By Denise Alt
Red Wing Republican Eagle
Red Wing, Minnesota
December 26, 2008
The toy is a bit dented and a little tarnished, but to the descendents of David Linsley, a simple brass top has been a part of Christmas for 140 years.
The brass top started humming its way through history right there in Red Wing. It was 1868 when Dolph Linsley gave his 6 year old son, David, this simple toy, the only present the boy received that year. David treasured his top and would take it out and spin it every year on Christmas Eve. This personal tradition followed him to Morris, Minnesota in 1876, to Litchfield, Minnesota in 1904, and eventually to West Concord, Minnesota.
The spinning of the top every Christmas Eve signals a time to reminisce and share family stories. In 1932, David’s granddaughter, Ruth Linsley, wrote in her Journal, “As we sat by the woodstove and admired our tree, Daddy began reminiscing about his favorite boyhood holiday tradition – spinning the top… Grandpa David would be marking the sixty-fourth year in West Concord that night.”
The Linsley family farmed outside of Red Wing during the civil War. David, the eldest child of Dolph and Emily Keith Linsley’s nine children, was born May 4, 1862. They lived in the area more than 14 years before moving to Morris.
When David died in 1937, the top passed to son James. Ruth Linsley Forman inherited the top from her father in 1974.
“Since Ruth passed in 2004, her husband of 60 years, Robert Forman, continues spinning the top on Christmas Eve at family gatherings with children and grandchildren.
The top is tarnished and dented with age now, but still reflects the fine craftsmanship of another generation. The spinning Christmas top is featured in, “One Present – The Christmas Top” posted on YouTube.
“There have been only two years when the top did not spin on Christmas Eve. David’s family was completing their move to Litchfield, MN on Christmas Eve in 1904. David and his hired man unloaded three teams of horses and a pair of mules in the winter darkness. Driving their stock through Litchfield’s main street, the mules woke the village with their braying, but the top was still in transit, packed deep in one of the wagons. The other time was in 1959, when James and Martha traveled to Rockford, IL for a holiday visit with the Formans and forgot to pack the top.”
The top is an example of craftsmanship from another generation. Mounted in a heavy steel wire frame with a wooden handle, the top releases from the frame and spins when the string is pulled.
This year the brass top sins for the world thanks to technology, YouTube, and a video by Mark Forman, David’s great-grandson, and his wife, Kathleen Secrest.
You can watch the video “One Present – The Christmas Top” at: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKDVAK4e43U&feature=email)
The brass top represents a simple but meaningful tradition that continues long after presents have been forgotten. Making that simple toy spin transcends the cards and gifts and puts something personal into the season.
For information about the family go to www.deardaddy.com
