Hello, My name is Tristan Walker Jordan, and I am an MFA graduate
student at the Maryland Institute College of Art researching
historical toy design and mechanical sound.

I am currently reconstructing the work of Theodore R. "Ted" Duncan,
an American inventor whose patents include inexpensive music-comb
systems, toy music mechanisms and miniature phonograph devices used
in children's toys.

Duncan is usually mentioned in Mattel, Inc., histories because Mattel
licensed his early music box work, but I am especially interested in
Duncan's broader independent activity and in the devices produced
through Ted Duncan, Inc.

A published family account states that Duncan-manufactured voice units
were used by several toy companies, including Ideal, GUND, Carnival,
Ohio Art and Mattel. I am trying to identify surviving examples and
determine which specific mechanisms were Duncan products rather than
attributing every mechanically voiced toy of the period to him.

Would any MBSI member specialize in American postwar toy music boxes,
rubber-belt music mechanisms, miniature phonographs or inexpensive
mechanical sound toys?

I would be particularly grateful for contact with anyone who has
restored a Duncan mechanism, or owns Ted Duncan, Inc. components or
documentation, or remembers seeing his devices identified in trade
literature.

I am also interested in whether any member collections contain Duncan
catalogs, technical literature, advertisements or correspondence.

Thank you for any direction you can provide.

Best,

Tristan Walker Jordan - MFA Graduate Student
Maryland Institute College of Art
Baltimore, Maryland
tjordan02@mica.edu.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]

Attachments:

[ Mattel Hurdy Gurdy, early 1950s. Rubber-belt mechanical music toy.
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/26/09/08/260908_051556_Screenshot_2026-09-08_080136.png
 
[ Ideal Robert the Robot. Rear hand crank and mechanical voice unit.
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/26/09/08/260908_051556_Screenshot_2026-09-08_080230.png
 
[ Ted Duncan, U.S. Patent 2,630,655 â€" rubber-belt music-comb mechanism, assigned to Mattel.
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/26/09/08/260908_051556_Screenshot_2026-09-08_080849.png
 
[ Ted Duncan, U.S. Patent 2,942,889 â€" compact mechanical phonograph device.
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/26/09/08/260908_051556_Screenshot_2026-09-08_081519.png
 

[ See "Rubber Band Music Box & Other Neat Musical Toys" at
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/Digests/199812/1998.12.27.01.html 
[ and "Mattel Merry Music Box" Tinplate Musical Toys at
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/archives/Digests/202302/2023.02.22.01.html 
[ Biography at https://en.everybodywiki.com/Ted_Duncan_(inventor) 
[ -- Robbie