[Illustration: Book cover of 'The Children's Kraft Shop' by Adelia Belle
Beard. The vintage illustration shows a young girl and boy in red
outfits sitting at a table building a toy sailboat with scissors, glue,
and paper. An open book titled 'The Know How Books' rests on a lower
desk in the foreground.]
THE CHILDREN’S
KRAFT SHOP
INVENTED, WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED
BY
ADELIA BELLE BEARD
CHICAGO
M.A. DONOHUE & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
[Illustration: The verso copyright page from a vintage book, featuring a
central rectangular graphic framed by a decorative floral garland and
ribbons. The text inside reads: 'Copyright 1914, M. A. DONOHUE & CO.']
_FOREWORD TO MOTHERS_
Introducing the Children’s Kraftshop. We have endeavored to open a new
and useful field of simple handicrafts for little folk, giving them an
original line of toys and a new line of materials with which to make
them. We hope the children will have a great deal of pleasure in making
toys of such things as empty spools, sticks of kindling wood, wooden
clothespins, natural twigs, old envelopes and newspapers, and in this
way to encourage resourcefulness, originality, inventiveness, and the
power to do with supplies at hand.
Everything described in the book has been invented by the author, and
made by such practical and simple methods that a child’s mind can grasp
them, and a child’s hands be easily trained to manufacture the articles.
[Illustration: Vintage line illustration by Adelia Belle Beard featuring
a young girl and boy testing a homemade toy. The girl, in a pink dress
and hair bow, stands holding a taut string threaded through four red
cardboard discs. On the ground, a boy kneels beside a small toy boat on
wheels with two paper sails. The artist's signature is in the bottom
right corner.]
Making Wind Toys
By Adelia Belle Beard
One of the Authors of Things Worth Doing
[Illustration: (Figure 4.) The string of pinwheels]
It was the windy weather that suggested the new toys to the children.
“Suppose we try pinwheels,” said Polly. “Not the old kind on sticks that
we used to make, but we can have them different somehow, and this wind
will make them spin like mad. Donald, I just _must_ have pinwheels.”
Polly’s enthusiasm inspired Donald. “We can make a windmill with a
pinwheel for the big wheel,” he said.
“Oh, yes,” chimed in Polly, “you do that, and I will make a string of
pinwheels that will not need sticks, or pins either. What shall we make
them of?”
“Stiff writing paper is the best,” replied Donald. “Here is our best
pad,” he added, taking from the table drawer a large pad of good quality
writing paper. “Do you think we ought to use it?”
[Illustration: (Figure 3.) The way the thread goes through]
“Why not?” said Polly. “Mother says we are learning lots of things in
our Kraft Shop.”
Donald had no further scruples about using the paper, though he was
careful not to waste it. “I am going to make the tower for my windmill
of this heavy manila wrapping paper,” he announced. “It is nice and
smooth and plenty strong and stiff enough.”
“I would,” Polly answered absently, as she folded and slashed the
squares for her pinwheels. “I’ll have them graduated,” she continued,
thinking of her own work; “first a large wheel, then a smaller, then a
smaller one still, and the last shall be smallest of all.”
[Illustration: (Figures 1 and 2.) First steps in making pinwheels]
For her largest wheel Polly cut a square of writing paper, which
measured exactly six inches along each edge. The next she cut five and a
half inches square, the next four and a half inches square and the
smallest three and a half inches square. Then she placed her ruler
across the largest square diagonally from the upper right-hand corner to
the lower left-hand corner and ran her pencil along its edge. This gave
her a diagonal pencil line from corner to corner on her square. Again
she placed her ruler across the square, this time from the upper
left-hand corner to the lower right-hand corner, and drew a line along
its edge, dividing her square into four equal triangles. After this she
drew the same kind of lines on the three other squares. With her
scissors she cut slashes along each line on each of the squares to
within three-quarters of an inch of the center. (Figure 1.)
Lifting the upper left-hand point of the large square (A, Figure 1), she
brought it to, and overlapped, the center of the square (A, Figure 2),
curving, not sharply bending the paper. The point B she brought also to
the center, overlapping the point A. She did the same with C and D, C
overlapping B and D overlapping C. When all the four points met at the
center Polly ran a large needle, threaded with a long, soft, white
cotton string, through the center of the wheel at the back and out
through the overlapping points in front, taking care that the needle
passed through every point. Then she drew the needle up until the back
of the pinwheel rested against a knot which was tied about six inches
from the end of the string and, allowing almost one inch of string for
the wheel to turn on, she tied another knot in front of the wheel, to
hold it. Between the two knots the wheel could whirl, but could not move
out of place.
Six inches above the last knot she made another knot and then strung the
next largest pinwheel on the string and fastened with a second knot in
the same manner as the first wheel. In this way all four were put on the
string, each six inches from its neighbor, and then there remained half
a yard or more of free string above the last wheel. On the free end of
the string Polly fastened a small square of pasteboard by pushing the
needle through the center of the square and tying a large knot at the
extreme end of the string to keep the pasteboard from slipping off.
(Figure 4.)
“The wind can’t pull the string through my fingers when I hold it by
this pasteboard square,” she said, and almost before the last knot was
tied Polly was at the window. “Come quick, Donald, I am going to try my
pinwheels,” she cried, throwing up the sash and putting out the hand
that held the end of her string.
