As I've searched the Internet for
fellow top collectors, I've found that most collectors attempt to
classify
their tops, and most often they classify their tops by the way
tops
are launched, e.g. by finger movement, tossed, etc. I guess it is
normal for a top lover to want to try to classify the top. There
are so many different kinds of tops, and in dealing with them, there is
a need to develop a "top language". The two main English language
books that provide general top surveys are Don Olney's Little Book
of
Tops and D.W. Gould's The Top (see bibliography below for
details).
Of the two, Gould's book is the more academic, providing a very
comprehensive
bibliography, but Olney is more succinct, and I think treats top
classification in a more logical manner than does Gould. Yet both
have a lot to offer in terms of top classification.
In my classification scheme, I borrower from both Olney and Gould. From Gould, I borrower the term "twirlers", in lieu of Olney's "Finger Spinners", for tops spun by the fingers. Although "Finger Spinners" does seem more descriptive, I have found that more people use the term "Twirlers". The term Twirler also fits better in my expansion of Gould's Twirler class to mean a top launched by direct physical force without the aid of a device (un-aided launch). This expanded definition has enabled me to include into the Twirler class tops spun by the palms, the foot, and by blowing.
Also from Gould, I borrower the term tippe (a top that flips over on its stem) and Teetotum (a top that consists of numbers, letters, etc. on it's side, like dice). Both of these terms I have found in other references.
Olney however, gives me the basic structure for my classification scheme. Several types of tops that I interpret Olney correctly classifying as "Supported" tops are gyroscopes, mechanical detachable, and tin pump tops. Gould does not include these types as Supported tops and discusses them separately. I am in firm agreement with Olney, but a case can be made not to include these types as Supported. However, since I do include these types as Supported, my definition of a Supported top is any top that is supported by a device during the launching process (aided launch).
I agree with Olney in the general classification of the peg top, however, I disagree with the term "peg". My main concern is the etymology of the word peg. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the peg top as "a pear-shaped wooden spinning-top, with a metal pin or peg forming the point, spun by the rapid uncoiling of a string wound about it." This points, no pun intended, to the word peg referring to the Western peg top's pegged point. Since the commonality of the Western and Eastern peg tops is that they are wrapped in string and thrown, I chose the term "tossed top", thus a tossed top is a top that is wrapped with a string and thrown.
I have to make a quick mention here on the problem of classifying Japanese tossed tops. Don Olney refers to Japanese tops that are primarily palm twirlers as peg tops, because he says that they are sometimes thrown. I have at least once seen Japanese performance tops referred to as "Hakata Circus Tops". It may be that there is a need for a unique classification for "Japanese Circus or Performing Tops", but, as of now -- until I find more information -- I refer to Japanese tops that are primarily spun by the palms as Palm Twirlers, and those that are wrapped in string and thrown as Japanese Tossed Tops.
One further note of interest regarding Japanese tops, I added a class for Japanese supported string wound tops for their unique characteristic of providing a top neck in which to wind the string. Most Western supported tops wind about the stem. I learn more about Japanese tops every day.
I believe the whip top is universally agreed upon to be a top launched by a whip.
For the primary descriptions in my classification I chose to use numbers as an abbreviated way to identify tops, e.g. S550 in lieu of "Gyroscope (bracket enclosed) String Wound ". (The "S" prefix stands for "Spinning Top"). In the primary description I am concerned mostly with how the top is launched. However, sometimes, mostly in cases of the supported top, a top can be launched by dual methods. In such cases (see Rule 1) I add a secondary number to the primary description in order to represent this type of top, e.g. a supported tippe top would be S510(130).
For secondary descriptions (Rules 2 and 3), I am concerned with the shape and additional attributes of the top. Rule 3 gives alphabetic shape codes for shapes other than the traditional top shapes that aren't part of the general classification scheme, e.g. S910 (Western Whip Bullet Shaped). The most popular alternative shapes are the human figure (-H) and fruit (-F) shapes. In Rule 4, I add numbers to the secondary description to represent additional attributes, such as sparks, humming, music, etc.
