual twisted cord. An interactor pulls a cord out and the sounds occur as the string is being pulled to full length. Then it retracts while continuing to make the sound. Although the movement is horizontal, the action reminds me of a blind that you pull down and then it retracts (personal communications Mae Casey, Accessing and Collections Management Archivist, Penn State University Libraries).
Around 1950. F.A.O. Schwarz published a “remake” under the same name. It is slightly enlarged and completely rewritten in terms of period, educational content, choice of illustrations and sounds. Notably the animals include domestic pets like cats and dogs and subsidiary educational material like the alphabet and numerals.
According to recent research by Lissa Holloway-Attaway and Rebecca Rouse (2022), it connects books that teach how to make sound with actually producing sound. They observe that since “[s]hort verses about each animal accompany the pictures […], it is likely the book was also read aloud” (429).
Notes
Note 1: According to https://www.vintagepopupbooks.com/category-s/1901.htm, Das Sprechende Bilderbuch, or The Speaking Picture Book, was a German toy book created by Theodor Brand in the late 19th century. This innovative children’s book combined illustrations with mechanical sound elements. The book operated using string-activated pulleys connected to bellows inside a wooden box, which blew air into a series of reeds and pipes, producing sounds corresponding to the animal illustrations on its pages. The book’s original dimensions were approximately 32 x 24 x 5.3 cm. Brand expanded his patent protection beyond Germany, obtaining patents in the United States (December 30, 1879) and England. It was the most expensive moving children’s book of its time.
Animal Voices: While the original German edition included voices familiar to Central European children (e.g., cuckoo, goat, and rooster), editions distributed in other countries sometimes featured region-specific animals and sounds. In some regions, the illustrations were adjusted to reflect local artistic preferences. For instance, while early German editions featured traditional German folk art influences, later editions released in England and France leaned toward Art Nouveau, aligning with contemporary trends in those countries.
Secondary Works Cited
Holloway-Attaway, Lissa, and Rebecca Rouse. “When You Hear the Chime: Movable Books and the Dramaturgical Functions of Sound in Mixed Reality Interactive Narrative Design.” In Mirjam Vosmeer and Lissa Holloway-Attaway (Eds.). Interactive Storytelling: 15th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling, ICIDS 2022 Santa Cruz, CA, USA, December 4–7, 2022 Proceedings. 427-440.
McGrath, Leslie. This Magical Book: Movable Books for Children, 1771-2001. Toronto: Toronto Reference Library, 2002.
Reid-Walsh, Jacqueline. Interactive Books: Playful Media Before Pop-ups. Routledge: New York and London, 2018.