Barrel of Monkeys
Encyclopedia
Barrel of Monkeys is a toy
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...

 game first created by Lakeside Toys in 1965. Today it is produced by the Milton Bradley Company
Milton Bradley Company
The Milton Bradley Company is an American game company established by Milton Bradley in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860. In 1920, it absorbed the game production of McLoughlin Brothers, formerly the largest game manufacturer in the United States, and in 1987, it purchased Selchow and Righter,...

. Milton Bradley's editions consist of a toy barrel
Barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container, traditionally made of vertical wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. Traditionally, the barrel was a standard size of measure referring to a set capacity or weight of a given commodity. A small barrel is called a keg.For example, a...

 in either blue, yellow, red, or green. The barrel contains 12 monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...

s, their color usually corresponding to the barrel's color. The instructions on the bottom of the barrel state "Dump monkeys onto table. Pick up one monkey by an arm. Hook other arm through a second monkey's arm. Continue making a chain. Your turn is over when a monkey is dropped." In addition to these basic instructions, the barrel also contains instructions for playing alone or with two or more players.

Knock-offs come in additional colors under the name "Monkeys in Barrel".

History

When Lakeside Toys originally developed the game using S-shaped hooks made from rubber and wire, they had intended to name it "Barrel of Fun," but found that both that name and "Barrel-O-Fun" were already being used by other game manufacturers. Subsequently, the company decided to name their game after the related phrase "more fun than a Barrel of Monkeys
Barrel of Monkeys
Barrel of Monkeys is a toy game first created by Lakeside Toys in 1965. Today it is produced by the Milton Bradley Company. Milton Bradley's editions consist of a toy barrel in either blue, yellow, red, or green. The barrel contains 12 monkeys, their color usually corresponding to the barrel's...

" and remodeled the S-hooks into plastic monkeys. Original inventor was named Leonard Marks of Roslyn, New York.

Initially sold in a cardboard tube, Lakeside quickly produced a two-piece plastic barrel that completely replaced the cardboard version by 1968. Unlike the later mono-colored Giant Barrel of Monkeys, this original version was composed of 12 plastic monkeys in three colors; 4 each in red, blue and yellow.

Use in models

These Monkeys have also been used for modeling of polyhedral
Polyhedron
In elementary geometry a polyhedron is a geometric solid in three dimensions with flat faces and straight edges...

 structures, including virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...

 particles and other protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

 structures
In brief, a pair of monkeys can hook around each other in more than eighty different ways, forming quite stable links. The links may be either symmetrical or asymmetrical. Repetition of an asymmetric link generates a helix
Helix
A helix is a type of smooth space curve, i.e. a curve in three-dimensional space. It has the property that the tangent line at any point makes a constant angle with a fixed line called the axis. Examples of helixes are coil springs and the handrails of spiral staircases. A "filled-in" helix – for...

. A symmetric link is self limiting, so that the structure cannot grow further unless a new link is used to join symmetric pairs. It is possible to generate structures with point, line, 2D or 3D symmetry by choosing two or three different links (from the 80 or more possibilities) and repeating them systematically. An enormous number of compatible combinations can be found by trial and error. Many are shown in the sources quoted above.

Any repeating unit can in principle be assembled in this way. The only unusual characteristic of the monkey is that its arms, legs, hands and feet are able to twist around each other to form many stable links. In this, they resemble protein molecules which can also link together in many ways. The resulting assemblies simulate biologically important structures, but their symmetry follows general geometric principles. The monkeys provide a 'hands on' approach to understanding these principles.
Barrel of Monkeys is also called as BANDAR KEELA and is very famous in south Asian countries.

Other Uses

  • Using a large, lidded plastic or styrofoam cup, players (sitting approximately 3 feet from the cup) take turns tossing monkeys at the cup. 1 point for landing a monkey on the lid. 2 points for getting a "ringer" on the straw. 3 points for hooking the monkey on the side of the lid. 5 points for hooking the monkey on the end of the straw.

In popular culture

  • In the Toy Story
    Toy Story
    Toy Story is a 1995 American computer-animated film released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is Pixar's first feature film as well as the first ever feature film to be made entirely with CGI. The film was directed by John Lasseter and featuring the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen...

    trilogy, Andy has a barrel of monkeys.
  • In The Powerpuff Girls Movie
    The Powerpuff Girls Movie
    The Powerpuff Girls Movie is a 2002 American animated film based on the Cartoon Network animated television series of the same name. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios for Warner Bros. Pictures and Cartoon Network, the film debuted in the United States on July 3, 2002...

    , some of Mojo Jojo's minions (the Go-Go Patrol), bears a resemblance to Barrel of monkeys.
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