Birds of Prey, Scarce and Marvelous Riedel, Nuremberg Mechanical Valentine c. 1830s elephant shaped plus yellow wheels of two

plus yellow wheels of two sizes and metal posts of a range of sizes for connecting them together

The name comes from   Platt Rogers Spencer (1800–1864)

perhaps with the two seated men assuming their typical postures on board

A perfect gift for an Arkansas--or Arkansawyer--I'd say

Birds of Prey, Scarce and Marvelous Riedel, Nuremberg Mechanical Valentine c. 1830s elephant shaped plus yellow wheels of twoAmazing! I love going to Brimfield, but occasions of finding true treasures digging through boxes in far corners happens less and less and less. But then this, and a second early mechanical valentine also listed today the sort of lucky finds that keep me ever hopeful. This is quite a rare one, an early mechanical valentine, published by Riedel in Nuremberg, Germany, for English export, c. 1830s I believe. My first photo shows both "before" and "after"