Does anyone have any more information about the Coochee-Coochee Automatic Musical Dancing Figure.
To my knowledge there is only one known in existence but I would like to learn more about it.
Here is the information that I know (taken from (shameless plug) Coin Op on CD).
The French Coochee-Coochee Automatic Musical Dancing Figure is a very rare piece. In fact, this is the only one known to exist. It was made around 1900 and originally sold for $300.00 (an outrageous price for the time). It cost a nickel to play (also considered very expensive). The following quote is from a flyer trying to sell the Coochee-Coochee:
"The French Coochee-Coochee Dancing Figure is clothed in beautiful silk draperies, fancy lace and French ornaments. The hair, neck and waist are encircled with strings of beads. Every feature of the entire figure is in perfect harmony with the other costly draping and ornamentations. The background of the figure is made of plush fancily embroidered, the colors are harmonizing in such a way as to offset the figure to its very best advantage. The case in which the figure stands is of mahogany finish, 42 inches high, 17 inches deep, 26 inches wide; the front and two sides are encased in glass."
The Coochee-Coochee has a total of 8 movements.
Here (warning, video files are very large, do not view if you are connected with a slow dial-up connection) is a video of this extraordinary piece.