Tuesday 31 May 2016

The V&A Museum of Childhood - Construction Toys


The Museum’s collection includes bricks and construction sets produced by many of the leading toy manufacturers.
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Alphabet Blocks

Alphabet blocks are thought to be one of the first toys designed to have an educational purpose. Alphabet blocks can…
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Bauhaus Bauspiel construction set

The wooden construction set pictured was originally designed at the Bauhaus school in Germany by Alma Siedhoff-Buscher in 1923, who…
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Bayko

In 1933, the plastics engineer and entrepreneur Charles Bird Plimpton set up the Plimpton Engineering Co. Ltd in Liverpool, specifically to…
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K’Nex

Inspired by the drinking straw, K’Nex was the brainchild of the American Joel Glickman and his brother Bob Glickman. The…
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Lego

Lego was invented in Denmark by the carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen who started making wooden toys in 1932. By 1934…
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Lott’s Bricks

At the beginning of the 20th century the toy industry was based predominantly in Germany. During the First World War, imports…
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Meccano

In 1901 Frank Hornby (1863-1936), a clerk from Liverpool, invented and patented a new toy called ‘Mechanics Made Easy’. Hornby,…
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Minibrix

Made by the Premo Rubber Company from 1935-1976, Minibrix construction sets enabled children to build their own miniature houses. As…
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Mr Potato Head

The invention of New York-born George Lerner, Mr Potato Head was launched by the toy company Hasbro in 1952. The…
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Structator construction set

In the early 1900s, Bing was a famous German brand name and the largest toy company in the world, best…
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