I have a fascination with trivia and the origination of things. Recently, I decided to research the origin of the toy, the jack in the box. I hope you will find this story behind it as fascinating as I did.
John
and Adelaide Winthrop grew up in the early 1800’s in England. Siblings and best
friends, Jack and Addie stayed close throughout their lives. When Addie married
Charles Randall, Jack was there to give her away at the wedding ceremony. As
the children arrived, Uncle Jack was there to bounce them on his knee and saw
their first steps. Charles and Jack even worked at the same factory. Jack was a
laborer while Charles worked in the office managing payroll and accounting.
Every
Sunday Jack was invited to dinner and he usually brought a treat for his six
nieces and nephews, often candy or sometimes a special muffin or a small cake
from the bakery. Jack never married and was happy to spend his money on his
sister's children. In fact, he loved all children. It was said there was always a cloud of dust kicked up from the road by the
children who followed him. To all of them he was known as “Uncle Jack”.
“Uncle
Jack, wait up,” they would shout. “Show us a trick.” Uncle Jack could magically
make a threepence coin appear from behind their ears and just as quickly, make
it disappear in front of their eyes. Often, he would bring them into the
general store to pick out a piece of penny candy.
In
fact, Jack Winthrop was one of the most generous men in all of England. When he
saw a person having a hard time feeding his family, he bought them bread and
meat. When the widow's fence needed repair, he was there on his day off from
work fixing it. When a family lost their house to a fire, he not only was there
with the rest of the men putting out the fire , but he also gave his own table
and chairs to the family. Jack had a
heart bigger than his wallet yet was the first in line to give of his time and
talents and whatever he could of his money. He lived in a simple two room,
sparsely furnished. house with only the essentials. He didn’t have much use for
earthly possessions. His life was one of service to others and simplicity. He
was well loved in Abingdon.
It
was a warm spring day when Jack found himself on his way to Oxford. When the factory needed someone to pick up parts for an order they needed to complete
immediately, Jack volunteered.
A
misty drizzle fell on his face as he steered the horses and cart the five miles
north. When he arrived
at the plant, the foreman directed him to Robert Sheffield's office up the hill. “After you pay him, he’ll give you an invoice and I’ll have the
part for you,” stated the foreman. Jack thanked him and continued up the hill.
When
he arrived at the small office, Jack knocked on the door. There was no
response. He kept rapping and calling for Mr. Sheffield. Finally, before
leaving, he decided to try the door knob and found it unlocked. As he
entered, he again called his name, “Mr. Sheffield?”
What
he found changed his life forever. Mr. Sheffield was slumped over the desk face
down. He rushed over to him and gently touched his shoulder. There was no
response. The window behind the desk had been broken. The safe door was open and
emptied.
Jack
ran outside and yelled for help. He climbed onto his buggy and started off on the road he assumed led to town. Soon he heard horse hoofs coming along
either side of him. He halted his horses.
“Were
you just at the office at the mill?” He was flanked by two men on horseback.
“Yes.
I was going into town to find you. A man has been killed.”
“Town is that way," he pointed to the other road. "We know a man has been killed. Where's the money?”
“I
don't have it. I just went into his office and found him dead.”
“You
just happened to find him dead?”
“I
was picking up a part for our factory.”
“And
just happened to help yourself to the payroll too.”
“I
didn’t."
All of Jack's words were useless. He was assumed guilty of murder and locked up in the local jail.
Charles began to
worry when Jack hadn’t returned by the end of the workday. He saddled up his
horse and rode up to Oxford. He couldn’t believe what had happened.
“I can assure you;
I know Jack very well. He is my brother-in-law.”
The policeman
rolled his eyes. “Why would we believe the
relative of a thief and murderer?"
“I tell you;
Jack is an upstanding man. He is honest and generous. He would never steal and certainly not kill anyone” No matter
how he tried to explain to the sheriff, he could not convince him otherwise. To
them he was just a stranger who had come to town to rob a respected
businessman. His trial would be in two weeks.
Charles assured Jack he would get him free. As he rode back home,
he dreaded telling his sister of her dear brother's fate and wondered how he
would ever prove Jack's innocence. The real murderer was probably long gone.
They had not found the money on Jack. That should count for something.
When
the Oxford police searched Jack's house, they found it so sparsely furnished
that they assumed he had pawned all his belongings because he needed money,
perhaps for a gambling debt. Thus, the rumors began, especially in Oxford where
he was not known.
