GIANT PICTURE PRINTER (An ARNOLD ARNOLD Toy) de Arnold, Arnold F. [games, art education] - ca. 1950s

Greenwich, Conn.: Chaspec Manufacturing Company, ca. 1950s. 24 stamps, 4 stamp pads and a collection of papers housed in a printed box, 13 x 21 inches. The box has general surface soil and wear, a few areas of abrasion around the edges, panels a little askew but very solid. The ink pads inside the tins have disintegrated, leaving the tins a little rusty, and at some point the blue ink bled on some of the papers (which get stashed in a hidden compartment underneath the inks). The kit is usedabout seven of the supplied papers are stampedand has ink smudges, trial stampings on the underside of the lid, and expected ink staining on the stamps themselves, but is miraculously complete.

A thrilling addition to the lineage of educational printing toys, the Arnold Arnold GIANT PICTURE PRINTER married the coolest of modern design with educational play. The stamp designs include unusual curvy forms and textured patterns, like brick and wood grain, that provide a palette of shapes for children to combine. Instead of directions, brief blurbs appear on different areas of the box suggesting ways to use the stamps, noting how a single shape can create different representational pictures (Notice that the stamp that prints smoke can make many other things waves for the ship or a mustache for a funny face), and also encourages inventive exploration: Print what you know, have seen, read or heard about. It need not be real, as long as it gives you pleasure or helps you tell a story."