Galloping DINOSAUR is Fascinating Toy

A TOY saurian from the far-away past proves to be a refreshing novelty to the youngsters. The toy is extremely simple to make, as there are only six major parts. In addition to these, four wheels and some wire complete the whole thing.

The sides or the two body pieces are separated about an inch or more. This is accomplished by using glass beads for spacers on the wires which form the joints. Stiff copper wires about 2 in. long are cut for the two pivots. These are bent over about % in. at one end and thrust through the holes in the side pieces. The rear wire is first passed through one rear leg. The side and leg are then laid upon the table with the wires pointing upward.
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Toys Keep Pace With Children’s Tastes

A YOUNG father of a two-year-old youngster, noticing the eagerness of his offspring to lay hands on something with wheels on it in which he could move about, sat down one evening in his basement workshop and knocked together that simple mechanism of juvenile locomotion known to millions as the kiddie-kar. Observing the popularity of the toy with children of the neighborhood, the father concluded that it would be a good idea to manufacture the cars on a commercial scale.

He was right. It was a good idea—good enough to set him on the path to financial independence. Today his invention is produced by the thousands, and this Christmas Santa Claus will slide down an unguessable number of chimneys on a kiddie-kar. Read the rest of this entry »

Periscope for Bridge Kabitzers

AT A recent international bridge match the problem of letting people watch the play without interfering with the players was satisfactorily solved by the use of a horizontal periscope with one end suspended over the table and the other fitted through one wall of the room, so that the observers need neither be seen nor heard by the players.

From the observer’s standpoint this method of watching a bridge game is more satisfactory than standing by the table, as it permits a view of the cards held in all hands as well as a better look at those played.

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An Airplane Swing for the Back Yard

by Dick Cole

Children will get endless hours of fun out of this airplane swing, run by pedal-driven propellers. Any handy man can build one out of inexpensive junked auto parts and a few lengths of pipe.

OF ALL the sensational “rides” at an up-to-date amusement park, perhaps none is more thrilling than an airplane swing. It affords many of the sensations of actually flying, but without any danger. There is no case on record where a passenger has been seriously injured in an airplane swing. So, while it may look spectacular to see the cars of the swing whirling over people’s heads, the hazardous element is lacking in a strongly constructed swing.
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Scale-Model Railroader

MAYBE you’ve never noticed it but somewhere in every full-length Walt Disney picture there’s a railroad. This busy producer of animated cartoons belongs to that fast-growing group of executives who have adopted model railroading as their hobby.

Thus he keeps one jump ahead of his fellow hobbyists—he not only designs and builds his trains but draws ‘em as well.

New Rifle Shoots Beam of Light

AN INVENTION of considerable interest to rifle enthusiasts is the “Shadolite” gun. Without ammunition of any kind, this new gun registers bull’s-eyes and misses just as does an ordinary rifle.

A powerful flashlight mounted inside a nine gauge shotgun flashes a beam of light at the target for any set interval of time ranging from zero to 30 seconds. A photoelectric cell mounted behind a hole in the center of the target causes a relay to operate when the rifle is correctly aimed, thereby lighting a signal lamp. The aim of the gun may be corrected within the time length of the bullet beam.

“Hoot-nanny” Traces Million Designs by Turn of Crank

OF SPECIAL interest to children is a new sensational toy which forms millions of symmetrical designs on paper disks. No particular skill is required in operation. A pencil is inserted in the position shown in the photo and a crank turned, whereupon the designs are traced with amazing accuracy. The designs can be colored with crayons that come with the toy.

Just why, we don’t know, but the toy has been given the unique name of “Hoot-nanny” by the manufacturers.

Electric Horse with Five Gaits Used for Indoor Exercise

Some of the benefits of horseback riding as a form of exercise can be obtained indoors with the aid of an electro-mechanical horse which not only provides fun for the children but sport for grown-ups as well. At a touch on the reins, the horse can be induced to break into any one of five gaits ranging from a trot to a gallop.

Giant Outdoor Billiards Now Played With Mechanical Cue

WHILE golf and autos have gone midget, billiards has reversed the process and gone giant. This unusual condition came to pass recently in Seattle, where the outdoor billiard table you see in the photo at the left was built.
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Balloons Are Booming

Dream up a new inflatable toy and you’ll also inflate your bankroll.

By John Noah

“WHY do so few people have new ideas for toy balloons?” That’s the question that puzzles H. W. McConnell, president of one of America’s largest toy-balloon companies.

Balloon sales are booming and retail outlets are begging for new types to market —but the fresh ideas don’t seem to come. For want of amateur inventors, virtually every toy balloon that McConnell and many other balloon men produce must be devised by someone within the industry.
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I don’t really care about the space phone, but that outfit is awesome, not to mention the machine shop.

FOR THE KIDDIES

PHONY PONIES are miniature plastic race horses with Mexican Jumping beans strapped under saddles to propel them. Reveil Toys, Los Angeles. $1.

FIX-IT TRUCK carries its own tools, including a wrench, jack, screwdriver and hammer plus a spare tire. Ideal Toys, 200 Fifth Ave.. N.Y.C. $1.30.
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Toys from Discarded Lamp Bulbs

Spectacular Fireworks Amuse and delight the kiddies by hooking a lamp in which the filament has been broken in circuit with a spark coil. Brilliant, weird, light results.

Gravity Experiment To prove that cold air weighs more than warm, heat the air in one of two carefully balanced bulbs from which the tips have been broken. The cold end will sink.
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