Construction set:The Original Tinkertoy

Tinker Toys appeared in the second decade of the 20th century along with several other (now classic) construction sets designed to introduce boys to the manly world of engineering and mechanics. With these toys, youngsters made the skyscrapers, bridges, towers, carousels and other structures that they saw in their own cities and towns. Tinker Toys were first envisioned by Charles Pajeau, a tombstone cutter and salesman. He fashioned his toys after the pencils and empty wooden spools his children used to build abstract forms. Initial reaction to Pajeau's invention was lukewarm; he sold his toys to one shop at a time in Chicago. For each shop that sold the sets, Pajeau made elaborate window displays of several Tinker Toy structures. Within a year, Pajeau went national, producing and selling more than one million sets of his construction toy. The toy has long endured: most Americans of the 20th century recall the Tinker Toys of their youth.