Chapter I: Front Matter

[Transcriber's Note

The "LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS" was added.

Many of the figures were NOT in sequential order within the original publication and are transcribed as printed.

Emphasis notation for italic is _Text_ and bold is =Text=.

Whole and fractional parts of numbers is displayed as 2-1/4.]

HOME-MADE TOYS
FOR
GIRLS AND BOYS

BOOKS BY A. NEELY HALL

_8vo. Cloth. Illustrated with hundreds of full-page
and working drawings by the author
and Norman P. Hall_

=THE BOY CRAFTSMAN= { Price _net_ $ 1.60
{ Postpaid 1.82

=HANDICRAFT FOR HANDY BOYS= { Price _net_ $ 2.00
{ Postpaid 2.25

=THE HANDY BOY= { Price _net_ $ 1.60
{ Postpaid 1.82

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON

HOME-MADE TOYS
FOR
GIRLS AND BOYS

Wooden and Cardboard Toys,
Mechanical and Electrical Toys

_By_ A. Neely Hall

_Author of_ "_The Boy Craftsman_",
"_Handicraft for Handy Boys_",
"_The Handy Boy_" _Etc._

With over three hundred illustrations and
working-drawings by the author and Norman
P. Hall

BOSTON

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.

COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD COMPANY
PUBLISHED, AUGUST, 1915

_All rights reserved_

HOME-MADE TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS

Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.--Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

_Constructive ideas expel destructive ideas from the juvenile mind._

INTRODUCTORY NOTES

Through the author's handicraft volumes, and magazine and newspaper articles, thousands of boys and girls who never realized they could make their own toys, have succeeded in constructing models which would do credit to Santa Claus' master toy-makers.

The success of this new home industry has suggested the need of a volume devoted entirely to toy-making, and in HOME-MADE TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS the author has brought together a large number of the toy ideas from his former handicraft volumes, and from his articles published in the _Ladies' Home Journal_, _Woman's Home Companion_, _Good Housekeeping_, the _Boys' Magazine_, and other publications, and he believes that as collected and arranged the material will be found a veritable gold-mine of toy-making information.

Go to any toy store and price the toys similar to those described within these covers, then estimate if you can how much the other toys you do not find would cost if manufactured, and you will discover that one hundred dollars would not cover their value. One splendid thing about these home-made toys is that the greater part of them require little more than the pick-up material found at home. Few boys and girls are given a one hundred dollar assortment of toys at a time, yet any one can own a collection of this value who is willing to spend the time necessary to follow the instructions given in this book. Probably, though, some of the toys will be wanted now, and the others one, two or three seasons hence, because, you see, the book is an all-the-year-round handy book with suggestions for every season. Some of the toys will be of especial interest to boys, yet girls who like what boys like will enjoy making them also.

Home-made toys are generally longer lived than store toys because the boy or girl who expends a certain amount of effort producing gives them better care. Home-made toys have a greater value than boughten ones because there is as much fun making them as playing with them. Doing something interesting, getting satisfying results out of the work, putting an idea into tangible form, and having a toy to show of which it can be said, "I made this all myself,"--these are the factors in toy-making so fascinating to boys and girls.

It is no less a child's nature to want to do that which is most pleasing to him, than an adult's, so why not encourage this wholesome activity of toy-making to which the child takes as readily as a duck takes to water? It trains the mind to think clearly, the hands to work cleverly, replaces destructive thoughts with constructive ideas, and, in making the boy or girl dependent upon himself or herself for toys, is invaluable in developing resourcefulness.

Recognizing how easily the child's interest is attracted and held by anything of a building nature, toy manufacturers have placed scores of so-called "construction sets" upon the market, but, though excellent as these outfits are, the toys they form are merely assembled, not really made by the boy or girl, and much of the value of making is lost. Exactly as good models as those assembled with "construction sets" can be made of pick-up materials, as chapters in this book show. In fact, some of the models in the manufacturers' instruction pamphlets--merry-go-rounds, Ferris wheels and swings--are almost identical with home-made models devised long ago by the author for his readers. Furthermore, there are many, very many toys in HOME-MADE TOYS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS which are beyond the limited possibilities of "construction sets."