In
Abingdon, the news of Jack's ill fortune struck the hearts of young and old. Addie
went to visit every day she could, as did others. The police chief became
annoyed with the number of visitors and enforced a restriction to the number of
visitors per day. He had never experienced such a situation in all his years as sheriff.
.
Some
men of Abingdon offered to try and find the murderer, but without clues, they didn’t
know where to look. Matthew Heath, the editor of the Abingdon Press wrote an
article entitled “Freeing Jack”. He encouraged everyone to attend the trial.
“If ever a fellow citizen deserves our help, it is Jack.”
It
was Matthew who was in the general store when he bumped into a toy on the
counter. Out popped a jester type doll. He gasped for a second. It was not the
surprise of the doll popping up that startled him, it was the face. He examined
it for a few moments silently thinking.
“Where
did you get this?”
“Joseph
Smythe made them.” He pointed to the shelves behind Matthew. There was a dozen
of the little boxes with hand cranks on
the side. When cranked, a tune played and when the song was almost over, the
doll popped up.
Matthew
bought one and quickly made his way to Joseph's workshop. “Joseph!”
“Hi,
Matthew, how are you on this fine day?”
“It
depends. How many of these can you make and how quickly?”
“Well,
maybe I could make five in a day.”
“That's
not enough. What would it take to make 20 in a day? I need at least 50 of them
by Thursday.”
“Fifty!
That is not possible.”
“What
will it take? Can I help you make them? Can I get others to help?”
“Why
is this so important?”
“Look
at this doll you made. Who does it look like with the dark hair, the brown
eyes, and that smile?”
“Well,
I know it looks a little like Jack Winthrop. I thought of how much the kids
adored him when I made it.”
.
“I
think we can use this to help save him.”
“I
don’t know what a toy can do to help Jack, but I will do whatever I can. Lord
knows, he’s always been there for us.”
With
the help of other people in town, they had their 50 Jack in a box toys on
Thursday evening.
On
Friday, the stores of Abingdon remained closed. The factories stopped work. The
residents of Abingdon left it like a ghost town and formed a caravan early in
the morning as they traveled to the courthouse in Oxford. They were quite a
sight, traveling the roads and chanting a tune. They stopped their chant as
they got to the courthouse. Charles, Addy, and Matthew went in first and as many
of them that could, went inside. The rest stood outside in the street trying to
get a glimpse of the trial through the windows and opened door.
The
lawyer attempted to convince the judges that since Jack had not been found with the
money or a weapon that he could not be found guilty of the murder. The crowd was still
uneasy as to what the judges would decide.
Finally, Matthew stood up and asked
if he could speak.
“Who
are you?” asked the judge.
“I
represent these people,” he waved his hand to the crowd behind him. “There are
more in the streets. We are the people of Abingdon and we have something to
say.” He turned to the crowded and counted, “One, two, three!”
All
the people produced from under their coats or bags the box with the doll in it.
They all cranked the handle and sang, “All around Abingdon, Jack helps the
people, Jack is an innocent man, Free Jack Winthrop.” The bobbing heads that looked like Jack all popped up from the boxes, startling the other court attendees. They continued
to chant, “Free Jack. Free Jack. Free Jack," while waving their boxes with the bobbing heads that looked like their idol.
It
took a while for the authorities to calm the people. The judges were wary of these people who had martyred Jack into the image of a doll
hidden in a prison box. It was unnerving seeing all the little doll heads that
looked like Jack.
Jack, himself,
could not believe the overwhelming support and thought if he were found guilty,
at least he would know that the people of Abingdon always believed in him
“Your honor,”
Matthew pleaded, “We can all testify that there has never been a more honest or
generous man. He is loved by the entire town. He doesn’t own a gun and you know
the only money found on him was for the parts he was picking up. How can you accuse him?”
Whether it was the lack of evidence or the fear of these crazed people of Abingdon, the verdict was passed and Jack was declared an innocent man. The crowd cheered and some sang their
freedom song for Jack again.
Jack
returned to Abingdon to live the rest of his days in gratitude and humility.
He became quite popular with the women and soon married Lucy Mullens and
started a family of their own.
The jack in the
box toys were passed down to generation after generation as the legend of Jack
Winthrop was immortalized.
I
imagine you have never heard of the legend of Jack Winthrop or the origins of the Jack
in the box. There is a reason for that. I, myself, googled, yahooed, and researched by whatever means I could think of to try to find the origin of the jack
in the box. I found a couple of different theories. What you have just
read is a story I fabricated to give the toy a unique history. My lesson for
you: Don’t believe everything you hear or read on the internet or TV.
Now do you want
to know the origin of the merry-go-round?
