Hello boys! Girls? Sorry, come back in 60 years and we’ll let you design and build Mars rovers. But it’s 1929 right now. No engineering toys for you.
Exclusion aside, thinking-toys for kids are good stuff. Erector sets were first sold in 1913. The company went into decline after the death of the founder in the 1960’s, and was bought by another company in 1990.
That $25 kit in 1929 dollars is close to $500 today!
Another ad, 1922,
I got to play with my dad’s old Ferris wheel set. I never built the Ferris wheel but made all sort of cursed contraptions with the motor, gears and pulleys.
That’s the beauty of toys like this, or legos! Going off-script and exploring where your imagination leads with the parts available.
We need more toys like that, for kids of all ages.