[Illustration: (Figure 5.) Donald made the tower all in one piece]
Donald dropped his windmill and gained the window at a bound, as anxious
as Polly to see the result of her experiment. Immediately the wind
caught the string of pinwheels, lifted it out straight and sent each
wheel whirling at a great rate.
“How they do go!” Donald exclaimed. “Now come and help finish the
windmill. You make the wheel while I get the tower in shape.”
“All right,” said Polly cheerfully. “How big shall I make the wheel?”
“About six and one-half inches square.”
[Illustration: (Figure 6.) It looks like a real windmill]
Donald made the tower for his windmill all in one piece. (Figure 5.) He
first decided upon the height and width, then drew four connecting
oblong panels for the four sides. Each of these panels he made ten
inches high and four inches wide. For the peaked roof he drew four more
panels, one above each of the side panels. These he made four inches
high and four inches wide, just the width of the side panels. Exactly at
the middle of each top line of each roof panel he made a dot with his
pencil, then drew slanting lines from the ends of the base of each roof
panel to the dot at the top. This gave four points for the roof. (Figure
5.)
The laps, or feet, for the tower to stand on, Donald made by drawing a
horizontal line just one inch below the lower edges of the side panels
and bringing the side lines down to meet it. The bend-over, attached to
the fourth panel, which holds the tower together, he made two inches
wide and exactly the length of the side panels.
This finished the drawing and Donald proceeded to cut it out. He cut
along the slanting lines of the second and fourth points of the roof,
but on the first and third points he left bend-overs, as shown in Figure
5, simply cutting off some of the top of the two squares to make the
bend-overs fit under the other two points. Just two inches below the top
line and two inches from each side line of the second and fourth side
panel Donald punctured two small holes. (A and B, Figure 5.) These were
for the wheel rod. He then slashed the lines which separated the feet at
the bottom of the side panels and bent the tower in shape according to
the dotted lines in Figure 5. The feet he bent out, the roof he bent in,
the sides he bent in, and each bend he creased sharply to give a smooth,
even edge. With good glue he fastened the bend-overs of the roof to the
under side of the cut-out points; then he glued the side bend-over to
the outside of the first panel and his tower was finished.
[Illustration: (Figure 7.) The wind wagon sails like a ship]
Polly had completed the wheel for the mill, making it as she did her
pinwheels, with this difference: instead of a string to hold the wheel
together she used a strong pin and put it through from the front,
piercing the laps before running it through the center of the wheel.
“Are the little holes to hold the stick for the wheel, Donald?” she
inquired.
“Yes; I wish you would find me a good stick, Polly, while I tack the
feet of the tower to a piece of board.”
Donald used two large-headed carpet tacks for each foot, and, to prevent
the sharp edges of the heads from tearing the paper, he cut little
rounds from an old kid glove and pushed one round up on each tack before
tacking the tower to the board.
[Illustration: (Figure 8.) This is the way Polly fastened the wheels on
the wind wagon]
“Will this do?” asked Polly, holding up the slender handle of an old
paint brush.
“Just the thing,” said Donald, pushing the pointed end of the stick into
the hole A in the front of the tower and out through the hole B at the
back.
Donald forced the point of the pin that held the wheel into the blunt
end of the wheel rod which extended out one inch beyond the hole A at
the front of the tower. Then, to hold the rod at the back he pushed a
cork onto its pointed end.
“Now for a wind wagon!” cried Donald.
“Won’t a box do for the wagon part?” Polly asked, “and—”
“Spools for wheels,” broke in Donald.
[Illustration: (Figure 9.) Donald made the two sails like this]
[Illustration: (Figure 10.) A twig for a mast]
“Hatpins for axles,” added Polly.
“Four wheels and corks between to keep them apart,” said Donald.
“I am going to use this pasteboard letter-paper box,” said Polly.
“Well, tell me how wide and how long it is, so that I can make the sails
to fit.”
Polly measured the box. “It is a little over six and one-half inches
long, five inches wide and one inch and a half deep,” she announced.
“Be sure your spools are all the same size,” Donald said.
Polly begged two hatpins of her mother. One was long, the other short.
The shortest was just the right length for her axle, so, using a pair of
nippers, she broke the longer pin off at the point to match the short
one. Then she pushed one pin in on one side of the box a quarter of an
inch from the edge and one inch and a quarter from the end. On this pin,
inside of the box, she strung a large spool, then a small cork, then
another large spool and finally pushed the point of the pin through the
other side of the box exactly opposite to where it entered the first
side. On the point of the pin she stuck a small cork for a hub. The
round head of the pin answered for the other hub. (Figure 8.) The other
two spool wheels were adjusted in the same manner and the last pin was
inserted in the box the same distance from the back end and edge as the
first pin was from the front end and edge.
Donald cut both of his sails like Figure 9, making them eight inches
wide at the bottom, four inches wide at the top and six and one-quarter
inches high. He drew a line directly through the middle of each sail
from top to bottom, and on this line he cut four small points at equal
distances apart for openings to admit the masts. He made two braces at
the bottom of each sail, four inches apart, to hold them steady. (C and
D, Figure 9.) Each brace is half an inch wide, half an inch high, and
has a lap at the bottom one inch long.
When the sails were ready he erected his masts. These were slender,
straight twigs, nine inches long, sharpened to a point at each end. The
front mast he placed half an inch from the front edge of the wagon, the
back mast one inch and a half from the back edge of the wagon, and both
directly on a line drawn lengthwise through the center of the box.