For optional descriptions (Rules 4 and 5), I add construction material (Rule 4), e.g. wood, plastic, etc., and further descriptions (Rule 5), e.g. Country of origin, Manufacturer, Model, Color, and Other.
The "S" top classification is meant to be eclectic, and best used for describing tops in general. However, many collectors specialize in certain kinds of tops and might need to use a different class prefix for their collection. For example, one might collect Dreidels, or Sevivons in Israeli. In this case, one could start a class "D", or "SV", so that SV100 could be Sevivons from Israel, SV200 could be Sevivons from Europe, etc. The "S" class tables and rules could still apply, e.g. SV100-10 would be an Israeli Sevivon that whistles. I see a need for such classes with plunger tops, "P", and gyroscopes, "G" as well.
(** Note 06/26/2000 2nd Rev. -- The following represents my attempt to revamp my top classification approach. A couple of top friends have advised me in the past that I should stick to launching methods in my classification scheme. So, in this version, I have attempted to do so. The first item I became aware of was that Gyroscopes aren't really usually considered by the way that they are launched, thus Gyroscopes appear in multiple parts of the scheme. To amend this I reserved the '50' areas for Gyroscopes. I also reserved 5000 for an alternate way to keep Gyroscopes together in one class.)
(** Note 10/12/2001 3rd Rev. -- New Changes: (1.) Obmitted
alphabetic
characters in Primary Class numbers to allow for integer sorting.
New classes include 146, 147, 520 - 526. (2.) Revamped 'Tossed' classes
by reorganizing 520 as "Western Tossed", 530 as "Eastern Tossed", and
540
"Japanese Tossed". (3.) Added 'Brass' and 'Tin' to Construction
Table;
'Hexagonal' to Shape Table. Japanese Tossed was given its own
class,
in lieu of being included within 530, due to the great varieties of
Japanese
Tossed tops. I hope in the future to expand on this class.)
(** Note 07/14/2005 4th Rev. -- Consistency in detachable and attached launch handles is the theme for the 4th Revision. I completly revamped the 500 class to match the other aided launch classes. The general detachable handle classes now end in 10, and attached end in 20. The Japanese Tossed Tops have lost their own full class number, in order to make room, but retain classes 545 - 549 for expansion. Likewise, I revamped 1100 with consitent evidence of tops launched with archimedean rods that were not classic plunger tops. I've seen these tops for many years (see Tops and Yo-Yos in bibliography), but have never classed them. These tops, launched by detachable archimedean rods, are now classed as 1110.)
A. Primary Description
A1. Primary
Number (Classification Scheme): How top is launched
A2. Secondary
Number (Rule 1): Optional way top is launched
B. Secondary Description
B1. Shape
(Rule
2)
B2. Additional
Attributes (Rule 3)
C. Optional Description
C1. Construction
Material (Rule 4)
C2. Further
Descriptions (Rule 5)
Bibliography:
Gould, D.W. The Top:
Universal
Toy, Enduring Pastime. New York : Clarkson N. Potter, 1973.
Olney, Don. The Little Book of Tops
: Tricks, Lore and More. Philadelphia : Running Press, 1993.
Tops and Yo-Yos, and Other Spinning
Toys. Gas City, IN : L-W Book Sales, 1995.
(Click on highlighted links to view
images of top examples.)
