Jon Simpson
Indefinite in Number, But of Certain Fixed Shapes
Produced in the late 1800s by a company called Richter’s – “Designed and Executed by Dr. Richter’s Art-Department,” then located at 74-80 Washington Street, New York, NY – the blocks and their instructional manuals that you see here were no mere playthings; they were marketed as intellectual stimulants, Frobelian educational props, for teaching children nothing less than how to think.
via BLDGBlog, photos of various manuals and instructions supplied with sets of Anchor Stones, small building blocks which feel (and look) like miniature stone blocks. I came across them in a toy store whilst staying with Matt Jadud in Boston in fall 2008 (picture above). There seems to be an active UK supplier, although I imagine the pieces would get everywhere… Very, very cool toy – looks like grown-up LEGO.