What was this stencil toy called?
September 25, 2011 2:02 PM Subscribe
Please help me to remember the name of a favourite art toy from the Seventies
As a child, growing up in England in the Seventies, I was a talentless artist who loved drawing. Wielding a felt-tip freehand, I couldn't even draw a cat on a mat. Years later I learned I was dyspraxic, but that's beside the point.
One Christmas around 1971 or 1972, I was given a set of stencils that enabled me to draw human figures. The first kit was Cowboys and Indians, and I think there were three stencil plates: they were made of coloured plastic, red, blue or yellow, and each one was A4 size or a little smaller.
Cut into each plate were the outlines of people, in exploded form – a head, a torso, the arms (bisected at the elbow) and the legs (thighs, shins and feet all separated).
Above each dismembered limb there was a dot-sized hole. I could draw round the torso, and mark the dots where the arms, legs and head would be attached. Then I added the rest of the body, posed as I wanted – reaching for a gun, running, crouching, etc. There were profile figures, front-on figures, half-profiles, and even smaller figures for the background.
I bought other sets – farmyard animals, safari animals (I think) and dinosaurs (again, I think... it's a long time ago!)
The stencils have long since been given away to some school jumble sale. I'd love to replace them, but for the life of me I can't remember what they were called.
Does anyone else remember them?
As a child, growing up in England in the Seventies, I was a talentless artist who loved drawing. Wielding a felt-tip freehand, I couldn't even draw a cat on a mat. Years later I learned I was dyspraxic, but that's beside the point.
One Christmas around 1971 or 1972, I was given a set of stencils that enabled me to draw human figures. The first kit was Cowboys and Indians, and I think there were three stencil plates: they were made of coloured plastic, red, blue or yellow, and each one was A4 size or a little smaller.
Cut into each plate were the outlines of people, in exploded form – a head, a torso, the arms (bisected at the elbow) and the legs (thighs, shins and feet all separated).
Above each dismembered limb there was a dot-sized hole. I could draw round the torso, and mark the dots where the arms, legs and head would be attached. Then I added the rest of the body, posed as I wanted – reaching for a gun, running, crouching, etc. There were profile figures, front-on figures, half-profiles, and even smaller figures for the background.
I bought other sets – farmyard animals, safari animals (I think) and dinosaurs (again, I think... it's a long time ago!)
The stencils have long since been given away to some school jumble sale. I'd love to replace them, but for the life of me I can't remember what they were called.
Does anyone else remember them?
Best answer: Ha - I remember that - it was Unidraw! I had it too. It's hard to google as it's also the name of a digital graphic editing tool now. I did find this expired listing on ebay though, so it does come up from time to time. Worth putting a search on ebay for, perhaps?
posted by Chairboy at 3:24 PM on September 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Chairboy at 3:24 PM on September 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you very much. Well remembered!
posted by MinPin at 3:31 AM on September 26, 2011
posted by MinPin at 3:31 AM on September 26, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by faineant at 3:04 PM on September 25, 2011 [1 favorite]