100
Finger Twirlers
110 General
Finger
111 Finger Scribing
(e.g. Doodle Top) (can be classed as 110-29, see Attributes Table)
112
Finger Anti-gravitational
113
Finger Stemless Disc Top (laser top)
114
Finger Stemless One-Directional Top (Rattleback or Celt Stone)
115
Finger Subjacent Stem (majority of stem beneath body), e.g. Champagne
Top
130
Tippe
140
Teetotum General
141
Teetotum Numeric
142 Teetotum Alphabetic
143 Teetotum
Alpha-Numeric
144 Teetotum Dice
145
Teetotum Dreidels
146 Teetotum Dreidels
Outside of Israel (Sham - "There")
147 Teetotum Dreidels
Inside of Israel (Poh - "Here")
200
Palm Twirlers
300
Air Blown Twirlers
350
Air Blown Gyroscopes
400
Foot Twirlers
500 String Launched
510
Classic String Wound Detachable Horizontal Handle
511
Classic String Wound Detachable Verticle Handle
512
String Wound Detachable Spool or Disc
520
String Wound Attached Spool or Disc
521 String Wound Attached
Verticle Handle
522
Japanese String Wound Around Top Neck
(Attached Verticle Handle)
530 Western Tossed General
531
Western Peg Crowned General
532 Western Peg Wide Crowned
533 Western Peg Narrow Crown
534 Western Peg Narrow on
top of Wide Crown
535
Western Peg Uncrowned
536 Western Peg Swivel
Attached
to Crown
540 Eastern Tossed General
541 Malaysian
Peg
542 Malaysian
"Gasing" Tournament (Large, Flat Tossed Top)
545 Japanese
Tossed General
550 String
Wound Gyroscope
560Hanging
Tops
570
Buzzer
580 Diablo
590 Yo-Yo
600 Spring Launched
610
Spring Launched Detachable Horizontal Launcher
611
Spring Launched Detachable Verticle Launcher
620
Attached Spring Launcher
630 Gun Trigger
Launcher
700 Rubber Band
730
Gun Trigger Launcher
800 Teeth Strip
800
General Teeth Strip Launched
810
Teeth Strip Launched Detachable Horizonal Handle
811 Teeth
Strip Launched Detachable Verticle Handle
821
Western Peg Crowned (Teeth Strip Launched)** (See Note
Below)
850
Gyroscope (Teeth Strip Launched)
900 Whip
910
Western Whip Bullet Shaped
920
Western Whip Mushroom Shaped
1000
Push Rod Top
1100 Archimedean Rod (Plunger or
Pump Top)
1110 Detachable
Archimedean Rod
1120
Attached Archimedean Rod (Tin Pump or Tin Litho)
1121 Classic
Plunger Plastic Bubble Top
1122 Classic
Plunger Plastic Bubble Animated (moveable parts inside the bubble)
1123 Classic
Plunger Color Blending
1124 Push Button
Pump
1125 Push Button
Pump Animated (moveable parts inside bubble)
1200 Friction
1250
Gyroscope
1300 Electric
1310 Detachable Horizontal Electric Launcher
1311
Detachable Vertical Electric Launcher
1320 Attached Electric Launcher
1350
Gyroscope
1400 Water *** (See Note
Below)
1450 Gyroscope
1500 Crank
1550
Gyroscope
** Note: There are a few Western Pegs (S521) that can be alternately launched with a teeth strip. You can give these pegs the class S821, or assign a secondary number: S521(S800) or S521(S821). It depends on whether or not you want to keep all your pegs in the 520 class.
*** Note: I've never seen a water powered top. A sprinkler or paddle wheel comes to mind.
(Note: The "S" beginning
each Top Classification Number stands for "Spinning Top".)
Attach a secondary number enclosed by ( ) or [ ] to the primary number in order to represent a secondary top type. In the case of supported tops, the primary number should represent the supported top.
Explanation: Some tops, mostly supported, consist of multiple top types, e.g. Supported Tippe Top. In such cases, the Supported Classification should be used first, followed by a secondary top classification number enclosed in ( ) or [ ].
Examples:
S510(130)
(Supported Classic Tippe) (The number is pronounced
"five
ten, one thirty")
S521(510)
(Western Peg Crowned, which can be launched with horizontal bracket)
S611(145) (Supported
Mechanical Detachable Teetotum Dreidel)
S611(521) (Supported
Mechanical Detachable Western Peg )
S810(521)
(Supported Mechanical Teeth Strip Launched Western Peg Crowned)
S1100(525)
(Supported Plunger or Pump Western Peg Uncrowned)
Attach a Letter
from
the Shape Table to the Top Classification number, preceded by a dash,
to
represent various shapes.
