Whip Tops             (Back to the)
Whip tops spin when they're whipped, with a real live whip you understand!  They were popular around the turn of the century and often called "window breakers".
Gee, I wonder why?  They were known to have been in ancient Egypt, and are pictured on ancientGreek artifacts.

Mia's whip top Recently acquired Mushroom-shaped whip top Brian's whip top

 

Great site for buying whip tops: Toypost


I have one whip top that is the same as Brian's in the picture above (He gave me the  address of the maker).  It is made by Peter Camus (U.K.).  I simply wrote him a letter:  He sent me a top.  It was very affordable, and I am very pleased with it.  I don't know if he's on the Internet, but his Snail-mail address is:
        Peter Camus
        The Workshop, Field Lane,
        Gowdal, Nr. Snaith,
        Goole, East Yorkshire  DN14 OAS

I'm providing this because I had a heck of a time finding a whip top.  I hope this may help others.  Thanks to Brian and Peter.

Down to the Wood -- A British site that offers a whip top for sale.  Watch out for shipping:  It's expensive to ship things overseas.

The Plimoth Plantation This site is once again offering for sale replicas of 17th century whip and peg tops, as of November 6, 2000.

The Great Northern Trade Co. offers for sale a replica of an 18th century whip top.  It comes with string, which I don't quite understand.  Maybe they're saying it could be used for a peg?  From the looks of the small picture, it's definitely a whip and would be hard to use as a peg.  If you buy this one, you could always make a whip out of a dowel and a strap of leather.

Literary Whip Top

"Since I plucked geese, played truant and whipped top, I knew not what 'twas to be beaten till lately."
                Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor,  Act 5 Scene 1

"The schoolboy whips his taxed top..."
                    Sydney Smith, Review of Seybert's Annals of the United States, 1820.


               Polynesians at play with the whip top.             Whip Top from Ancient Greek Artifact.

  Picture of Whp top courtesy of the Associacio Amics De la Baldufa
 

Some instructions (right handed) for launching a whip top:
1. Hold the top in your left hand with the point pointing inward.
2. Hold the end of the leather thong with your left thumb against the
side of the top, and wind around the top in a clockwise manner.
3. Hold the top with your left hand as you grasp the dowel in your right hand.
4. Quickly make a snapping whip movement with your right hand as you simultaneously
let go of the top with your left hand. I usually do this in a partly
crouching position to get a little closer to the ground than I would be by just standing.
Don Olney, from toycrafter.com, suggested this.

Please let me know if you have any questions or just want to talk about tops:

John Sandstrum at pegtop@sandstrum.com

Last Revised 09/12/2002.