Charles Martin Crandall

Who was Charles Martin Crandall?

Charles Martin Crandall was an American inventor and toy-maker. He was best known for various toy blocks, "Crandall's Acrobats", "Noah's Dominoes", "Illuminated Pictorial Alphabet", "District School", "Menagerie", "Pigs in Clover" game and numerous other games and wooden toys such as wooden trains with interconnecting cars. Crandall began working in his father's woodworking and furniture factory in Covington, Pennsylvania and at the age of twelve began inventing toys. When his father died in 1849, Crandall took over the factory at age sixteen.