Morley Adams

“ The Reels and String Puzzle is highly entertaining. The only materials required for it are the lid of a cigar box, two [pg 47] cotton reels, two beads, and a length of smooth string or thin silk cord. The making is simplicity itself. All you need do is cut the lid in halves and bore three holes in a line in one of the halves. Of course you can ornament your wood as much as you like, but that will in no way increase or decrease the effectiveness of the puzzle. ”

“ There is in every house one thing out of which the enterprising boy or girl can make any number of models and toys: that is the empty match box. Its shape and formation lend [pg 20] themselves to the construction of all sorts of things—houses, trams, dolls' furniture, &c. &c.—the only other requisites being a sharp knife, a ruler, one or two pieces of cardboard (or better still, thin pine veneer) , a number of large matches (or better still, match stales) . ”

“ Now if you put a piece of match stick between the strings, and twist the string by turning the match round, you will complete the jumping mechanism (Fig. 96) . Keep your finger on the match to prevent it flying back, and carefully turn the shell upside down on the table, holding it all the time. Now if you press one finger on the side of the shell so that it slips suddenly from under, then your frog will perform an astounding leap in the air. But, in your eagerness to get a big jump, do not twist the string too tightly, otherwise the holes will break out. ”

“ The shell of an ordinary hen's egg does not seem to give much scope for construction. Yet much can be done with it. One of the best things you can make is
An Egg-shell Yacht.—Next time mother is making cakes, or anything which needs eggs, tell her you want the shell intact, and ask her to let you blow out the contents. To do this, bore a small hole at each end, and blow. Of course, if you have ever collected birds' eggs, and are an adept at egg-blowing, you will only need one hole.
Stop up the holes with sealing wax or plasticene. This complete shell is to form the hull of the yacht ”

“ Cotton-reels may be taken as an instance. It does not occur to the majority of people that these little wooden articles, strongly made and well finished, may be put to some use, even when the cotton has been wound from them. Yet from them quite useful furniture can be made and playthings innumerable. And so it is with many other things—match boxes, broken clothes pegs, cocoa tins, mustard tins, egg shells, cigar boxes, nut shells, corks, incandescent-mantle cases, old broom handles: there is no end to the list. ”

“ Fig. 94.
One other toy which has always been deservedly popular is
The Jumping Frog.—If you are skilful with your pocket knife you can cut out a representation of the animal from a lump of wood, and paint it to make it more realistic. If, however, you have not the requisite skill, you can still construct the toy by using a walnut shell in place of the carved model. In either case the actual mechanism for "jumping" is the same.
You want a good-sized shell, or rather half-shell, some very strong thin twine, and a match. ”

“ A French nail in each end of the [pg 57] axle will then secure it in position between the side supports and secure an easy running.
If you have a play shed in the garden, this apparatus can be erected at the top of a high post projecting through or at the side of the roof. The driving strings can then pass through a hole in the roof or the wall, and the power can be transmitted by a double pulley wheel and another driving string. If you have no play shed, it is not at all difficult to rig it up outside a window. You can try that, and prove your own inventive abilities. ”

“ For the upright standard you require a piece of wood about 9 in. long and 1 in. square—one end of which must be fixed to the base board. The method of doing this will depend very largely on your degree of proficiency in the art of carpentry. If you know how to make a mortise and tenon joint, that will be the most suitable. If you cannot attain to that, then perhaps you can make a hole just as large as the standard, and sink the standard in the base. If you are not at all an expert, [pg 61] then you must just nail or screw your standard to the centre of the base. ”

“ Across the under side a short length of match stale is glued, to act as an axle for the two wheels. These can be cut from either veneer or cardboard. A good plan is to cut out a circle in fairly stiff cardboard, and glue a covering of veneer on each side; this adds to the appearance of the wheel and makes it stiffer. If veneer alone is used, two circles must be cut out for each wheel, and glued together with the grain at right angles. The wheels should be fixed in position with doll pins. ”

