| Show ft i 1 t J Makin ki ng 0 oli i r r JI t 11 C. C rr r I- I In I ns U Edward jEdward Thatcher of Teachers Teacher's College A ANew New York I Describes His Methods Metho s of 1 I t Evolving Many ManyI M ny 1 w 1 Raw Material for All Al Sorts I t Superior Types of of Mechanical Toys l from J S Scraps Toys J rom craps I ry r- r 0 j. j t u ut t I 1 J f ye e 1 t. t t It s y i of i d. d i r Ste r f f I d Found in r f f in i n o w 6 t. Heaps j I y I It t t. t r. r t I f. f r A Ash h Heaps H s eaps i. i f. f. f L ty j 1 t 1 A i J D r- r 1 r oh i 1 11 r N ft wt f r. r f 1 it J f 4 77 e have hate called them Soldier It Toys because le- le e- e have been experiments cause came aute many ingenious 1 t worked out by soldiers including mall many of the thet teenage the d-the the doctors have indorsed the work i e for for shell shod shock cases in particular particular and and because Itemise so man many of the Ilie types of toys toS stow now 1 popular have hare a military cast Mr Edward Thatcher one of the ilic instructors at Teachers College New York has made a scientific study of toy making malting from waste tin till and to in his liis teaching teach teach- teaching I ing as well tall as in his study he lie 7 has lias ns proved that one of the results of the toy foy mal making ng malbe may mal i a be It a practical knowledge of soldering and ether mechanical work of very practical use to toL boys boy and ond to ups grown as well L By Edward war Thatcher hatcher 1 I c Of Teachers Teacher's College Columbia University I t 1 l IV TAIS ANY Y years ago a small boy punched a tiny t MA I ll l V I hole near the tho bottom ot of a tin tint can filled I X the can with water set it upon a rock and then watched tho the resulting fountain with great creat Joy That Thal small boy bor was m myself seH and I have hare havet wade made many things from cans ever since 1 i t I J When I 1 grew older I made a mooring buoy A fit from rom a can and ond painted it red I used to tie He my f model yacht acht up to this It looked very Tery realistic 1 i to me mo Lobbing bobbing a up and down in the bright sunlight on an the water m my yacht with all sails tightly r furled fastened to it w ith th a string Sometimes i my buoy marked the channel and the yacht acht n would I t 5 t tall tail proudly by l When I 1 grew rew still sUll older and had llad a shop I Ii Imade made such things as glue pots and ladles for melt- melt i Bested other toys The cans lend themselves es so ao o easily to the making of oC toys tors so much of or the work Is already done for you ou For instance part of oC the bottom and side of or ofa ora a cocoa tin or olive oil can suggest the tho radiator and hood bood of oC an automobile A few fe holes punched in the end in regular rows turn the can into a realistic radiator some some- slits cut in each side make the vents in the hood the hood the cap of oC a tooth paste tube soldered in place forms a filler cap on the radiator the whole operation taking only tx a few minutes and antl a few tools Mackerel and herring tins are made matle in tho the shape of or boats two mackerel tins soldered together to to- gether suggest the fighting tank very little work is necessary to transform them Into realistic toys Long cans suggest boilers and boilers suggest locomotives and locomotives traction engines and steam rollers Small adhesive tape boxes make excellent headlights searchlights and pilot pilothouses pilothouses pilothouses houses for tin Un tiny tugboats Two To of oC these boxes and three pieces of or wIre make an air pump shown on the tho side of tho the mogul locomotive e which appears on this page pase Bottle Dottle top tops thumb tack boxes and the screw tops of olive olivo olive and cooking oil cans suggest head side and tail lights of or automobiles The tops of tooth powder po cans suggest Bug quite stylish electric headlights The flanged lids of or molasses and ands s syrup rup cans suggest car wheels stove lids and dishes dishes' for tin kitchens Less than half haIr of or a quart can used for tor a certain cooking oil makes up into a truck body boy so like the bl big trucks that It would be difficult to find or produce one more like it ft There is nothing flimsy or weak about a well made tin can to toy A flat strip of oC tin is 15 very Tery t h made considerable pocket money b by soldering up tin Un ware for his for his mother and for the neighbors f He lie did this on n his own Initiative Making these F toys toS started various various' members of or the class to observing ob- ob ODi observing ob OD- i serving all sorts of or automobiles boats derricks and other mechanical things about them They j saw how bow the they ther worked and planned out toys like liker The work them then and made some of them too is 18 isnell well nell established in ia this particular