Accession No
5347
Brief Description
optical set for construction and demonstration, by Construments, 20th Century
Origin
Maker
Construments
Class
optical; demonstration
Earliest Date
1900
Latest Date
1998
Inscription Date
Material
metal; wood; plastic; card
Dimensions
height 106mm; length 342mm; depth 235mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Purchased from Ray Morris, Level 4 New England House, New England Street, Brighton, BN1 4GH, on 11/06/1998.
Inscription
Description Notes
Children’s ‘mechano’ style optical set. Made by Construments 20th century. A wooden box with a spring catch fastening. Inside the box in the front half are two cardboard trays (one on top the other) containing the components. The back half is divided into thirds one part being a further tray containing components the other two thirds are space in the wooden box containing the base units of the optical instrument. The demonstration apparatus comes with an instruction booklet.
The front tray top holds glass lenses (3), mirrors (2), frosted disc, glass slides, glass plate, frosted glass plate, terminal nut (6), elastic bands, coloured opaque discs (6), small pin hole disc (4), split ring (3), light bulb, glass collecting tube and metal rings. The lower tray holds plain ring mount (2), optical tube (2), screwed ring mount (2), battery clip, combined spanner and screwdriver, screwed bolt (2), screwed rod (2), camera cap (2), lamp holder, crocodile clips (2), spring clip (2), tubular mount (2), cap for tubular mount (2), high power objective, mount for high power objective.
The back tray holds reflector, screwed bolts (11), hexagonal nut (18), square mirror (2). The Optical box and the Instrument stand are in the space at the back of the wooden box.
Condition good
References
Events
Description
C. W. Hansel, a school science master, invented this optical kit for children, which claimed to make ‘every boy and girl a scientist’. It consisted of an array of simple scientific equipment, such as lenses, prisms, pinhole discs and stands and holders. These, along with the help of the instructions, allowed the child to create objects such as do-it-yourself microscopes and telescopes. Many children coveted the educational toy at the time, although it was rather expensive and was viewed as a luxury item. The Construments kits became so popular that a Construmag magazine aimed at children who were Construments enthusiasts was published to accompany the sets. Construments clubs were also set up for children to join and play the role of ‘scientists’ or ‘detectives’ with their kits.
22/05/2009
Created by: Nathalie Botcherby [Work experience student, using Melanie Keene’s Isis paper] on 22/05/2009
FM:45672
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