“ When this is dry, make a large loop of string and put it through the round hole of the card; and hold the ends of the loop one in each hand. Now if you turn the string at one end as if you were turning a skipping rope, and then suddenly [pg 5] pull it tight, your card will revolve very rapidly, and you will find that instead of a coloured card you have what appears to be a light grey one. This is really a little piece of science, for it shows that the white light about us is really made up of the different colours of the rainbow (Fig. 4) . ”

“ When there is moisture in the air the catgut will twist. You must fit together the different parts and then, by turning the peg to right or left, adjust the position of the figures so that the lady appears in fine weather and the gentleman in wet.
A toy of unfailing attraction for boys—and girls as well—is
The Marble Board.—This may be quite a simple affair—such as a boy can carry in his pocket for use in the playground—just a piece of wood, such as a cigar-box lid, with a number of holes cut along one edge, and a handle added (Fig. 65) ”

“ Most boys and girls are familiar with those little paper windmills, which turn round gaily in the gentlest breeze—the ones which the rag-and-bone man gives in exchange for an old bottle. They make a capital toy for baby brothers and [pg 2] sisters, and they are very easy to make. All you need is a six-inch square of stiff paper—coloured for preference—and two pieces of cardboard, each an inch square. First, you draw out your square as in Fig. 1, and then cut down the diagonals nearly to the centre square. ”

“ When you have done this, all that is necessary is to give the whole thing a coat of paint, and place numbers over the various holes—taking care that you do not put all the high numbers together.
Boards similar to this are used in the Colonies for a game known as "Bobs." Larger balls are used, and propelled by means of a cue as in billiards. If you can obtain the balls, this is a delightful game, and one well worth making.
A Wooden Wind Wheel for the garden is a splendid little model to make—interesting in itself, but doubly desirable because so much can be done with it. ”

“ Fig. 67.
[pg 56] The cutting of the hub is not a very difficult matter if you have a fret saw. It should be cut across the grain if you can get a suitable piece of wood. The sails also are quite easy to make. For these you cannot beat cigar-box wood. The cutting of the grooves in the hub for the insertion of the sails is the most trying piece of work. These grooves should be just large enough to allow the sails to fit tightly, and should be cut at an angle of 45° across the hub. The sails should then be glued in with carpenter's glue. ”

“ Geometrical Puzzle shown in Fig. 56. Each of these consists of a capital letter divided up by one or two straight lines into right-angled triangles and other geometrical shapes. While very simple to look at when completed, these little puzzles are by no means easy to solve when the odd pieces are given in a jumbled state. The capital letters should be drawn on a piece of cigar-box wood, and then carefully cut out with a fret saw, or, better still, with a tenon saw if you have one. If you cannot manage wood, then the puzzle can be done in stout cardboard and cut out with a sharp thin knife. ”

“ Boys who think for a minute will not want to use the catapult in that cruel fashion: they will prefer a game in which no harm is done, in which no innocent creature is harmed, but which provides just as much fun. "Catapult skittles" is such a game.
It consists simply of a board with a catapult at one end, and a set of skittles at the other. The broken peg skittles dealt with above will do admirably for this (Fig. 34) .
The catapult itself can also be made with two pegs. These should be cut off cleanly at the forks. Two holes, about 3 in. ”

“ A flat hull similar to that described on page 70 is prepared, and four flat-headed nails driven in, so that the four corners of the boiler can each stand on a nail head. The rudder is cut from an old piece of tin, and pressed into a knife-cut made in the centre of the stern of the hull.
The boiler is placed into position with the steam hole facing the stern, and lighted candle ends are then placed underneath the boiler—as many as possible; for the more the candles [pg 75] the greater the heat, and consequently the greater the force of steam. ”

“ For the most part the only things needed for the construction are a sharp knife (one with a very thin blade preferred) , a tube of glue, one or two odd pieces of cardboard, and some paints.
A Money Box, for instance, is always useful, and, by the aid of the paint box, can be made very attractive.
Take off the two end covers, and glue one end of the case to a circle of thick cardboard, about 1/4 in. larger in radius than the case. Now for the other end construct a conical top. To do this, draw out a circle with a radius of about 1-1/4 in. and cut out a sector (see Fig. 9, p. 8) . ”

