The Boy Bridge Builder

The Boy Bridge Builder. Wood. ca. 1933.

This model kit, which contains over 200 building components, includes blueprints that may instruct a young builder in the construction of bridges and railroads. As Professor Tom Peters observed, this model serves as an unintended supplement to the Iron Constructer building kit (also exhibited here). "Comparing the two sets of plans is illuminating. They show how the toy became more a general educational artifact, no longer an elite instrument," Peters noted.