tommy talker n.
1. a kazoo.
 | ‘The Tommy Talker Bands of the West Riding’ on Musical Traditions No 1 on Mustrad.org.uk 🌐 The main instrument in all bands was the Tommy Talker – today referred to as a Kazoo, an American colloquialism first used in Britain by the Mound City Blowers on a provincial tour in 1925. However of the fifty or so ex-band members I have interviewed virtually all used the term Tommy Talker. It appears to be a distinctly Yorkshire expression: in the North East it was called a bazooka, gazooka or just plain hooter, and members of the Widnes Novelty Band from Lancashire (see Traditional Music No 7) refer to a gazoota or submarine (the instrument’s shape). The term Tommy Talker probably dates back to the First World War when it was used to make communication signals in the trenches. |
2. a ventriloquist’s dummy with a pull string.
| ‘Damien James’ on CorporateEntertainment.ca 🌐 Later that same year, Damien received a Tommy Talker (pull-string dummy) from the Sears Christmas catalogue... a present his parents (we mean Santa Claus) regret to this day! |