All About Tinkertoys!

Tinkertoys, invented in 1914, were an ingenious improvement on the thread spools and sticks children had played with.

Charles Pajeau of Evanston invented Tinkertoys and introduced them to the world at a New York toy fair in 1914. They consisted of spools with eight holes around the edge and one through the center to fit quarter-inch diameter rods of different lengths.

While attending the fair, Pajeau convinced a local druggist to put some Tinkertoy windmills with paper blades on display in his window. An electric fan supplied the wind, the blades turned, and Tinkertoys became a hit!