Donald first punctured small holes in the box at these points, then
forcing a half-inch cork up one inch on the lower end of the front mast
(E, Figure 10), he covered the bottom of the cork with glue, and
inserted the end of the mast in the hole at the front of the box where
it was a tight fit.
When he had pushed the mast down until the glue on the cork held it
fast, he covered the top of another cork with glue (F, Figure 10), and
forced the last cork up on the mast from the under side of the wagon
until it stuck to the top. When the glue dried the mast was firm and
steady.
The sail Donald slipped onto the mast from the top, running the mast in
and out of the holes, as shown in Figure 7. He bent the laps back at the
dotted lines and glued them to the top of the box. Then to make the sail
still more secure he pasted oblongs of paper over the masts where they
ran through the sails at the back. The dotted inclosures, G and H, show
the positions of the oblongs on the sail.
When the second mast and sail were erected and adjusted in the same way
as the first, Donald cut two narrow strips of blue tissue paper, four
and a half inches long, for pennants. (Figure 7.)
“She is done now,” said Donald.
Making an Automobile
By Adelia Belle Beard
One of the Authors of Things Worth Doing
“Donald,” said Polly, “don’t you think we could make a cunning little
automobile if we tried ever so hard?”
“Y-e-s, we might if we could manage the wheels. They must be heavy and
turn easily. It won’t be a real auto unless it can go whizzing.”
[Illustration: A vintage, stylized line illustration of an early
20th-century open-touring automobile. The body of the car, including its
large spoked wheels and high-backed seats, is colored entirely in a
bright, solid red block print, accented with bold black ink outlines and
cross-hatched shading. One of the side doors is shown slightly open, and
a simple steering wheel extends from the dashboard.]
[Illustration: A mechanical craft template diagram for cutting and
folding a toy car chassis, labeled with a large number 1. The flat,
rectangular pattern features solid lines for cutting and dashed lines
for folding. It includes specific measurement annotations such as 7 ¼
inches, 2 ¾ inches, and 3 ¾ inches, along with instructional labels like
'Side', 'Step', 'End', 'Axle Guard', 'Bend-Over', and notched tabs
marked 'Catch' labeled A, B, C, and D.]
“Spools, spools!” she cried joyfully. “They will go as fast as
lightning. See?” and jumping up she seized her workbasket, turned it
upside down, found an empty spool, then dropped on her knees and sent
the spool rolling across the hardwood floor.
“Spools are all right,” said Donald. “Now, can we make our motor car?”
“Well, here is the bristleboard, but I should think it would be best to
make a paper pattern first, then we can alter it as much as we like.
Donald, do you remember just how an automobile looks?” Polly inquired,
with a giggle, for Donald’s hobby was to know all about automobiles, and
he was sure he could drive one as well as an experienced chauffeur if he
had the opportunity.
[Illustration: A vintage black-and-white line illustration displaying
assembled parts and components for a toy vehicle, each labeled with a
bold number. At the top, a rectangular box-like chassis labeled 2 is
shown assembled with two axles and four simple spool wheels resting in
its pointed axle guards. Below it are isolated components: a spoked
wheel labeled 7, a small cylinder labeled 6, a shallow circular cap with
a central pin labeled 8, and a small rectangular license plate labeled 9
bearing the number 19070.]
Donald disdained a reply. “Where is the brown wrapping paper for the
patterns? Oh, here it is,” he said. “Now we will begin. Get the very
largest spools you can find, Polly; two will be enough, but they must be
the same size. Yes, these will do.”
The spools Polly selected were two inches high, an inch and a quarter
across the ends and had quite slender shafts.
“But, after all,” objected Polly, “the spools don’t look like auto
wheels.”
“That doesn’t matter; we will put the spools under the car and make show
wheels for the outside. No one will notice, when we speed the car, that
her outside wheels are not turning, They’ll appear to be.”
“Then what shall we use for show wheels?”
“Pill boxes will do. Look them up, Polly, while I make the auto frame to
hold the spools. And, Polly,” he called, as she was leaving the room,
“bring up some of those round, slender, little sticks I saw in the
kitchen, will you?
“I guess you mean skewers. Jane uses them to pin meat together with. She
got them from the butcher boy.”
“Whatever they are, I want them for axles.”
While Polly was gone Donald planned his auto frame, making it first of
the wrapping paper, and without very accurate measurements. When she
came back with the pill boxes and skewers, Donald slipped each of his
two spools onto a skewer, fitted the skewer under the frame, rolled the
frame on the table, and found his scheme would work. Then he took his
pattern apart and spread it out in front of him.
“Queer looking thing, isn’t it?” remarked Polly. “Shall I draw it on the
bristolboard and make it more exact?”
“Do,” said Donald, “and be sure you get both sides precisely alike and
both ends precisely alike, else it won’t balance.”
Polly nodded. “I’ll begin with the oblong in the middle; that’s the
floor, I suppose, then draw the sides and ends to fit.” So she fell to
work while Donald perfected his pattern for the body of the car.
The center oblong Polly made seven and one-quarter inches long and two
and three-quarters inches wide. (Fig. 1.)
“Be sure you make the sides and ends at right angles to one another,”
cautioned Donald.
