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Magnificent Folk Toys (Part Two)

As we will recall from the previous article regarding Folk Toys, they were primarily produced in limited income homes by parents with lots of ingenuity. The toys reflected both the warmth and caring in the home as well as a certain ability to invest in a thing the magic of imagination.

We spoke of the Whimmydiddle, the Spinning Color Wheel and the Man on the Edge the last time.

For this article we are going to discuss four other folk toys that were the favorites of many families in the cities of 19th century America if not the world.

Let's begin with....

STILTS (See Photo):

When we think of stilts, most often we think of parades or clowns or both.

However, stilts were originally made for much more serious purposes, for example, for crossing rivers or bogs.

It is believed that Belgium was the place that originally inspired stilt making.

The story goes that both the Meuse and Sambre Rivers in Belgium were unpredictable, overflowing their banks year round, making walking for those living or working in the vicinity of the rivers precarious at best. Stilts of various kinds were the ingenious solution to getting across marshy areas without getting ones person mucked about.

There is also a folk story that is attached to stilt making in Belgium.

Evidently in the 17th century there was a very heavy tax on beer in Namur. The tax was levied by Archduke Albert.

The Governor of Namur, Belgium, knowing his citizens' facility with stilts, promised the Archduke that if he lifted the tax, he, the Governor, would show the Archduke a detachment of soldiers who could move rapidly, but not ride or walk.

Curious about this riddle, the Archduke agreed to the bargain, whereupon the Governor produced a detachment of Namur soldiers zipping by on stilts.

The Archduke was so tickled by the demonstration that, true to his word, the tax on beer was lifted just for Namur. Apparently there was great celebration at the news, and an appreciation of the value of land in Namur as well.

In 19th century America and elsewhere, child's stilts were usually made from a single eight foot 2x4, straight grained, knot-free spruce or fir. That was, of course, if those could be found free of charge. In a pinch, free became a relative term. It was amazing how many carriage sections and shed slats and other sources of wood were diverted from their original uses during Spring stilt-making season each year.

Once the "free" wood was obtained, it was then cut to the desired length, depending on the age and height of the child.

Regardless of how far up the 2x4 one attaches the footrest, the footrest itself needs to be supported properly with at least two bolts holding each rest.

Often, locally available materials are used in the construction of stilts, such as in this excellent video:

Once two stilts are so made, one being the mirror image of the other, it is then a matter of the child learning how to use them. Much like a bicycle, once the child got the hang of it, it was difficult to stop him or her joyfully navigating the premises in and out, out and in, in and out......

Will-O'-the-Wisp (See Photo):

There are many variations of this magnificent folk toy.

Some of the faces are those of clowns or acrobats.

The one shown here is my favorite. Just a tear drop smiley face.

Children and adults alike found it in the 19th century, and find it difficult now to walk by a Will-O'-the-Wisp without giving old smiley face a go.

The pegboard can be of any length. Of course, the longer the board, the longer the run, and the more fascinated children and adults alike are by the toy.

It is the strange rhythmic movements of smiley's head as gravity propels him downward that provides the hypnotic effect.

The key to the success of this toy is accurate positioning of the pegs. You can usually find a pattern for this toy on the web or, failing that, John R. Nelson has a volume entitled American Folk Toys available at your local library in which John provides a scale pattern that he encourages all to copy.

Ariadne's Block (See photo):

In the mythology of the Greeks, Ariadne was the daughter of the king of Crete.

Ariadne fell in love with a soldier in her father's army, Theseus.

When Theseus was faced with the problem of finding his way out of a labyrinth after slaying the half-man, half-bull called the Minotaur, Ariadne devised a clever way for him to find his way.

She started at the mouth of the labyrinth and unrolled yarn until she found Theseus, and then they both followed the yarn back to the entrance.

Even though Ariadne was very beautiful and very smart, after she rescued Theseus, her life is said to have been very sad.

There are several versions of how the story ends, all of which are not what she deserved.

They include, her being abandoned and hanging herself; her dieing in childbirth; she being carried off to Naxos where she died; she being abandoned, Theseus preferring to bond with Dionysus, the God of Wine. We just know that that couldn't be good.

To make this toy, you can use any wood. Scraps of maple or mahogany are good.

The box can be a square, hexagon or octagon shape. These shapes do not splinter easily when one drills the holes.

It is suggested that the toy maker drill 3/8 inch holes through the block in any pattern he or she likes. Just make sure they exit on a flat surface.

Sand the block and provide a finish. Canola oil is excellent for this purpose.

The twine needs to be epoxied to both one corner of the block as well as to the end of the needle which itself would be well sanded and rounded.

The challenge of Ariadne's Block is for the child to route the twine through the labyrinth with twine traveling through every tunnel. Once that is done, then the return journey must be negotiated. It's good to provide plenty of twine. Another version is that a parent or friend, with the child's back turned, lace the needle through the block any number of times, and then have the player see how long it takes for him or her to completely free the needle. The one who does it the quickest is the winner.

And, the final folk toy for this session,

Building Blocks (see photo):

Wooden building blocks are actually the precursor of Lego. Our family always had a bag of sanded and finished wooden blocks of various shapes and sizes which served as an infinite reservoir of creative material for our developing minds.

If there ever was a toy that has a history that is unrecoverable, it has to be wooden building blocks.

Wooden blocks have almost no material cost if you visit your local building site and pick up the scraps (with the building owner's permission).

A basic wooden building block set can probably be made with less than 30 usable feet, even with one third waste.

Making everything to scale helps a lot. That is, the flat surfaces should be divisible by the width and length of the smallest piece.

With that restriction, you are free to make as many blocks in as many shapes as you choose.

And, the finished product (no pun) will last for generations.

Ron - Toy Tech

Thursday, 12:07 pm | August 27th, 2009

Comments

Kurt on Friday, 2:17 pm | September 4th, 2009

I enjoyed reading this blog entry. Thank you for the interesting and informative article about old time toys and toy making crafts. -Kurt :-)

Ben - Toy Tech on Friday, 7:22 pm | September 4th, 2009

Hi Kurt, Welcome to Ask Toy Tech. I'm glad the article was interesting to you. Thanks a lot for the stilt making video, you are famous around here. It fit perfectly with this piece. Great stuff. -Ben