“ A Doll's Umbrella Stand is a very happy little idea—very simple but extremely effective. At the two ends of a small match-box tray, long stales are glued, projecting underneath to act as short legs to keep the tray from the ground. Near the top of these upright stales, four others are fixed to act as a strengthening frame. These last should be secured in [pg 28] place with doll pins in addition to the ordinary dab of tube glue. Then across the frame so made should be fixed one or two short lengths of stale in order to divide the stand into two or three compartments. Fig. ”

“ Of course, it can be made quite small and very simple, and still provide unending amusement to smaller brothers and sisters; but for our own purpose it is just as well to make a larger and stronger specimen, one which can be employed as a power station for the working of smaller toys. ”

“ The great objection to the upright game is the nuisance of the falling rings. This may be avoided partly by constructing a cardboard "catcher" to fit underneath. This is simply a cardboard triangle, or rather two right-angled triangles joined together by tape so as to bend easily and be strong: [pg 35] these are nailed to the two under edges of the board (Fig. 40) .
Fig. 40.
Another splendid shooting toy is the Dart Box. For this you need a wooden box of some sort. Size and shape do not matter very much, but a box with ends roughly square would do best: one 15 in. ”

“ If he succeeds in sending a counter through a window, then he "kills" that number of the enemy. The winner may be either the person who secures the greatest number of "kills" in a certain number of attempts—twenty-four, for instance—or the person who first succeeds in scoring say 50 "kills." ”

“ In the centre of the hull nail a block of wood, and to it glue two funnels (Fig. 83) . For these, the odd lengths cut off from bamboo curtain poles will do admirably; or, if these be not obtainable, a couple of incandescent-mantle cases will suffice.
Fig. 83.
The adjustment of the motive power is the difficult task. First, you will need to purchase a couple of yards of suitable elastic: this is sold at most large toy shops, and costs usually a penny a yard. To fix this into place beneath the hull you will need to construct two metal supports. ”

“ Fig. 79.
If you are good at bent-wire work, you will be able to make a wire stand by which to fix it on a lamp chimney or gas globe: it will then revolve continuously, and with considerable speed.
A Tin-can Steam Roller.—This is a nice piece of metal work, and, when finished well, provides a proper little toy. To construct it you need several tins—a round tin, such as a cocoa tin, about 2 in. across and 4 in. long; an oblong tin, about 3-1/2 in. by 3 in. by 2 in., such as the larger-sized mustard tins; a round cigarette tin, about 2-1/2 in. across and 3-1/4 in. deep ”

“ This can be attached to the top of the box by means of glue, and can be wedged up into a horizontal position if found to slant too much.
Fig. 28.
A coat of dull grey paint will add greatly to the realistic appearance of this interesting little toy.
[pg 26] Many other things can be made, too, for use when playing with toy soldiers. One such model is
A Step Bridge, as shown in Fig. 29. This is a very pretty little model, and one quite delightful to make. For it we require four 1-3/4 in. or 2-1/4 in. match boxes, a piece of cardboard or veneer, and some match stales. ”

“ You can do this by paring off tiny pieces from the end of the beam, or you can stick on dabs of sealing wax till the correct balance is obtained.
If you cannot get any proper weights, then it is not a very difficult matter to make some. To do this, all that you need is to get some cardboard and a supply of sand, and to borrow a complete set of weights. First of all make a number of little cardboard cubes, having sides varying from 3/4 in. to 3 in. Draw each one out on cardboard (Fig. 75) ; cut it out; and bind up with gummed tape—leaving one side ungummed. ”

“ This loose reel will be the driving wheel of the contrivance and will hold the power band from the wind wheel. Fixed to this running wheel, and immediately above, will be another reel for the actual merry-go-round. Into the sides of this uppermost reel bore four holes, and insert the pointed ends of the four skewers, arranging them so that all four are at right angles. The running will be facilitated if another glass bead is sunk in the top of this reel. ”