“Yes, dear,” said Polly, and she proceeded to draw the sides, making
long oblongs one and one-half inches wide on either side of the large
oblong, and for the ends she drew oblongs one and one-eighth inches wide
across the entire width of the three long oblongs. “That simplifies
things,” she explained, as she extended the side lines of the large
oblong across the end oblongs. “Now I can cut it down where it needs
cutting without losing the large proportions.”
[Illustration: A mechanical craft template diagram for cutting and
folding a toy car body, labeled with a large number 3. The flat pattern
features solid lines for cutting out the contoured shape and dashed
lines for folding. It includes specific measurement annotations such as
5 ¾ inches, 2 ¾ inches, and 2 inches, along with instructional labels
like 'Body of Auto.', 'Back', 'Door', 'Dash-Board', and notched tabs
marked 'Catch' and 'Bend-Over' labeled E and F.]
[Illustration: A mechanical craft template diagram for cutting and
folding a component of a toy vehicle, labeled with a large number 4. The
flat pattern features solid lines for cutting and a series of vertical
dashed lines for folding. It includes specific measurement annotations
such as 5 ¼ inches, 2 ¼ inches, and 1 ½ inches, along with lettered tabs
and sections labeled I, J, K, L, and M. Curving instructional arrows
indicate where to 'Bend-Over' at specific tabs.]
Five-eighths of an inch from the outer edge of each of the sides she
drew a horizontal line for the steps. (Figure 1.) This line is three and
three-quarters inches long. It begins just one and three-quarters inches
from one end of the side and ends one and three-quarters inches from the
other end. Then Polly drew the short vertical lines from the edge to
meet the ends of the horizontal line, which gave her the end of the
steps. On either side of each step she drew an axle guard three-eighths
of an inch high, with a base half an inch wide and top an inch and a
quarter wide. “Now I will make the bend-over and the catch,” she said.
“That is a good name for it,” said Donald. “Half an inch will be wide
enough for the ‘bend-over,’ and make the catch one-quarter of an inch
wide after you have allowed a little space between it and the
bend-over.”
“How much space?” inquired Polly.
“One-sixteenth of an inch will be wide enough, and don’t make the catch
quite as long as the bend-over. Cut a little off at each end. (Figure
1.) Be careful about the slits in the ends of the frame, Polly. They
must be just half an inch from each edge, because the bend-over is half
an inch wide, and since you have made the necks of the catches half an
inch wide the slits must be a little longer.”
“What are the slits on the steps for?”
“They are to hold the mud guards. Make them about three-eighths of an
inch long and put a slit half an inch from end of each step.”
“That’s explicit,” commented Polly. “Shall I cut the frame out now?”
“Better first go over the lines you are to cut and make them quite
heavy; then dot the lines to be bent, so that you won’t spoil it by
cutting along the wrong lines.”
“Good advice; I’ll do that.”
When cut out the auto frame looked like Figure 1.
[Illustration: A vintage black-and-white line illustration demonstrating
the partially assembled three-dimensional component from the previous
template, labeled with a large number 5. The long, multi-faceted
rectangular piece is folded into shape, showing fine line shading.
Several individual tabs project outward from the main body, labeled with
the letters G, I, J, K, and L.]
[Illustration: A vintage black-and-white line illustration of a toy
steering wheel assembly, labeled below with a bold number 14. The
drawing shows a simple four-spoke steering wheel attached to a long,
slender steering column or rod that tapers to a point at the bottom.]
“I shall use my small scissors to cut the slits, Donald,” Polly said.
“The knife is so apt to slip.”
Before bending the frame into shape Polly scored the dotted lines by
drawing the blade of her knife lightly along their entire length, using
a rule to keep the knife on the line. When the sides, ends and
bend-overs were bent down Polly folded the ends of each catch inward,
then lapped the bend-overs outside the ends, inserted each catch in its
own particular slit, opened out the catches, and the ends and sides were
held firmly and evenly in place. The catch A was put through the slit A,
catch B through slit B, C through C and D through D. (Figure 1.) Then
Polly bent the steps up to stand out at right angles from the sides. “I
am ready for the spools,” she announced.
“You will have to sharpen the blunt ends of these skewers, then,” said
Donald, “and cut them off if they are too long. Three and one-half
inches will be just about the right length.”
When she had cut her axles the proper length and sharpened the ends,
Polly punctured a very small hole in each axle guard, as shown in Figure
1. Then, from the inside, she pushed one end of an axle through the hole
in one axle guard, slipped a spool on the axle and forced the other end
of the axle through the hole in the opposite axle guard. The auto frame
upside down (Figure 2) shows how this is done.
“Now for the hub to keep the axle in place,” she reflected. “I know,”
and with a spring she was up and off to rummage in her treasure box,
coming back triumphantly with several small corks.
[Illustration: A vintage black-and-white line illustration of toy
vehicle components, labeled with a bold number 15. The drawing features
a circular wheel with four intersecting inner spokes forming a
crosshairs pattern, detailed with fine-line shading along its right
edge. Directly below the wheel is a small, tapered cylindrical piece
resembling a cork or cap casting a distinct shadow.]
“See, Donald,” she said, screwing the point of the axle into the large
end of a cork. “It holds splendidly, and the spools cannot possibly drop
off.”
“First-rate idea, Polly; I hadn’t thought of the hubs. This is the body
of the car,” he continued, showing his paper pattern. “I’ll draw it on
the bristleboard if you will make wheels of the pill boxes.”