school the lb r r r it H. Jr- Jr r first one to try When the and other made from fromy f toys things K tir W 3 r i 1 1 United StatS Statts 1 ft y ri t 1 X if Motor Lorry L' L LR R L r t Made from Fr 4 s X t a. a 7 Discarded S' S Tin Cans l T ra Ay rr V r riY r iY ai y t r i. i i iF c F jk aL L w raG that Is little understood b by the average person Once the principles that govern the tho process are are A ADoll Doll thoroughly mastered mattered there Is no difficulty difficult The tin can toys have bae been thoroughly tried Bath Tub out by a number of or different people who had lead had Wash Basin liitle or no e experience perlen-ce with tools fools I taught a class of oC sixty slaty most of or whom hom Intend teaching and Mirror k wounded soldiers in the convalescent hospitals Made from I and some of oC whom have o already alread gone to France Th These se students found the work interesting to Scraps of of th themselves es and to tho the patients to whom they in Discarded Tin Tut tt turn taught the tin can toy work After several f 7 the soldering had been I practice pieces once mas ruas 1 u i a. a t I L LIc n n n t r- r ji 1 1 fr c l 1 1 Ic- Ic d l Jh t. Ft V f 1 7 1 C K y Z s i i s sC r L 1 t t f. f o f 1 7 y y Y X I 5 1 i r n f ny y rj 4 Jf J f. f v. v r. r K v I 1 j V v 1 j 1 1 di r v. v y fi f v Y i t j r. r IS j. j l i. i t j g z t 0 f f tt i f t i f I t- t K yo t r. a f. f Jj f t t i I i 4 r i r i i t. t t tj 4 2 s t tf f i. i J W 1 rr j v Y l i alPiS- alPiS x Ili i s J l f ff V f k J fl fm f r M m j r t j tv r ft J A v t 4 V 1 y t vt t m t r 6 L Mill v Vii t b R yo r 1 t. 1 Y b r O r. r f. f I- I r r 1 Y i f V II d t t Q J Pl i v. v i I t t r j If t. t 1 m I M 7 r t rt 1 4 1 T Y 5 f f c. c ff f 1 J ff 14 il j h 1 b- b A u v- v n J f Zo r j e j t E 1 tJ tc- tc 1 Jt t ef at Y t J Types T es of Engines Guns and Motor Trucks Made by Mr Thatcher from Refuse of the Tin Can Oan Heap i ing rig lead for or casting After I had learned to rivet a and E solder ld t I made I-made made my equipment for camp cooky cook cook- y tog ing from large gallon ca cams caa a a a coffee pot and antl boll ball ballIng bollIng Ing lag palls pair that proved pro both cheap and durable for the tho hard ard use uso to which they were put But Perhaps the best part of or It all allas was as the 1 pleasure y that came cache from Crom making something out of oC things usually U thrown aWa away While to making makins a lantern from tin Un cans tho the decorative in cans occurred to mo me a and since then I have ma made c a great many ninny lanterns lanterns lan Ian terns tents candlesticks and sconces from tin cans The Tho ter very twy 6 shape of the cans themselves lend them to toi i decorative c purposes purpose when handled bandIed b by a person ao has bas a a. a sense 0 ot oC i design and proportion The Ther r shapes napes we produce pro uco by combining something g quito d different from anything thine on the marl market et t Making an Automobile While searching amon among the thc to toy shops In these war ar limes times for a to toy locomotive It occurred to Lo me that I could easU easily make a to toy locomotive c from fromn r tans n Nearly everything thing about a locomotive Is and antl so arc c dins cans The locomotive shown n a this page se was the result and rind It bas has made many manyI a a joyous iOUS journ Journey y at nt the en end of oC a string and is isI I r I Ull H good for many a trip nip This locomotive sug sug- r r easily bent let bent let that strip be bo bent at right angles for Its whole length like Ilke angle ansle Iron and It will then be found remarkably stiff Bend up an angle on each side of ot a strip of or tin Un like a channel Iron and antl It will sustain a great load lond before bend- bend Ing I have used the tho common forms torms employed In structural steel for building up interesting little toy to towns with the result that they are surprisingly surprisingly surprise Inglr solid and antl durable though made entirely from Crom cans can or tin taken from Crom flattened out cans Sharp edges may mar be turned or folded over or wire ma may bo be O introduced into these folded edges until one ono does away awny with all aU danger danser of oC cutting the fingers on the sharp thin edges A bridge that bat will safely sustain a load ot of many pounds can bo be made mado entirely of or thin strips o of tin bent Into the shapes of oC structural iron just like a real bridge I IVery Very few tools are needed for the work Worle and the materials solder materials solder flux and paint paint are are very Inexpensive as so fO little IB in used for each piece Soldering is by far tar the tho most important of ot tho the simple operations involved in the tin can work ork and the ability to solder neatly and in a a. workmanlike workmanlike work