* Letters to add according to
Shape
A
Animal
C
Cube
CN Cone
CY Cylinder
DC Disc
F
Fruit
P
Polygon (General)
FOV Flat Oval
FTR Flat Triangle
FSQ Flat Square
FPN Flat
Pentagonal
FHX Flat Hexagonal
FHP Flat Heptagonal
FOC Flat Octagonal
H
Human
HX Hexagonal
IR
Inorganic
OR Organic (Other
than Fruit)
OV Oval
PY
Pyramid
SP
Spherical
4T,5T, etc. (4 sideded Teetotum, 5 sided,
etc.) Note: Not needed for Dreidel and Dice Teetotums.
Examples:
S110-H
(Twirler Finger Human Shaped Top) (Number
is
pronounced "one ten dash H")
S110-A
(Twirler Finger Animal Shaped)
S110-F
(Twirler Finger Fruit Shaped)
S110-IR
(Twirler Finger Inorganic Shaped)
S510-F
(Supported Classic Fruit Shaped)
S511-DC
(Supported Detachable, Verticle Handle Disc Shaped, e.g. Roto Top)
S611-H (Supported
Mechanical
Detachable Human Shaped)
S5200-H
(Plastic Teeth Launched Gyroscope Human Shaped, e.g. Dancing Ballerina
Top)
S5300-IR
(Friction Wound Gyroscope Inorganic Shaped)
S143-8T (Alpha-Numeric 8 sided
Teetotum)
Attach a number from the Additional Attributes Table to the Top Classification Number, preceded by a dash (unless already preceded by a Shape Letter), in order to represent additional attributes. Add multiple numbers to reach a sum in case of multiple attributes (e.g. Twirler Finger (S110) that lights up (25) and plays music (50): 25+50=75, thus S110-75).
* Numbers to add according to
Additional
Attributes
01 General Noise (Includes Bells and
Electronic Noises)
02 Bounces
05 Sparks
06 Rattles
09 Choral (Reeds producing Music or Sound)
10 Whistles or Hums
25 Light
29 Writing Instrument Attached, e.g.
Doodle Top
50 Musical
100 Magnetic
200 Optical Illusion
400 Advertising
800 Glows in the Dark
2000 Multiple Tops (e.g. nested tops)
5000 Hollow
8000 Double Tipped
9000 Stationary (Fixed Position)
Examples:
S110-75
(Twirler Finger that lights up and plays music)
S110-9001 (Finger
Twirler that is stationary and makes bell sound)
S510-10
(Supported Classic that hums, i.e. English Humming Top)
S510-2000
(Supported Classic with Dual Tops)
S611-H75
(Supported
Mechanical detachable, human shaped, that lights up and plays music)
S611-35
(Supported Mechanical detachable that lights up and whistles)
S1110-10
(Supported Plunger that hums)
S1110-29
(Supported Plunger with marker attached)
S520-8000
(Western Peg Double Tipped)
S521-10
(Western Peg Crowned that whistles, e.g. Duncan Whistler)
S521-410
(Western Peg Crowned that whistles and includes advertising)
Optionally, one may
add
a lowercase letter from the Construction Material Table to the end of
the
Top Classification Number in order to represent a top's construction
material.
In cases of mixed media, more than one constructional material number
may
be used with the predominate material listed first.
*Lowercase letters to add
according
to Construction Material (Optional)
bn Bone
gl Glass
mt Metal
pl Plastic
wd Wood
cr Ceramic
st Stone
gr Gourd
nt Nut
nr Natural Material (can be used
for Gourd or Nut)
pr Paper
en Enamel
br Brass
tn Tin
Examples:
S145-75pl (Dreidel that
lights
ups, plays music and is made of plastic)
S145wd (Dreidel made of
wood)
S130bn (Tippe made of bone)
S5000pm (Gyroscope made of
plastic
and metal)
Optionally, one may wish to add to the Top Classification Number further descriptions in the following order: Country of Origin, Manufacturer, Model Name, Color, and Other. One may wish to add as many of these descriptions as desired, as long as the correct order is observed, e.g. -Country-Color; -Manufacturer-Model Name; or simply -Other.