Figure 3 shows how Donald made the body of the automobile. The oblong in
the center is the floor. It is two and three-quarters inches wide, just
the width of the auto frame, and five and three-quarters inches long.
The back is two inches high at the side edges and curves up one-quarter
of an inch higher in the middle. The bend-overs at the back measure two
inches at each edge, and curve, as in Figure 3. The length of the side
from the dotted line of the bend-over to the door is two inches. The
door is square, measuring one and one-quarter inches each way. The
length of the side between the dashboard and the door is two and
one-half inches. Next to the door it is one and one-half inches high,
and at the lower corner, where the curve ends, it is one inch high. The
strip that meets the dashboard is three-eighths of an inch high. The
bend-over, including the catch, is seven-eighths of an inch high and
seven-eighths of an inch long, and the catches E and F are each
three-eighths of an inch square.
The dashboard fits in between the two front bend-overs. It is one and
one-half inches high in the middle and slopes to the sides, which are
one and one-quarter inches high. The slits in the dashboard, E and F,
are each one-half inch long and just one-half inch from the side edges.
The slit G at the top is one-half inch long and three-eighths inch below
the top edge. When Donald had cut out the auto body and scored the
dotted lines, he bent up the back, front and sides, then lapped the back
bend-overs across the outside of the back and fastened them in place by
running a pin through from the outside, as shown in Figure 17. He found
that the pin alone would not make it sufficiently secure; so, adopting
Polly’s idea, he pushed a cork on the pin, brought up snugly against the
inside of the back, and it held like a bolt. The front bend-overs he
lapped over the outside of the dashboard and pushed the catch E through
the slit E and the catch F through the slit F.
“Oh, Donald, the little doors will open, won’t they!” Polly exclaimed.
[Illustration: The seats are easily made. No. 10 is the front seat, No.
11 the back seat, and No. 12 an arm of the former. No. 13 is the mud
guard]
“Of course,” said Donald, bending them outward along the dotted lines.
“This is the hood,” he went on. “The power box, you know,” showing his
pattern like Figure 4. “I will draw it on the bristleboard now.”
First, Donald drew an oblong, five and one-quarter inches long and two
and one-quarter inches wide. This he divided into seven parts, or
panels, by drawing straight, vertical lines across the oblong. (Figure
4.) Each of the two end panels he made one and one-sixteenth inches wide
and each of the other panels five-eighths of an inch wide. He extended
the middle panel up one and three-eighths inches above the oblong, and
across the extension, half an inch above the top line of the oblong he
drew a dotted line to denote that beyond that was a bend-over. Then he
cut off the corners of the bend-over. (H, Figure 4.) He made extensions
three-quarters of an inch high above the two panels next to the middle
panel, then he cut off the inner part of these extensions, making each
half an inch wide. (I and J, Figure 4.)
[Illustration: The seats are easily made. No. 10 is the front seat, No.
11 the back seat, and No. 12 an arm of the former. No. 13 is the mud
guard.]
Directly through the center of the middle panel Donald drew a straight,
vertical line, bringing it down several inches below the bottom of the
oblong. He did this in order that he might measure on either side and so
get the end of the hood exactly in the middle and evenly balanced. He
called this center line his plumb line.
Three-eighths of an inch below the bottom line of the oblong, and
three-quarters of an inch to the left of the plumb line, Donald drew a
horizontal line just half an inch long; then he drew a corresponding
line at exactly the same distance to the right of the plumb line. These
lines he connected with the bottom corners of the middle panel with
slanting lines. (Figure 4.) Half an inch below the two short horizontal
lines he drew parallel lines of the same length and connected their
outer ends with the outer ends of the upper lines by vertical lines.
This made two square extensions. (K and L, Figure 4.) One-quarter of an
inch below the lower lines of the extensions K and L he drew another
horizontal line one and one-eighth inches long, half on one side of the
plumb line, half on the other side, and then he connected this
horizontal line with the inner ends of the bottom lines of the
extensions K and L by slanting lines. This formed the octagon-shaped
front face of the hood. Below the octagon he drew a bend-over one inch
high and running almost to a point at the bottom and half an inch above
the bottom edge of each end panel he made a slit three-quarters of an
inch long. (MM, Figure 4.)
[Illustration: A front view and a rear view of the children’s
automobile]
When Donald bent the hood into shape it looked like Figure 5. The end
panels from the bottom of the hood, and lapping completely over one
another, make it double, and the point of the bend-over (M, Figure 4)
slipped through the two slits M and M holds the hood in shape.
“But I don’t see how you are going to fasten it on,” said Polly.
“Wait until I make the lamps,” Donald answered, “and I will show you.
Are there any more corks, Polly?”
“Yes; how many do you want?”
“Four for the lamps, but bring all you have.”
Donald selected two pretty good sized corks for the lower lamps and two
smaller ones for the upper lamps. Both sizes were rather longer than he
wanted, so he cut a slice off the small end of each cork. This left the
largest corks three-quarters of an inch long and the smallest half an
inch long.
“Now, Polly,” he said, “we will cut some rounds of silver paper to fit
the tops of these corks and paste them on to represent glass, then paint
black circles around them for the rims to hold the glass. That will make
them shine.” (Figure 6.)
