The Davenport Collection
- a growing resource on magic and entertainment history

Toys and games

Waddington’s Lexicon Card Game

Waddington’s Lexicon Card Game

This is a well presented word game based on the detailed rules which are clearly stated in the Rules booklet. The booklet includes details on how to arrange a successful Lexicon drive. Copyright John Waddington Ltd.

Clackers toy

Clackers toy

Clackers come under a variety of names. The toy has two plastic balls joined by a string with a ring in the center of the string. To use the toy, you put your finger through the ring so that the two balls hang down. By pulling on the string in the right way it is possible to get the balls to tap (or clack) together. With the correct hand movement the balls can clack faster and faster, and louder and louder, until they meet not just at the bottom, but also right at the top above your hand. The toy ended up with a bad press because there were incidents when the clacking balls broke apart so creating a safety hazard.

Trivial Pursuit Coasters

Trivial Pursuit Coasters

In total there are 120 Trivial Pursuit questions. Made by Paladon Products Ltd, Shoreham By Sea, BN43 6NZ, United Kingdom under licence from Hasbro.

Square peg checkers

Square peg checkers

The Directions explain that for Kings you simply mark the pegs with chalk or crayon. The packaging says ‘Empire made’, meaning Hong Kong.

Gambling game

Gambling game

This is a simple but cleverly designed game. There is a cardboard disk which rattles around inside the outer case. When the game is tilted, the disk appears in the middle of the numbered circle. The pointer on the disk will show the player’s ‘selected’ number. Any number of rules could be used – for example the person with the highest number wins. Made in Germany. There is a sample number 55/A on the back of the game but the manufacturer is not known.

Plastic walking figures

Plastic walking figures

These amusing characters were made in Hong Kong. The four red feet and legs can independently swing backwards and forwards. If you pull the figures along by the string they will waddle along, so long as the surface they are on is not too slippery. The figures are also happy to waddle down an incline. It is likely that originally there was a ball on the end of the string. If this was placed over the edge of a table, as the ball dropped, it provided enough pull for the figures to waddle towards the edge.

Climbing figure of Santa Claus

Climbing figure of Santa Claus

Santa is attached to a nylon cord. When you repeatedly stretch and relax the cord you can watch Santa climbing up to the top. The high quality wooden Kletterfigur (Climbing figure) was made by a small company in Seiffen which is in the Erzgebirge region of Germany. www.Firma-Ulbricht.de.