--- title: Vintage Automatons: Engaging Old-Time Toys That Smoke, Drink and Play description: LIFE.com celebrates some singular -- and slightly creepy -- 19-century mechanical creatures that were among the tech marvels of their time. canonical: https://time.com/3878430/vintage-automatons-photos-of-old-time-toys-that-smoke-drink-and-play/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-11-24T16:50:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:48.871Z og:title: Vintage Automatons: Engaging Old-Time Toys That Smoke, Drink and Play og:description: LIFE.com celebrates some singular -- and slightly creepy -- 19-century mechanical creatures that were among the tech marvels of their time. og:url: https://time.com/3878430/vintage-automatons-photos-of-old-time-toys-that-smoke-drink-and-play/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc649d62cbba53cb1/69884af90b72e3e27a6e3757/131211-music-box-dolls-01.jpg?branch=production&width=814&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 814 og:image:height: 458 og:image:alt: Vintage French Automaton og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Vintage Automatons: Engaging Old-Time Toys That Smoke, Drink and Play twitter:description: LIFE.com celebrates some singular -- and slightly creepy -- 19-century mechanical creatures that were among the tech marvels of their time. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc649d62cbba53cb1/69884af90b72e3e27a6e3757/131211-music-box-dolls-01.jpg?branch=production&width=814&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Toys Were Us: Photos of Playful (and Creepy) Vintage Automatons > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Nov 24, 2013 4:50 PM UTC  Nineteenth-century French-made automaton smokes a cigarette. Nineteenth-century French-made automaton smokes a cigarette.Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Nov 24, 2013 4:50 PM UTC The relentless technological and digital innovation that has characterized — and in many ways defined — the past decade has a way of making not-terribly-old devices seem positively ancient. Palm Pilots, landline phones and VCRs feel like tech dinosaurs, while the hiss, crackle and pop of a dial-up Internet connection is [available via Youtube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNaR6FRuO0) for those who crave archaic soundscapes. What, then, can we make of minuet-dancing, mandolin-playing, smoking, drinking automatons that captivated men, women and children centuries ago and endure today as collectors’ gold? The fact that, as LIFE phrased it in a 1971 article, the 18th- and 19th-century automatons in this gallery once “had no other purpose than to amuse” both deepens their old-fashioned charm and highlights their oddity. “Nobody knows why monkey automatons were once so popular,” LIFE noted of an elaborately clothed simian automaton that, when activated, shined shoes. The automatons LIFE showcased in that 1971 article doubled as music boxes. Aided by “a concealed maze of spring-driven pulleys and levers,” they appeared to write letters, smoke cigarettes or served tea in miniature teacups. Today, aficionados pay stiff prices to amass and enjoy musical, miniature automata from all over the world. The wine-swigging chef in this photo gallery — yes, that’s a cat peering out from the saucepan — went for $3,750 at Rita Ford Music Boxes in New York City in the 1970s; decades later, a quick eBay search for similar toys yields prices in the thousands, as well. Ultimately, automatons are emblems of nostalgia. But they also share a key parallel with [digital toys and tools](http://business.time.com/2013/12/07/the-7-hottest-products-people-are-buying-online/): they are devices of human manufacture that emulate and often take the place of living processes and creatures. Today, self-monitoring wristbands gauge our sleep patterns and count how many steps we take in a given day. Robotic vacuums clean our floors. Smart phones do almost everything. Like old-school automatons, today’s cutting-edge gadgets sometimes appear to pursue lives of their own — evincing a semi-independence that is both eerie and entertaining. Here, at the end of another year of dizzying digital advances, LIFE.com celebrates some singular — and just slightly creepy — machines that were among the true tech marvels of their time.  Nineteenth-century French-made automaton smokes a cigarette. Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Nineteenth-century French-made mechanical doll raises its feet and lifts its cane until it is supporting itself on one hand. Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  A 19th-century automaton chef raises a bottle of wine and drinks. And that cat peering from the saucepan? The story goes that the chef wanted to kiss the cook. When she resisted, the drunk thug thrust her pet into the pan, threatening to boil it alive. The cook relented, and the cat jumped out. Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  French-made mechanical doll, 19th century. Nina Leen—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Nineteenth-century French-made automaton magician and girl. 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