In a trice the lamps were finished and Donald fastened the largest ones
on the extensions K and L at the front of the hood by running a large
pin through the middle of each lamp, then through the extension,
securing it at the back with a thick slice of cork. This done he
proceeded to fasten the hood to the dashboard; first by running the
bend-over H through the slit H from the inside of the dashboard, then by
pinning the small lamps on the extensions I and J, running the pin
through the dashboard also, and making fast with slices of cork. The
exact position of the lamps is shown in the front view of the
automobile. (Figure 16.)
“Now fasten the whole thing together,” urged Polly, and Donald adjusted
the body of the car to its frame. He allowed the back of the body to
project over the back of the frame half an inch, which gave one inch and
three-quarters space in front of the hood to rest on. The hood extended
about half an inch beyond the front of the frame.
“The pins and corks hold so well I’ll use them for this,” Donald
announced, as he pinned the floor of the auto body to the top of the
frame. He put one pin just back of the dashboard and another close to
the back of the auto body. This time he used two slices of cork for each
pin, one on top of the floor, the other underneath the frame.
The two back mud guards Donald made like Figure 13, which is a strip of
bristleboard five and one-quarter inches long and five-eighths of an
inch wide. The dotted line at the end, showing where it is to be bent,
is three-quarters of an inch from the end and just half an inch from the
slots that separate the catch from the guard. From the dotted line to
the other end the guard is four and one-half inches long.
The two front mud guards he made exactly like the back ones, except that
between the dotted line and the dotted line and the opposite end the
distance was but two and three-quarters inches. He curved all four of
the guards by drawing them lightly over the blade of his knife; then he
bent them at the dotted lines, turned in the ends of each catch and
inserted each catch in its slit in the auto step. The two back guards he
put at the back ends of the steps, the two front guards at the front
ends of the steps. Taking two pins, he inserted them in one of the back
mud guards, as shown in Figure 13; then he pushed the pins into the side
of the car, the lower one into the frame just below the door and the
other into the auto body about one-quarter of an inch from the back. The
other back guard he secured in the same way, but one pin only was needed
for each of the front guards. This was run in three-quarters of an inch
from the bend of the guard and forced into the frame just in front of
the dashboard.
“Are the wheels ready?” asked Donald.
“Here they are,” and Polly pushed across the table four little wheels
like Figure 7. “I didn’t use the box covers because there was writing on
them, but I tore away the upper part of the box and the lower part was
exactly like the lid. I drew a circle on the bottom of each box to mark
off the tire and then drew the spokes and little air valves. See them?”
“We will give the tires a light wash of black paint to make them rubber
color and paint the spokes black,” said Donald.
When they were finished Donald used three small corks for fastening each
wheel in place. One for the hub, one inside the wheel, to steady it
against the auto frame (Figure 8), and one on the inside of the auto
frame. The front wheels he pinned at the extreme front of the auto
frame, half way up from the bottom edge of the frame, and the back
wheels at the extreme back of the frame, the same distance above the
bottom edge. (NN, Figure 2.)
“You see,” said Donald, “these wheels must not touch the ground, else
they will interfere with the speed of the car.”
“Here are the seats,” said Polly. “I worked them out while you were busy
with the other parts.”
Figures 10, 11 and 12 are the patterns of the seats. Figure 10 is the
front seat and Figure 12 the arm that divides it into two. The seat
proper is an oblong two inches and three-quarters long by one inch and
three-eighths wide. The ends and front that bend down and form the
supports are each three-quarters of an inch high. The back is one inch
high at the middle of each curve and three-quarters of an inch high when
it bends to form the arms. The arms, which are cut to fit the sides of
the auto, are one inch and three-eighths long. The middle arm (Figure
12) is one and one-quarter inches long at the bottom, three-quarters of
an inch high at the back and the laps are each one-quarter of an inch
wide.
Polly used paste to fasten the arm to the middle of the seat, putting
the paste on the laps, then she fitted the seat in the car, pasting the
sides of the seat to the sides of the car.
The back seat has no arms. It is the same length as the front seat, but
one-quarter of an inch wider. The supports are the same height. The back
at the middle is one and one-half inches high, while at the side edges
it is one and one-quarter inches high. When the back seat was pasted to
the back and sides of the car, Polly decided that she would make little
cushions and cover them with tan-colored tissue paper, to look like
leather.
“I have made the steering wheel,” said Donald, and he held it up.
(Figure 14.) Figure 15 shows how it is cut from bristleboard and then
marked off into a rim and four spokes. He used a wooden toothpick for
the column and a small cork to keep the wheel in place. First he forced
the small cork onto the toothpick, pushing it down not quite half an
inch, then he inserted the point of the stick into the small hole he had
previously punctured in the center of the wheel and pushed the wheel
down to rest on the cork. (Figure 14.)
With a large hatpin he pierced a hole slantingly at the base of the
dashboard, half an inch from the right side, all the way through the
frame of the auto; then he forced the lower end of the steering column
into the hole and it retained the proper slanting position.
“I didn’t forget the number,” said Polly, holding up a little oblong
card, to which she had attached narrow strips of yellow paper for
straps. On the card was printed the number of the Kraft Shop automobile.
(Figure 9.) With a drop of paste on the end of each strap Polly hung the
number to the back of the car. (Figure 17.)
The finished motor car is shown in Figure 18.
“Now we will test her speed,” said Donald, as he knelt on the floor and
with a sure, strong push sent the auto spinning the whole length of the
room.
