Gamages Renowned Interlocking Building Bricks thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at Young V&A
Play Gallery, Build It, Case 2

This object consists of 2 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

Gamages Renowned Interlocking Building Bricks

Construction Toy
1909-1910 (manufactured)
Artist/Maker
Gamages (retailer)
Place of origin
England (manufactured)

A rectangular box with a sliding lid, containing 115 pieces of hard wood of various lengths, each with notches in either side so that they can be fitted together. Four of the pieces have curved edges and four have semi-circular arches cut out of them.

The box lid bears a printed paper label showing the title and an image of a house, a bridge and a windmill, with a description of the bricks.


Object details

Categories
Construction Toys
Play
Object type
Construction toy
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.
(Some alternative part names are also shown below)
  • Construction Toy
  • Box
  • Lid
TitleGamages Renowned Interlocking Building Bricks (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Wood, cut with a jigsaw; printed paper
Wood
Paper
Sawing
Printing
Brief description
Construction toy, Gamages Renowned Interlocking Building Bricks, wood, 1909-10, England
Physical description
A rectangular box with a sliding lid, containing 115 pieces of hard wood of various lengths, each with notches in either side so that they can be fitted together. Four of the pieces have curved edges and four have semi-circular arches cut out of them.

The box lid bears a printed paper label showing the title and an image of a house, a bridge and a windmill, with a description of the bricks.
Dimensions
  • Box height: 45mm
  • Box width: 302mm
  • Box depth: 202mm
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'GAMAGES / RENOWNED INTERLOCKING BUILDING BRICKS' (Title, printed on the label )
  • 'FOR BUILDING MODEL BRIDGES, CHURCHES, / WINDMILLS, HOUSES, FORTS, MONUMENTS, &c.' (Description, printed on the label )
  • 'The Gamage Interlocking Building Bricks without question, are far and away the best bricks / invented for children. Their chief feature is, of course, / the notches or slots into which the bricks interlock, so that when a model has been constructed, whether it be a House, Fort or Windmill it can / be carried about and played with as if it were nailed or glued together. Even apart from the interlocking arragement the shapes and sizes / have been so arranged that the number of different models which can be made from a single box is quite extraordinary. The bricks are of high quality and have been / machined and planed to gauge, so that any brick (no matter what size) will interlock with another, and will not come apart until [illegible] / Illustrated booklet is supplied with each box.' (Printed on the label)
  • 'No. 1, 10½d. Postage 3d. / No. 1½, 1/9 " [Postage] 4d. No. 2, 2/4½ Postage 5d. / No. 2½, 3/11 " [Postage] 6d. / No. 3, 5/11' (Pricing information, printed on the label )
  • 'A.W. GAMAGE, Ltd., Holborn, London, EC' (Retailer's address, printed on the label)
Credit line
Given by Miss D. Lesley Hale
Object history
Given to the museum in 1990 (87/232). On entry to the museum it was noted that the condition was 'good, although a few of the pieces have been broken, and the label on the lid is rather marked.' The toy originally belonged to the donor's mother (b. 1899).
Subjects depicted
Churches
Houses
Windmills
Bridges
Collection
Young V&A Collection
Accession number
MISC.3-1990

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1128433/gamages-renowned-interlocking-building-bricks-construction-toy-gamages/
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