A young girl plays with wooden Tinkertoys. Hulton/Archive by Getty Images. Reproduced by permission.

Like LEGOS (see entry under 1950s—Sports and Games in volume 3), Lincoln Logs (see entry under 1920s—Sports and Games in volume 2), and Erector Sets (see entry under 1910s—Sports and Games in volume 1), Tinkertoys have a timeless appeal. Introduced in 1914, the simple wooden sticks with connecting wooden hubs remain a favorite among kids into the twenty-first century. In many ways, Tinkertoys are the perfect toy. Simple and durable, they have the capacity to engage a child's imagination as he or she creates an unlimited variety of structures.

Tinkertoys were invented by Charles H. Pajeau, a stone mason. He thought up the toy after watching children play with pencils and wooden spools. Pajeau drilled holes around the sides of a spool and sawed thin wooden dowels into various lengths to create the first...