The Historical Toymaker

"Dedicated to the Preservation, Nurture, and Development of

Traditional American-made folk toys"

Alphabetical Listing of Traditional American-made folk toys 

   

Children in early America enjoyed playing with historical folk toys and traditional games, much the same way as we do today.

Indeed, in the history of these United States, native Americans, our early colonists, and Victorian-era children played with these toys and games.

The methods of playing with these toys and the rules for the historic games have remained much the same as they have for so long...

                                 'Graces'

  

     The traditional American game of Graces, also known as

  'French Hoops' or 'The Flying Circle', is an historic outdoor

  game, primarily designed to develop feminine grace.  At one

  time, 'Graces' was also considered an acceptable boys activity.

  Young ladies were encouraged to play this historic game outdoors and to keep score.

  Young gentlemen were encouraged to play this game simply as a "lark." This historical

  game was brought to the New World from France, where it was commonly known as

  'La Grace.'  Today, both boys and girls enjoy playing the game.

 

       To play 'Graces', two players stand directly

  opposite one another, approximately 10 feet

  apart.  Each player begins with 20 points.

  One player places a hoop over the crossed

  wands as shown in the illustrations.  By

  quickly moving the wands apart, the hoop is

  sent flying toward the opposite player.  The

  object is to catch the hoop on one or both

  wands and return it.  The hoop is kept moving

  back and forth until one player misses.  Each

  miss costs a point.  The first player to use all of his/her points loses the game.  After         you have mastered one hoop, try tossing two hoops back and forth simultaneously.

Jacob's Ladder

  

     The Jacob's Ladder folk toy, also known as 'tumbling blocks'

     dates back to the Pilgrim times in America.

                      

                       This historical folk toy was named after the Biblical

                   Jacob's Ladder described in the book of Genesis (28:12).

                     

                       Because of the Biblical reference, Puritan children

                    were allowed to use the Jacob's Ladder as a Sunday

                    toy.                         

                      

             Puritan and Victorian-era children also played with

  other Sunday toys, such as the Handkerchief Doll, Buzz Saw,

  Noah's Ark, Pillars of Solomon, and Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. 

'Nine Pins' Bowling

    Playing 'Nine Pins' has been a favorite American pastime since the early days of              colonial America.  The history of this game actually

  dates back quite some time.

    Objects for playing at bowling have been uncovered

  in an ancient tomb, dating back to approximately

                         5200 BC.                         

                          Later, forms of bowling were

                          prevalent in Europe in the 14th

                          century.                             

                          At one time, bowling was a religious ceremony.  German parishioners   

                          rolled an object at a pin which,

                          according to the ceremony,

                          symbolized evil.  If they missed

  the pin, they had to do penance.  In those days,

  the game was called Kegelspiel or Nine-pins.

    By the 15th century, the game of Ninepins had

  evolved. Ninepins was also played in England,

  although it was eventually banned, being called

  "...a waste of time and not a fit method of pre-

  paring for war."

    The Dutch settlers brought Ninepins to America in the 17th century.  Because of

  widespread betting on the game, the sport was outlawed by Connecticut in 1841, and

  other states soon followed.  The law was circumvented by using ten pins. 

    To play Nine Pins, simply set the nine pins in a diamond formation and play the 

  traditional game of bowling.

'Thaumatrope'

    The thaumatrope (THAW-ma-trope) was invented in

  the 1820's.  This device illustrated how motion pictures

  work.  It was the first toy that proved the phenomena of

                                       persistence of vision, meaning

                                       that whenever separate but

                                       similar images are moving

  rapidly, the images become blurred and appear to be

  a continuous image.

    The word Thaumatrope has Greek roots.  'Thauma'

  means magic in Greek and 'trope' refers to something

  that turns.  The thaumatrope is somewhat magical

  because it creates an illusion that uses the magic of

  persistence of vision.

    If you spin the thaumatrope very quickly, this illusion is very strong.  If you spin the

  thaumatrope more slowly, you may perceive a simple movement instead of one single

  image.  You might also notice as the thaumatrope spins that the illusion is the strongest

  near it's center line, or axis, where the pictures are more continuously visible.               

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