Jesse Armour Crandall
| Jesse Armour Crandall | |
|---|---|
| 120px | |
| Born | October 20, 1834 Westerly, Rhode Island |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Brooklyn, New York |
| Occupation | Inventor and toy-maker |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Dawson |
| Children | Elsie, Lizzie, Annie, Hattie, Fred Dewitt Crandall |
| Parent(s) | Benjamin Potter Crandall Mary Elizabeth Brown |
Jesse Armour Crandall (October 20, 1834 – August 3, 1920) was an American inventor and toy-maker. He had taken out over 150 patents on toys in his 75 years of inventing.[1] Crandall's father, Benjamin Potter Crandall, was also a toy-maker as well as three of Jesse's brothers (Benjamin, Charles Thompson and William Edwin).[2] Unlike his brothers who remained primarily associated with their father's toy business in New York City, Jesse started his own company in Brooklyn. It was a friend, perhaps Henry Ward Beecher, who named him "The Child's Benefactor". This became his trademark and slogan.[3]
Contents
Baby and Doll Carriages
Crandall's father had begun selling baby carriages in the 1830s which were billed as "the first baby carriages manufactured in America."[4] Jesse designed a tool to drill the ten evenly spaced holes in carriage wheels at the same time when he was only eleven years old.[5] Crandall was issued a number of patents for improvements and additions to the standard models. These included adding a brake to carriages, a model which folded, an oscillating axle, and designs for parasols and an umbrella hanger. An 1867 Crandall doll carriage model with a leather hood was once on display at the Museum of the City of New York.[6] As of October 2010, it was still in the Museum's collection.
Toy Horses
Crandall is credited for inventing the Shoo-fly design of the rocking horse in 1859 and in 1861 he was issued a patent for a spring-loaded rocking horse.[7][8] Both designs differed from the traditional bow rocker and were quite popular until the 1880 Marqua safety stand.[9] Maqua's design was seen with disdain by purists.[10] As a young man, after making a hobby horse nearly the size of a pony, he gave it to a boy who was to later become King Edward VII.[1] The popularity of these larger toy horses affected adults also as author Nathaniel P. Willis wrote about it in Health and Happiness on Horseback. Actor Joseph Jefferson rode across the stage of what became the Winter Garden theatre on a Crandall designed horse. Benjamin P. Jr. was described as the "self-styled 'inventor of the hobby horse'"[11][12] and was issued a patent for an improved model of combined rocking horse and swing in 1873.[13] However, Jesse had patented what he called a hobby horse as shown in his 1859 patent application illustration.[14]
Building Blocks
The Crandall toy-makers included Jesse, his father and brothers and Jesse's cousin, once removed, Charles Martin Crandall. Also, Benjamin P. Crandall Sr.'s brother, Nathan T. Crandall, was listed as a toy-maker in 1840's business directories sharing the same address.[15] Among the toys designed were children's building blocks with unique features. Charles M. Crandall's design of tongue and groove interlocking blocks was used to construct an enormous palace exhibited in the 1876 International Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia.[16] In 1880 the Crandall family provided an exhibit of an Egyptian obelisk weighing over 200 tons in New York's Central Park which was widely popular.[16] That was followed by Jesse's design of nested blocks, which was patented in June 1881.[17] These "nesting blocks" allowed for convenient storage and remain popular today.[18] William Edwin Crandall was awarded a patent for a toy obelisk in September 1882.[19]
Other Inventions
Other inventions by Jesse included toys and non-toys. Various improvements on velocopedes came both from Jesse and his father. One of Jesse's involved use of a newly designed treadle and earned a gold medal at the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition; Crandall's Sandometer or "The beach brought to your home" in 1879 was a rather novel idea.[20] An artificial arm was invented in 1915; however, Jesse did not attempt to patent it - probably from a combination of the money and effort spent on defending earlier patents and a philanthropic viewpoint.[21] He also invented an invalid chair,[22] which President Grover Cleveland's daughter was reported to use,[1] One puzzle was a result of getting two painter's hooks entangled and the difficulty in getting them separated. This type of puzzle was still popular in the 1960s.[23]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Popular Science, Volume 47, July 1920, p. 45.
- ↑ Toy Horses (from the V&A Museum of Childhood website)
- ↑ Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Thursday, October 16, 1930, p. 21.
- ↑ Museum of American Heritage, retrieved 6 September 2010
- ↑ McClintock, Inez and Marshall, Toys in America, Public Affairs Press, Washington, D. C., 1961, p. 158.
- ↑ McClintock, Inez and Marshall: Toys in America, Public Affairs Press, Washington, D.C. 1961
- ↑ Toy Horses, V&A Museum of Childhood website
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Antique Rocking Horses from Sally's Rocking Horses Ltd
- ↑ Smithsonian magazine, December 2002
- ↑ Time Magazine, March 15, 1926, Milestones
- ↑ The Buffalo Morning Express, March 4, 1926, p. 4
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ McClintock, Inez B. and Marshall, Toys in America, Public Affairs Press, Washington, D.C., 1961, p. 453
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Provenzo, Eugene F. et al, The Complete Block Book, Syracuse University Press 1983, p. 16. ISBN 0-8156-2300-3
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Provenzo, The Complete Block Book, pp. 17-18
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sunday, October 26, 1913, p. 2
- ↑ Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sunday, February 15, 1915.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ McClintock, Inez Bertail; McClintock, Marshall: Toys in America, Public Affairs Press, Washington, 1961, p. 154.
Additional Reading
- Provenzo, Eugene F.; Brett, Arlene: The Complete Block Book, NY: Syracuse University Press 1983. ISBN 0-8156-2300-3
- Freeman, Ruth Sunderlin; Freeman, Larry: Cavalcade of Toys, Century House, Watkins Glen, New York, 1942
- McClintock, Inez Bertail; McClintock, Marshall: Toys in America, Public Affairs Press, Washington, 1961
