["MANUAL ARTS" FOR CHILDREN]. Toy Patterns

Peoria, Illinois: The Manual Arts Press, 1920. Very Good. Large portfolio (355 x 268 mm), COMPLETE with all 12 full-page illustrations, loosely inserted as issued. PORTFOLIO: wrappers with black taped spine, as issued, with an inner flap of the same material to hold the loose sheets (some wear and minor soiling, a few small marginal tears, small purple paint stain on back cover, fold of inner flap separating along bottom). Early typed title label affixed. With faults described certainly in much better condition than commonly found. ILLUSTRATIONS: some signs of use, light browning, and small tears along the top and bottom edges of 5, 6, 11 and 12. Stamp of The Lux School of Industrial Training on the front cover and on ten of the twelve illustrated sheets. Excellent copy, rarely found complete as here. Our copy comes from the Lux School of Industrial Training for Girls (see below). From a contemporary review: "The present portfolio contains twelve sheets of full-size patterns for nineteen different toys - mostly suitable for direct copying and reproduction, with the coping saw. The toys emphasize children's love for humor and interest in motion. They are suitable for reproduction in the school or the home shop and should find wide use." (Source: Industrial Arts & Vocational Education Professional Magazine, vol. 10, 1921). The patterns are arranged into groups, each sheet having an average of three patterns. Some of these groups are: jointed animals, animal rocker toys, wheeled platform toys, lever toys, string toys, and novelties. Michael C. Dank lived as an Instructor in Manual Arts (or Instructor of Manual Training) in Brooklyn, NY. His biography in the present portfolio states that he had "long experience in the teaching of toymaking in Public Schools, Private Schools and Summer Camps." Though now mostly known for his woodwork manuals, Dank was a staunch supporter of what was then still frequently called "manual training" (though the term "industrial arts" was quickly gaining ground). These fields were newly considered important to the general education of children; indeed, Dank himself, in an article for the "Industrial Education Magazine" (vol. 22, 1920) states that toy-making had only recently begun to be recognized by these programs as "an activity possessing many sound educational values." By 1927 Dank's training manual had become a main reference work for primary art work in classrooms around the country. A second series was published in 1934, also by The Manual Arts Press. PROVENANCE: Upon her death in 1894, Miranda W. Lux bequeathed approximately $500,000 to "assist in furnishing facilities for the education of young children in what is known as 'manual training.'" Lux had a deep interest in technical, manual, and vocational education, and thus the Lux School of Industrial Training was established in August 1912. Dedicated to the technical education of girls, it operated in San Francisco from 1908-1953. Other copies on the market are all incomplete and in comparatively poor condition.