work- manlike manner will do more than anything else elso to make the tIte to toys s strong and attractive SolderIng Solder- Solder lug fug Is a aery very ery simple operation but an operation r. r I I I of j Y jP I I fi s w 4 t y J. J At r j of f r I I b 0 4 O x 4 t i 1 t f. f x l f L J i il r. r r K t d f A a t. t y ry v i S Vf n. n f t i y Ay r j 4 r 1 7 I lAl K G r r rI I i w tos C Q Qi i y K Kale de Ea lier er Edward Thatcher at Work Making Makin To Toy Engines and Motor Mot r Trucks Out of Tin Cans these students found the work quite easy and had great fun with it It Pupils of twelve years of age showed much Interest and ability In making toys from cans in a class held in a public school under a teacher who understood soldering One of the problems given ii was a simple steam roller to be copied capiro from tho the model which I made mode One boy aid afterward cans are well thought out well made matle and attractively attractively attractively at at- painted they well repay repa I the tho time and work spent In producing them theme Tin Can Toys at a Base Hospital A former pupil of or Edward Thatcher now director director director tor of ot occupational therapy for wounded soldiers in an American base baso hospital writes The only plentiful material on hand Is the the 1 despised pile of or tin Un cana cane for which I am truly thankful Tho The men all aU like to make mako things of or them for the wards Ve We c have haTe mado made about bout fifty tifty ash asb trays dozens of or lovely lo el candlesticks book bookends bookends useful things s for forthe ends match boxes flower pots tho the kitchens besides alL kinds of repair work from watches to water pipes Some of the tho patients are arc anxious to begin the toys but useful things come first of ot course Some Somo of the boys bos are re making interesting things out of bullets and shells I 1 am so glad I 1 brought all aU m my metal tools toots Iam I Iam Iam am in ill charge of ot the work and am teaching the theother theother other aides the tin can work as it is a most necessary thing for far them to know If It we wo are all alt sent to different places Thus It Is made clear that the word toy need need not mean that the mechanical possibilities discovered ered and antl developed by b Mr 11 Thatcher have any trivial lal or merely mereb- playful meaning menning Though toys 1 have been worked out with surprising skill and effectiveness an and though as tO toys 5 the they have a strength th and durability In themselves perhaps tho the most Important fact which they illustrate and to which the they call attention Is the effective use lit et t material hitherto wasted and the possibility for I r r S r rf rw w f Y v V. V w w the thc amateur in mechanics of or working ont out efficiency effi efi In metal work Amateur carpenters are many and many are their joys jOs Amateur tinker tinker- ers era in metal aro are fewer because the technical dUn dial difficulties are less understood and the availability of or 1 raw material has not been grasped Soldering Isa Isa is isa a science rather vague to the average mind Yet Mr MI Thatcher r shows that is a as simple a as ag sawing i or driving g n nails ll when b you a unk know nh how U to togo togo go about it As a 1 result of or these experiments in to toys using the material from discarded coffee fruit cracker an and other tins and wire available from rom the same scrap heap the home may work lork out devices devices defees de de- de- de vices fees that are aro exceedingly useful He may learn how bow to mend which is a n highly valuable tion Ho He mn may mend hinges hines on tin Un ar articles stop aleak n a leak leal and avoid discarding an all otherwise valuable utensil Incidentally the tho amateur In tin will learn how t tf mend toys Already in existence precIous existence precious toys toy dear to the childish heart which only need a little solder and and patience patience to to be made as good as OTer It Is safe to say sa that nothing will 1 make mako boy boyar or orman orman man more mora popular in a household than the ability to perform such surgery on either cither tho the play room toy or tho the kitchen utensil that has lost n a handle or sprung a leak As Aa Mr rr Thatcher points out the Implements are simple and Inexpensive Ie They T ej occupy oc oc- occupy occupy cupy less room than Implements for tor carpentering and require only n a little practical taro care to bo ho kept In readiness for fol ft l class of work or play that will give a n large percentage of satisfaction to all who engage engage In it It Surely be bo your own tinker has a n pleasantly alluring side aide for the tho home home especially especially when the chief expense r raw w material Is so conclusively cly shown to be the easiest thing in the world to tD get et for nothing |
