Figure 1.--Here an unidentified boy checks out the toy displays in a New York department store. The boy seems to have constructive leanings, he is examining a toy carpentry set. The photograph was taken December 7, 1935. I think he is wearing bib-front snow pants with a long-sleeved striped 'T'-shirt.

A variety of educational sets were prepared for children. Some of the most popular were carpebntry, chemistry, and electrical sets. They provided a range of interesting projects that children could accomplish while learning a variety of skills and basic principles. These appealed primarily to boys and were rarely purchased for girls. We are not sure when they first appeared, but were very popular during the 20th century. I remember getting a chemostry set which particularly appealed to me. Interestingly, it was chemistry sets that were the most popular, I don't recall biology and or physics sets. There were crystal radio sets, but here the idea was to build a simple radio, not conduct experiments like a chemistry set. Carpentry sets were not as popular, probably because a lot of fathers had carpentry tools and thus junior sets were less needed.

Created: 12:25 AM 7/10/2011
Last updated: 12:25 AM 7/10/2011