A. N. H.

OAK PARK, ILLINOIS,
May 31, 1915.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
PAGE

HOME-MADE WINDMILLS 1
The Paper Pinwheel--The Pinion-wheel Windmill--To mount
the Pinion-wheel--The Four-blade Windmill--To mount the
Windmill--The Eight-blade Windmill--The Hub--The Eight
Blades--The Shaft--The Tail--To pivot the Windmill--To
operate a Toy Jumping-jack.

CHAPTER II

HOME-MADE KITES 9
How to make a Malay--The Sticks--Framing the
Sticks--Covering the Framework--Attaching the
Bridle--Flying-line--The Box-kite--The Kite
Sticks--The Side Frames--Covering for the End
Cells--Assembling the Kite--Attaching the
Bridle--A Good Hand Kite-reel--A Body Kite-reel.

CHAPTER III

A HOME-MADE MODEL AEROPLANE 21
Accuracy in Model Construction--The Most Successful Type
of Model--The Fuselage--The Thrust Bearings--The Bow
Hooks--The Main Plane--The Elevator--The Fin--The
Propellers--How to prepare the Propellers--The Propeller
Blank--The Propeller-shafts--The Motors--The Home-made
Motor-winder--How the Egg-beater winds the Motors--Care
in winding the Motors--Position to take for launching a
Model.

CHAPTER IV

A HOME-MADE TOY MOTOR-BOAT 33
How operated--The Hull Bottom--The Sides--The Deck--The
Propeller--The Propeller-shaft--The Bearing Plate--The
Thrust Bearing--The Rubber-band Motor--To wind the
Motor--How to elaborate upon the Design and Construction.

CHAPTER V

HOME-MADE TOY WATER-MOTORS 38
A Varnish-can Water-motor--The Case--The Water-motor
Wheel--The Eight Paddles--The Wheel Shaft--An Outlet--A
Pulley-belt--Pulley-wheels--Connecting up the
Water-motor--Another Water-motor--The Water-motor
Wheel--The Wheel Supports--To mount the Wheel--The
Pulley Wheel--The Water-motor Case.

CHAPTER VI

A HOME-MADE TOY RAILWAY 47
The Trolley-line--Supports for Trolley-line--Power for
Operating--Railway--Tracks--The Cars--A Gondola Car--A
Street Car--Other Cars--Operation of the Railway--A
Station.

CHAPTER VII

HOME-MADE TOY ELEVATORS 59
A Toy Elevator that appears Magical in its
Operation--Adapting Elevator to Toy Office
Building--Floors--Partitions--The Elevator Car--The
Elevator Guides--The Cables--The Counter-balance--The
Smoke-stack--The Overhead Pulleys--How the Car
operates--Ballast--To make the Car Rise--A Simple
Control--Two Levers--An Outdoor Elevator--The Guide
Supports--The Car--The Guides--The Counter-balance--The
Lifting Cable--The Lowering Cable.

CHAPTER VIII

HOME-MADE MECHANICAL TOYS 71
The Simple Construction of Small Mechanical Toys--A
Buzz-saw Whirligig--Operating the Whirligig--The
Clog-dancer--A Toy Jumping-jack--A Cricket-rattle--The
Turtle Toy--To make the Turtle Crawl.

CHAPTER IX

HOME-MADE TOPS 79
Top Spinning on the South Sea Islands--Clock Wheel
Tops--A Rug-tack Top--A Spool Top--A Spinning Top
Race-track--A Shoe-polish Can Top--A Spiral Top--A
Merry-go-round Top--How the Top Spins--Horses and
Riders--A Flag. X/ /X