Jacob's ladder (toy)

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A Jacob's ladder is a folk toy consisting of blocks of wood held together by strings or ribbons. When the ladder is held at one end, blocks appear to cascade down the strings. However, this effect is a visual illusion which is the result of one block after another flipping over.

Jacob's Ladder toys date back to pilgrim times in America. It is called a "tablita mágica" (magic tablets) in Spanish and was known to have been produced in the Americas since the earliest colonial times. Jacob's ladders are still handcrafted by indigenous craftsmen throughout Mexico.

The toy is called Jacob's Ladder because its seemingly endless tumbling of blocks is said to resemble a dream of angels continuously ascending and descending a ladder to heaven, as dreamed by the biblical patriarch Jacob (Genesis 28:12). Because of the Biblical connection, and because it was a "nice quiet toy", Puritan children were allowed to play with it on Sundays (see Historical Folk Toys).

[edit] Construction

Arrangement of interlaced ribbons which allow each block to act as if hinged to the next one at either of its two ends. The same mechanism is used in the 1980s toy Rubik's Magic but with plastic strings run diagonally across squares, with the result that the squares can hinge along either of two adjacent sides.

The Jacob's ladder is one of the most ancient and famous folk toys. Legend has it that one was found in King Tut's tomb, which means these fascinating toys were played with in Egypt before 1352 B.C., when the young king died (at about 18 years old). Jacob's ladders, named for the biblical Jacob who saw a ladder leading from earth to heaven in a vision, have shown up all over the world. Like the spinning top, the Jacob's ladder seems to be universal, appearing at widely divergent world locations with no apparent historical connectedness.

[edit] External links

• Jacob's Ladder and how to make one