American Folk Toys: How to Make Them

This practical and entertaining handbook shows how anyone can make folk toys at home. In the days before toys were commercially manufactured, parents and children made their own from wood, scraps of cloth, corncobs, or whatever was at hand--but today the old toy-making crafts have almost disappeared. Relying on his own research and on the help of folklorists, Dick Schnacke presents instructions, diagrams, and lists of materials needed to make many classic American folk toys--from skill and action toys to puzzles, tops, dolls, and games. Here are not only conventional items like the apple doll and the cornstalk fiddle but also such exotic amusements as the flipperdinger and the skyhook. Inexpensive and ingenious, all these toys are as delightful to make as they are to play with.