The toys my grandchildren play with today are very different from the toys my children played with. Today my grandchildren play games on iPads and have customized electronic toys that can speak their names and appear like they are talking directly to them. But the toys I played with are a far throw from my children or grandchildren's toys.
I played with some interesting things as a child, chemicals, explosives, and electricity…but I also had simple toys that had a significant influence on how I think about the world and how things work.
Some of my childhood toys were simple molded objects, like plastic planes or tractors, with no moving parts except for the wheels; others were repurposed objects like cans, spools, or string; and then there were the created toys. In this final category was a wooden propeller my grandfather made for me.
My grandfather carved a propeller out of a 1” wide piece of pine, ¾” thick and maybe 8” long. I watched him carve it, using his pocket knife that he always carried with him. He had carefully marked a center square on the front surface of the wood and carved away the wood on top and bottom on both sides of center, to leave a thin section of wood that resulted in a diagonal section of wood on either side of the center, but the diagonal was a mirror opposite from one side to the other. It’s difficult to describe, yet it was so elegant. What was amazing to me was the simple pattern of removing wood would create an object (a propeller) with a function that was totally new for the block of wood. To think this was what made it possible for planes to fly and my grandfather was creating it in his lap, in long careful strokes to a rectangular piece of pine, was an exhilarating thought. I began to realize then, even as a young child, that creation required looking at what exists and imagining it in new ways, either by adding or subtracting parts and pieces.
Of course there was more to creating the propeller toy than just carving the shape of the propeller. After the propeller was carved I knew it had to be connected to something, a handle or something. But how was that going to be done? My grandfather found an old kitchen chair with round legs but with a decorative design and sawed a section that created an amazing shape, a section that just fit my small hand! My hand wrapped around a narrower center section that curved into a larger diameter section at both ends of my hand-hold. Then my grandfather searched for a nail…ok, I thought, I know how this is going to work, he is going to nail the propeller to this section of table leg, I will hold this ‘handle’ and the propeller will spin.
But after finding the nail my grandfather pulled out some copper tubing…copper tubing; what is that good for, I wondered. Carefully he measured the thickness of the wooden propeller and then compared the nail to the copper tubing; then he cut off a section of the copper tubing. He used a hand drill to make a hole in the center of the propeller. And now I am confused, how does the copper tubing figure into this?? Well my grandfather carefully tapped the copper tubing into the hole he had drilled in the propeller and the nail was a perfect fit inside the copper tubing. He had created a copper bearing! By nailing the propeller to the center of the chair leg, through the tightly fitted copper tubing, my grandfather had created a propeller that spun with the slightest movement of air. I was beyond joy, immediately swinging this exquisite creation my grandfather had created for me. After a tiny drop of oil was placed on the nail, I ran across the yard, holding the propeller out from my side and hearing it spin rapidly with the moving air.
Then my grandfather said, “Let’s go for a ride.” He slowly got up and pulled out the keys to his 1951 Plymouth sedan and I climbed in with him. I rolled down the large side window and I thrust the propeller out the window. As my grandfather drove the car, the propeller spun at an incredible speed. To this day I marvel at the stability and soundness of that simple design. By the time we reached 30 mph I was at the limit of what I felt I could hold and had to pull the propeller back inside the car. My grandfather showed me how to move the propeller back out into the moving air (hold it vertically and then slowly bring it horizontal) and how to protect myself (and others) from the rapidly spinning propeller blade (it was more like a blade when it spun rapidly than a carved block of pine wood).
To this day, as I remember this story, I am amazed at how these simple items came together to create this toy, how stable and strong it was, and how my grandfather’s simple and unhurried method built it. I kept this toy far into adulthood but lost track of it a few years ago; now it is just a memory. But it is a constant reminder to me of (what can be) the simplicity and elegance of making something new. I doubt my grandfather understood the impact this event and toy had on me, or maybe he did. Sometimes I think about this story when I interact with my children and/or grandchildren and wonder what events or interactions will they remember, and how will those childhood experiences inform a life. It can be the little things and the simple things...
