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| Alabe Crafts Yo-Yo Cocktail Mixer |
| Exhibit #5090 |
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| Type | Production |
| Shape | Specialty |
| Axle | Fixed String |
| Color | Silver/Clear |
| Packaging | Boxed |
| Construction | Composite |
| Response | None |
| Diameter | 117mm |
| Width | 191mm |
| Gap | Fixed |
| Weight | 182.14gm |
| Condition | Mint |
| Date | 1964 |
| To | 1980 |
| Owner | Rick Brough |
| Compare |  |
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The Cocktail Mixer Yo-Yo - For Playful Bartenders manufactured by Alabe Crafts, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio 45204; A Convertine Creation. Considered more of a very cheap (and cheaply made) gag gift, the quirky piece of novelty barware combined yo-yo play with mixology. Came in a two-color corrugated box. One end of the white nylon "cord" was fixed to the yo-yo's axle. At the opposite end of the cord, instead of a loop for your finger, it featured a 35mm wide rod that you held onto to help make the yo-yo go up and down.
Based on the address having a zip code and no bar code, it places the age of this toy sometime between 1964 to about 1980. Reading other information printed on the box and the style of artwork, it is likely from the very late 1960s or early 1970s.
The novelty box art was entertaining in itself, and featured exclamation point quotes like the following:
• "Your guests will want to mix their own!"
• "Make mind a double!"
• "Makes drinking compulsive!"
• "Drives'em to drink!"
• "Yo-Yo Ho and a bottle of rum!"
• "Keep'em dangling!"
Cleaning and repairing the yo-yo
"To wash containers, use soap or detergent and warm water. Do not put into dishwater or very hot water.
For repair, send mixer and $1.50 to cover repair costs, postage and handling, to Alabe Crafts, Inc., 1632 Gest St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45204"
Instructions for yo-yo cocktail mixer
"1. Unscrew the two mixing containers from center wheel and fill each with equal quantities of drink mix.
2. Screw both mixing containers tightly into original positions on center wheel and wind cord up to its handle.
3. Position center wheel vertically (as if to roll), grasp cord handle in one hand and twirl unit yo-yo fashion to mix contents.
CAUTION: To avoid spillage in opening filled mixer unit...
(A) Place base of either container on a flat surface.
(B) Grasp only bottom container and center wheel. DO NOT GRASP TOP CONTAINER!
(C) Unscrew bottom container.
(D) Invert mixer unit and unscrew remaining container."
Recipe
Diameter: 117mm
Width: 191mm
Weight: 182.14gm
Axle: Unknown
Response: None
Material: Plastic, clear (cups) and chromed (body); 2x 69.85mm (2 3/4") Mason jar style lid with ribbed sides on the outer diameter and cardboard liner, plastic- or wax-coated on one side (one each inserted into face of body halve).
String: Braided nylon, 2.5mm diameter (48.2cm length) and fixed to hole in axle.
Product number: P-401
Original retail price: $2 USD.
About Alable Crafts
"Alabe Crafts is a company with an intriguing history, particularly because of its association with a beloved divination toy: the Magic 8-Ball.
In the 1940s, Albert Carter from Cincinnati, Ohio, developed the original version of a fortune-telling device called the 'Syco-Seer'. It was inspired by one of his mother's tools (she was a professional clairvoyant), Carter created a phony 'spirit writing device' known as the 'Psycho Slate'. The Syco-Seer consisted of a 7-inch tall tube filled with dark liquid, housing a standard die with different answers printed on its sides. By flipping the Syco-Seer, users could reveal an answer to any question posed to it. Later, the design was modified, resulting in the 'Syco-Slate: The Pocket Fortune Teller'. In 1946, Carter and his cousin Abe Bookman formed Alabe Crafts (the name derived from letters in their first names) to market this device.
Alabe Crafts continued to refine the concept. The Magic 8-Ball, as we know it today, emerged from this evolution. The toy resembles a black-and-white 8-ball and provides whimsical answers to life's questions. Inside the Magic 8-Ball, a 20-sided icosahedron die floats in dark liquid, offering responses. The answers fell into three categories: 10 affirmative, 5 negative, and 5 non-committal. On average, it takes 72 questions for all 20 answers to appear at least once. Despite early sales challenges, the Magic 8-Ball became a cultural icon, providing instant 'answers' to curious minds. | |
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