The
Boy Mechanic Makes Toys
159 Games, Toys, Tricks and other Amusements
by Editors of Popular Mechanics
Softcover
130 x 180mm
272pp
Published by Hearst Books, division of Sterling Publishing, NY USA
R.R.P.$14.90
ISBN 1-58816-639.2
As reviewed in The Australian Woodworker Issue 135
The Australian Broadcasting Commission would call this mining the archives. The Boy Mechanic Makes Toys is the second of these books we've seen in Australia. This one, also inexpensive, is comprised of 'games, toys, tricks and other amusements' which originally appeared in the US publication Popular Mechanics, about the time when our oldest readers were probably still in their teens.
No doubt they'll enjoy a nostalgic look back at the times when there was no television and the 'wireless' was only turned on in the evening. It was magic tricks and homemade toys that kept children amused.
Younger readers will also find much to enjoy. Of course, there aren't many places in this region where you might want a pair of snow shoes or feel the need to build an Ice Yacht. Nor is it likely you would be able to find the parts necessary to build a variometer tuned single valve radio. But you might want to brush up on some puzzling magic tricks, fit a secret lock to a drawer, make a periscope, a rain alarm, toy boats or even weave your own hammock.
The text is a little out of date in places and the illustrations, all in the form of line drawings, are definitely from another world, but many of the ideas are as entertaining as they were all those years ago.
Photos: Black & White
Units of Measurement: Imperial
Contents
Foreword
Chapter
1: Making Magic
Slick Tricks
- A Finger-Trap Trick
- A Ring-and-Egg
Trick
- A Matchbox Trick
- Vanishing Handkerchief Trick
- Device for
a Finger Tug-of-War Game
- The Die-and-Box Trick
- Wireless Lighted Lamp
Deception
- The Magic Clock Hand
- The Mystic Climbing Ring
Crazy Cards
-
The "X-Ray" Pack of Cards
- The Enchanted Card Frame
- A Magic
Change Card
- Two Effective Card Tricks
- Mind-Reading Effect with Cards
-
Mechanical Trick with Cards
Money Magic
- Trick of Taking a Dollar Bill
from an Apple
- Dropping Coins in a Glass Full or Water
- A Mystery Coin
Box
- Old-Time Magic: Changing a Button into a Coin
- Coin and Tumbler Trick
Sleight
of Hand
- String-and-Ball trick
- Magic Spirit Hand
- The Magic Thumb
Tie
Powerful Illusions
- Corks-in-a-Box Trick
- Mystery Sounding Glass
-
A One-Piece Bracelet cut from a Calling Card
- An Electric Illusion Box
-
A Trunk Mystery
- A Mystic Fortune-Teller
- Rubber-Band-Change Trick
-
Old-time Magic: The Growing Flower
- Old-time Magic: Balancing Forks on a Pin
Head
- Comic Chest Expander for Play or Stage Use
- A Trick Letter
Chapter
2: The Science of Fun
Amazing Motors
- A Simple Motor Controller
-
Motor Made of Candles
-
How to Wind Wire on Electrical Apparatus
- How to Make a Toy Steam Engine
-
Worm Gears for Toy Machinery
- Toy Sand Engine
- Making a Stationary Engine
Propel Itself
- A Quickly Made Toy Electric Motor
Gizmos and Gadgets
-
How to make an Experimental Lead Screw
- Building a Simple Radio Receiver
-
An Electrical Dancer
- How to Make a Heliograph
- Am Easily Constructed
Ball-Bearing Anemometer
- A Simple Motion-Picture Machine
- An Interesting
Water Telescope
- How to Make a Wondergraph
- A Perpetual Calendar
-
Improvised Postcard Projector and Enlarging Camera
- A Homemade Magic Lantern
Spy
Lab
_ A Simple Cipher Code
- Drawer Locked by Secret Dowel Pin
- An Effective
Combination lock Easily Made
- How to Transfer Drawings
- Combination Electrically
