Playful Plans's blog

This vintage station wagon was manufactured in the 60's or 70's by Community Playthings, the venerable Bruderhof business producing superb play and learning toys since the 1950's.

Cruising yard sales, estate sales, flea markets and antique malls (cue the eye-rolling at the word “antique”) for vintage wooden objects can be an exhilarating process.

For your enjoyment, chapter and sub-chapter illustrations by Captain John A. Bogart from Woodworking for Everybody by Shea and Wenger  (Copyright 1944 International Textbook Company).

Well, not exactly.

A fine set of woodworking tools arrived in the mail today

Here's a wonderful vintage block wagon from the '30's or '40's.

It was never meant to be (or used as) a pull toy... just a rolling two-layer forty-piece wonder.

The twenty blocks on the top layer flip between horse and cow figures. OK, I messed up the cow's block legs, making her a circus freak... Hey, it's late here on the East Coast

In this first installment of my blocks and building toys series, here's a pair of classic boxed hardwood block sets in a similar style.

One set's pretty old, the other's getting there fast.

The smaller box is a recent acquisition from a dealer in California. The larger set is home-grown right here in North Carolina- more on that later.

The Playful Plans Blog will explore the design, history, fabrication and sharing of quality children's toys made primarily of wood. With a few detours, of course!

In this inaugural blog for my new website I want to celebrate the connection between graphic plans and the craft of woodworking.