“My, but it does go!” said Polly.
[Illustration: A vintage line illustration of a toy airship or dirigible
craft, labeled with a bold number 8. The multi-faceted, elongated brown
body of the airship is suspended from a string and features large,
bright red wings and tail fins. Below it hangs a small rectangular
gondola basket containing three small toy figures. A red-and-white
pinwheel propeller is attached to the front of the basket, and fine-line
cross-hatch shading indicates motion clouds in the background.]
Making the Bird Airship
By Adelia Belle Beard
One of the Authors of Things Worth Doing
“How are we going to make an airship when we can’t fill the bag with
gas?” said Donald. “Why, make it of stiff paper and it will stand out
without gas,” Polly answered. “Yes, but I don’t see what is to hold it
up?” Donald objected. “We will make the airship first and then find
something to hold it up,” Polly replied, cheerfully.
“That’s a girl’s way of doing things,” laughed Donald.
“Well, it’s a good way,” retorted Polly.
Donald did not entirely agree with her, but Polly’s way seemed the only
way in this case. “Of course we will make the balloon cigar shaped, like
a dirigible, and have a propeller,” he said.
“Yes, and let us make wings, too; they will help keep it in the air,”
Polly added.
“And a tail for a rudder,” said Donald.
“Why, it will look just like a bird!” Polly exclaimed. “And we can call
it the ‘bird airship.’ That sounds nice, doesn’t it, Donald?”
“All right,” said Donald; “now I’ll make the balloon.”
“Oh, Donald, please let me do that. You always take the hardest parts
and I know I can do some of them,” protested Polly. “Besides, I have
thought of a way to make it.”
“Well, I don’t care if you make the balloon,” said Donald. “This is your
scheme, anyway. I’ll do the other things, but use this stiff manila
paper, Polly; it is good and strong.”
Polly was soon at work bending and clipping and shaping a pattern that
later she would correct and reduce to exact measurements. Donald watched
her while he waited to learn what size to make the wings, tail and
little passenger car.
“I am making the balloon in panels,” Polly informed him. “It is easier
than trying to keep it round, and I shall cut each end into points with
a bend-over on each point to fasten them together.”
“Going to glue it?”
“Why, no. I thought I would button it together with catches and slits.
It is hard to glue a thing of this kind, and one has to hold each part
so long for the glue to harden,” Polly answered.
[Illustration: A mechanical craft template diagram for cutting and
folding a toy balloon component, labeled with a large number 2. The flat
pattern features multiple interconnected diamond-shaped segments
arranged vertically, separated by dashed folding lines and labeled
alphabetically from A to F. It includes instructional text annotations
such as 'Bend over', 'Top Edge', 'Bottom Edge', and tabs labeled 'Catch
J', 'Over L', 'Under M', and 'Over N'. A stylized line illustration of a
needle and a long piece of thread is shown woven through the center
sections.]
Figure 1 shows how Polly drew the pattern for her balloon after making
it out. She was very careful in her measurements, using a rule and
making the lines for the panels exactly one inch apart. “The sides won’t
fit if they are not even,” she said to herself.
[Illustration: When the balloon was put together it looked like this]
“That looks simple enough,” commented Donald.
When Polly cut the balloon out along the heavy lines it was like Figure
2.
By this time Donald, who had been experimenting with Polly’s first
pattern, had designed the wings (Figure 3), and the tail (Figure 5). He
directed Polly to cut slits for the wings in the position shown in PO,
OP, Figure 2. The slits P are exactly in the middle of the edge between
the first and second panels at the top and the first and second panels
at the bottom, and the slits O are in the middle of each second panel,
top and bottom. Each slit is three-quarters of an inch long.
“Now make slits for the tail in the top edges of the top point and the
fourth from the top point,” said Donald. “Make each slit five-eighths of
an inch from the tip.”
“How long a slit?” said Polly.
“Three-eighths of an inch,” returned Donald.
[Illustration: Donald cut the wings like this]
So Polly made the slits R and Q, Figure 2, and then bent the balloon
along the dotted lines. Donald made the wings (Figure 3) four and
one-eighth inches long from tip of catch to tip of wing. The neck of the
catch is one-half of an inch long and five-eighths of an inch wide, and
the catch from tip of point to neck is three-eighths of an inch deep.
Just above the neck of the catch the wing is seven-eighths of an inch
wide and at its broadest part it is three and one-quarter inches wide.
Donald bent in the points of the catch of one wing and pushed the catch
in through the slit O in the balloon and out through the slit P, then he
opened out the points of the catch.
“That will hold it steady,” he said, and fastened the other wing on in
the same way.
“Do you want to fasten the tail on now?” asked Polly.
“No. Put the balloon together first,” said Donald.
Then Polly began to shape her balloon by slipping the catches of the
bend-overs at the bottom L, M, N through the slits L, M, N. She lapped L
and N _over_ the panel and M _under_ the panel. This brought the catches
of L and N on the inside, and the catch of M on the outside. Then she
lapped the bend-over of the point B over the edge of the point A and
inserted the catch of the bend-over in the slit in the point A. The
catch of the bend-over of the point C she put through the slit in the
point B, and in the same way fastened D to C, E to D and F to E. This
brought all the points at one end of the balloon together, except F and
A, and these she secured by putting the catch J of the point A in
through the slit J and out through the slit K in the point F, which
brought the catch on the outside. The other end of the balloon she put
together in the same way, and it looked like Figure 4.