Operated Door Lock
- Simple Machine for Transmitting Writing
- Useful periscope
that a Boy can make
- A Flashlight Telegraph on a Kite Line
- A Handy Portable
Lock
Chapter
3: The Really Great Outdoors
A Canoe Adventure
- Pontoons for Stability
in the Canoe
- Anchor for a Canoe or Small Boat
- A Simple Canoe Awning
-
How to Make a Motorized Canoe
Project Camp
- How to Make a Twine Hammock
-
How to Make a Netted Hammock
- Diving Tower for the Summer Camp
- Whistle
Warns of Fish Catch
- A Fish Scaler
- Rain Alarm with Drop-of-Water Contact
-
Corn popper made from coffee Can and Broom Handle
- Preserving Leaves in a
Specimen Book
- Homemade Kite Reel
Snow Day
- Making Snowshoes
- A
Snowball Thrower
- Building a Snow Lighthouse
- Simply Made Coasters, Sleds
and Sleighs
- Making Snow Building Blocks
- Four-Passenger Coasting Bobsled
-
How to Build a Toboggan Sled
- Rudder for a Toboggan
- How to Make a Monorail
Sled
- The Running Sleigh
- A Ski Sled
- A Motorcycle Bobsled
- Motor-Driven
Sleds
Water Sports
- How to Make a Water Bicycle
- Water-Coasting Toboggan
and Slide
- Making a Catamaran Raft
- How to make a Sailmobile
On the
ice
- Building an Ice Yacht
- An Ice Glider
- Skates Made of Wood
Chapter
4: Fun for Little Ones
Animals of Play
- A Toy horse That Walks
-
The Fighting Rooster
- Mechanical Toy Alligator of Wood
- Toy Donkey Nods
and Wags Its Tail
- A Jumping-Frog Toy
Incredible Flying Machines
- How
to Build Model Airplanes
- A Toy Water Plane
- A Simple Aerial Toy
-
A Feather Airplane Dart
- How to Make Model old-Four Monoplane
Tractor Pull
-
A Toy Farm Tractor
- Toy Tractor Propelled by Clockwork
- A Toy Tractor
Built with Dry Cell and Motor
Making Waves
- Making a Toy Water "Scooter"
-
Building Model Boat Hulls
_ Line Ballast for the Model Yacht
- Model Paddle-Wheeled
Boats
- A Spring-Driven Toy Boat
- How to Make a " Water Skate"
-
Spring Propelled Toy Boat
Keep It Moving
- How to make a Child's Rolling
Toy
- Semaphore
Signals for Toy Railway
- Children's Adjustable Pushcycle
- A Child's Playhouse
-
Homemade Toy Bank
- How to Make a Miniature Windmill
- Decorative Toys and
Boxes Made at Home
- Miniature Metal-bound Chests
Just For Fun
- A Whirligig
Clapper
- Making and Using the "Bandilore"
- A Perpetual Whirligig
Chapter
5: Fun for Older Kids
Clever
Amusements
- Jumping Toys from Magazine Pictures
- A Toothpick "Popper"
-
How to Make Paper Balloons
- How to Make a Flutter Ring
- Paper Cubes that
"Puff-Up"
- An Army in a Box
- A Recording Annunciator Target
-
The Somersaulting "Bunny" Target
- A Shooting Gallery for Toy Pistols
-
An Illuminated Indicating Target Box
- Gold Fish Travel from Bowl to Bowl
Noisemakers
-
A Homemade Hawaiian Ukulele
- Guitar that is Easy to Make
- A Musical Windmill
Game
Day
- A Snake Game
- A Marble-Under-Bridge Game of Skill
- Magnetized
Checkermen
- An Indoor Baseball Game
- A Bucket-Ball Game
- Pin Setter
for the Home Tenpins
- Electric Scoreboard for Indoor Games
- Marble-and-Checkers
"Baseball" Game
- A Parlour Cue Alley
Good Sorts
- A Circular
Swing
- An Adjustable Punching-Bag Platform
- To Practice Batting for Baseball
Playing
Thrills in Motion
- Homemade Overhead Trolley Coaster
- Easily
Renewed Coaster Brake
- A Boy's Motor Car
- A Cyclemobile
- Hand Car
Made of Pipe and Fittings
- A Homemade Roller Coaster
- How to Make a Flymobile
Chapter
6: The Toy Workshop
- A Homemade Vise
- Gauge for Woodwork
- Nail
Cabinet with Muffin-Pan Trays
- A Workbench for the Amateur
- Convenient
Tool Drawer under Chair Seat
- Useful Tool for Home Mechanics
Index