Now if this isn't Neanderthal material...

[Jim Koepke]

While searching the web, a most interesting site came up.

A 1948 publication:

The Boy Mechanic Vol. 2 1000 Things for Boys to Do

There are a couple of different plans for making lathes and a lot of other stuff to propel the imagination.

http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/popular-mechanics/The-Boy-Mechanic-1000-Things-for-Boys-to-Do/index.html

jim

[John Keeton]

Jim, since this was published the year I was born, it has to be "vintage!" Don't you long for the times when kids actually had to be creative in their entertainment?

[James Mittlefehldt]

Jim, since this was published the year I was born, it has to be "vintage!" Don't you long for the times when kids actually had to be creative in their entertainment?


More to the point it seems they gave them a lot more credit for intelligence than we often do today.

[Robert Eiffert]

There is a whole seris of _The Boy Mechanic...._ books. I have one that is more 1910's oriented. Abebooks has a pretty good selection.

[mike holden]

I have the four volume set re-published by Lee Valley. There is stuff in there that the EPA and Hazmat teams would be called for today!
There is an assumption that boys would accept the personal liability if they chose to build these projects AND that they had the manual skills to build them.
Mike

[Brian Kent]

I really hope they learn "How to swim" before "How to build a skiff":D.

[Jim Koepke]

More to the point it seems they gave them a lot more credit for intelligence than we often do today.

Well, they weren't distracted by TV and video games.

Most likely, people did not use baby sitters back then, so when dad was working around the homestead, the young man of the house had to hold and hand tools. From my experience growing up, this taught me a lot.

jim

[Jacob Mac]

Thanks for the link. I just purchased a similar book for my 6 year old. He likes video games, but he likes to be in the workshop with me even more.

I will pick up the four volume set from Lee Valley when I buy a dovetail saw from them. It looks like that set would give my son a lot of great projects and learning opportunities.

[Ian Gillis]

Hi

I came across this information a couple of months back, and after losing several hours of my life, I decided it would be better to keep it to myself. To release this info here might be the internet version of giving crack to children. So, I'm going to bury it in this thread -- my apologies, Jim.

The news: Google Books has scanned and made freely available ALL back issues of Popular Mechanics and Popular Science (well, not the most recent, I guess). Dozens of other magazines as well.

All the "new" gadgets of decades gone by, woodworking tip and tricks, project plans for big kids and small in every issue. Lots of advertising that's no longer permitted, too. It's all there.

http://books.google.com (http://books.google.ca/bkshp?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&hl=en&tab=wp)


Consume with discretion, folks!

Cheers,
Ian

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks for the link. I just purchased a similar book for my 6 year old. He likes video games, but he likes to be in the workshop with me even more.

I will pick up the four volume set from Lee Valley when I buy a dovetail saw from them. It looks like that set would give my son a lot of great projects and learning opportunities.

Be careful, some of the plans mix water and electricity. Of course, did that my self when I was young and I'm OK, and I'm OK, and I'm OK...

jim

[Kevin Lucas]

I had something similar to it as a kid. It had kites, bird houses the usual but had electronics that looked like something Dr. Frankenstein would have used. I really wanted to build the big crossbow in it. The things we did as kids and survived )