Rule 5 must be applied after applying Rules 1-4, and must be preceded by a dash. If rule 4 is used, the lower case construction material letter must be attached before applying Rule 5 (e.g. S521wd-USA).
Note: The "-Other" description has two purposes: (1) to provide a place for top attributes missed in the Rules Tables; and (2) to provide a freelance Notes field. For example, Gildas Lescop, a French top collector, has a S110, which is also a pencil sharpener. I would suggest classifying this unusual top, S110-Pencil Sharpener. I use the -Other field for such things as indicating a top bought from the online service, ebay, or to identify the songs played by -75 tops.
Examples:
S110-H-India
S513-Japan-Red,Yellow,Green
S1110-Ohio Arts
S521-10-Duncan-Whistler
S521-Royal-Red-ebay @ $5.99
S521wd-USA-Toycrafter-Natural Tone
(This catalog represents a portion of
my collection. It was done in the Excel worksheet program and
sorted
by Description. In the worksheet I created separate fields for
Country
and Manufacturer so that I could sort by either. You could also
add
fields for the Additional Attributes Number so you could sort by
that.
Of course you could also do this in a database program and include
pictures.)
Sample from 2nd Rev.
Quantity Description
______ ________
Un-Aided Launch
6
S110
1
S110-06
2
S110-100
7
S110-200
1
S110-200-Toycrafter-Lucky Penny Top
3
S110-400
2
S110-75
1
S110-800
1
S110-C
1
S110-India
1
S110-Japan
1
S110-Toycrafter-Lazercut
4
S110bn-Australia-Brian Lemin-Miniature
2
S110cr-USA
1
S110nr
1
S111
1
S112-Carlisle-Revolution
2
S113-200
2
S114
1
S130b-Australia-Brian Lemin-Miniature
4
S130pl
9
S130wd
2
S145
1
S145-75-Tradional Dreidel Song
2
S145-Small
2
S145Pwd-Small
2
S200-Japan
1
S200-Japan-Large
1
S400-2000-Israel
String Launched
1
S510
1
S510-2000-Japan
1
S511-DC-Roto Top
1
S513
1
S513-Japan
1
S514-H-Japan- ebay (10/15/99)
String Launched (Peg-Tops)
2
S521-Duncan-Imperial
1
S521-Duncan-Sir Duncan-ebay
2
S521-Duncan-Tournament-ebay
2
S521-Toycrafter-Natural Tone
2
S521wd-Small-circa 1940's/1950's
1
S522
1
S523-Astro Top-ebay
Spring Launched
3
S611(521)-10pl
1
S611-27
1
S611-75-Jingle Bells
1
S611-2000-Agglo-Turbo Tower Tops-five stackable tops
2
S611-10mtwd-Gibbs
5
S611mtwd-Gibbs
Whips
1
S910-U.K.-Peter Camus
1
S910-USA
Push Rod
1 S1000-ebay
Gyroscopes
1
S5100mt
1
S5100plmt
1
S5500-ebay
1
S5200-H
1
S5200-25
__________________
108 Total
More tops from a "sub-collection"
of
mine:
"Un-aided"
1 S110
1 S110-Wagon Wheel
2 S113
1 S130pl
7 S140pl-black
"Aided"
1 S510
1 S514-10
2 S590pl
2 S590wd
4 S611mt-Gibbs
1 S611pl-2000-Turbo Tower Tops-5 tops
1 S1000-3 tops
1 S5200-75
===
Total 25 Tops
Please let me know if you have any questions or just want to talk about tops:
John Sandstrum at pegtop@sandstrum.com
Last Revised Oct. 13, 2006.