“This is the tail,” Donald said, holding up a piece of paper cut like
Figure 5. The tail is four and one-half inches long, two and one-quarter
inches wide at the end and five-eighths of an inch wide where it joins
the body. Donald cut a slit half an inch long in the middle of the
narrow end and then cut out a small, wedge-shaped piece at the end of
the slit. The wedge is five-eighths of an inch long and a trifle over
one-quarter of an inch at the base.
[Illustration: The tail acts as a rudder]
“What is that pointed hole for,” said Polly.
“The end of the balloon fits in that when these two square catches (Q,
R, Figure 5) are put through the slits you made for the tail,” Donald
answered. (Q, R, Figure 2.) Polly looked for the slits and found that
one was on the top edge and one on the bottom edge of the back end of
the balloon.
“Now we will hitch it on,” said Donald, taking the balloon from Polly
and adjusting the tail. He opened the slit between the catches, pushed
the catch Q down through the top slit Q, and the catch R up through the
bottom slit R, and the tail could not slide out of place. “The wings
must stand out at the sides,” he added, bending each wing down where it
joined the balloon.
“Is this the car?” Polly inquired, taking up the little box. (Figure 6.)
“Yes,” said Donald, “but I haven’t put the propeller on yet.”
The car Donald made is pointed at each end. It is three inches long from
point to point, one inch wide and one inch high. Each side of the car is
two inches long and the ends are double. Figure 7 is the pattern of the
car. The entire length of one side of Figure 7 is five inches, while the
entire length of the other side is but four and three-quarters inches.
The difference is at the ends. The end divisions on the left of Figure 7
are three-quarters of an inch from top to bottom, while the end
divisions on the right are only five-eighths of an inch from top to
bottom. The other divisions of the two ends are exactly alike, each
three-quarters of an inch from top to bottom. The slits V, W, T, U, are
one-eighth of an inch from the inner edge and are three-eighths of an
inch long. V and U are one-eighth of an inch from the end edges and the
slits W and T are one-quarter of an inch from V and U.
Donald made a catch at either end of the left side of Figure 7 (Y, X).
The necks of these catches are one-quarter of an inch long. Then he bent
up the points V, W, U, T, along the dotted lines, which made the floor
of the car pointed at each end. He bent the sides up and the ends in,
according to the dotted lines. The points V, W, U, T, he pushed through
the corresponding slits from the inside of the car, V through V, W
through W, U through U and T through T. Then he fitted the other end
pieces on the outside, covering the points, and fastened the catches Y
and X in the slits Y and X. This held the point securely between the
double ends and made all snug and tight.
[Illustration: This is the pattern of Donald’s little car]
“I can put the ropes on now,” said Polly, and threading a needle with
soft cotton twine she pushed the needle through the double end of the
car just beyond the side bend and near the top edge, as shown in Figure
6. She drew the string through and tied it at the end. Threading the
needle again, she fastened another string to the other end of the car;
then, with the needle still threaded, she took a stitch in the bottom
edge of the balloon at the middle of one of the bend-overs. The place is
indicated by the two dots on Figure 4. Bringing the needle down again,
she ran it through the opposite side of the car, unthreaded it and tied
the end of the string to the car.
This made a loop which passed from one side of the car through the
bottom edge of the balloon to the other side of the car. The string used
for the loop was three and one-half inches long. The other end of the
car Polly attached to the balloon in the same way and the little
passenger car hung suspended from the balloon by four ropes. (Figure 8.)
“I have the propeller ready now,” said Donald.
“What a good idea to use a pinwheel for a propeller!” exclaimed Polly.
“How will you fasten it on?”
[Illustration: Polly put the ropes on the little car]
“This way,” said Donald, and he ran a hatpin through the pinwheel,
pushed a small cork up on the pin, leaving one inch between the cork and
the head of the pin so that the wheel would turn easily. (Figure 9.)
Then he forced the pin in through the middle of the forward end of the
car and out the middle of the back, allowing a space of one-quarter of
an inch between the cork and the car. (Figure 8.)
“Why, Donald, you have put the propeller in front of the car!” cried
Polly.
“That is all right,” Donald assured her. “It won’t spin around if we
have it at the back; and, besides, Santos Dumont, who has made some of
the finest airships in the world, put the propeller at the front of some
of them. He says it draws the ship along instead of pushing it.”
Donald made the pinwheel for his propeller of a two-inch square of
paper. He folded the square diagonally first one way, then the other,
and cut slits along the folds almost to the center, as I am sure you all
know how to do. Then he took up the alternate points and, turning them
over to the center, ran the pin through them and the center of the wheel
in the way you have done scores of times.
“Now, Polly,” said Donald, “how are you going to make the thing fly?”
“I will show you,” said Polly, and she threaded a needle with a piece of
strong black linen thread ten inches long. Then she took a stitch
through the top edge of the balloon at the forward end, drew the thread
through and tied the end fast. She took a stitch through the top edge of
the balloon at the other end, where she tied the last end of the thread.
This made a loop extending upward from the top of the balloon. (Figure
8.)
In Figure 2 you will see just where the needle was put through the edge
of the balloon. At the middle of the loop Polly tied another piece of
thread about two feet long, and at the end of the long thread she tied a
short loop.