I loved meccano. I used some the other month to make a door closer for my
porch.
Incidentally, Meccano made me a phonograph together with some bits of tin
and a cardboard horn. The cylinder was made from baco foil and of course had
a clunk every rotation, but did actually work surprisingly well to
demonstrate the principals, though speed variability was a bit of an issue,
as was recording time.. grin.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"News" wrote in message
...
In message , Bill Wright
writes

Finally she asked, "But how much memory did it have?"

grin You sound like an older father, although perhaps Katie is your
Granddaughter. My son has just turned 13, and I'll be 62 shortly. I do
try to complete his education, explaining what life was like pre mobiles,
computers, game machines, tablets etc. All sorts of stuff - our first
black and white TV, with two channels and very little TV for children, our
first phone tied to the wall with a cable, our 'wireless', first fridge
all of which arrived in my lifetime. His Grandma (and mine) operating the
mangle every Monday, deliveries of milk, bread, paraffin, no central
heating, clockwork toys, my first wind up gramophone, 45s, 78s, LPs, reel
to reel, my first CD, cassette tapes, Walkman, Commodore 64, Atari etc.
Things that arrived during my lifetime, yet were gone by his. Pirate
radio. Trying to explain that there was no Radio 1, no local stations, no
TOTP, no YouTube. Just David Jacobs :-) Highlights of the week including
Ready Steady Go, Thank Your Lucky Stars (Oi'll give it foive!), Juke Box
Jury.

The impact of Elvis and The Beatles. Luckily, he hears me playing golden
oldies, is used to us having an open fire, drives my Minor in the garden,
eats with us at the table in the dining room and plays with my tinplate
trains. He even enjoys traditional board games at Christmas. He doesn't
like Meccano, though.

The other side of the coin, of course, is that he keeps me up to date with
what his generation loves. Funny thing is, although he and his friends
will spend hours in front of a screen, they also do so much that I did, 50
years ago. Out on their bikes, messing about by the river, building dens
and dams. What really delighted me, when he first started school, and
understood humour, was the jokes. He and his friends were laughing at
*exactly* the same jokes as amused me at that age. He also adored the
same cartoons, like Huck Hound and Yogi Bear. The difference was we saw
them once a week on B&W TV - he watched them constantly, in colour, via
DVD. Oh well ...
--
Graeme