Tinkertoy Construction Sets are the invention of Charles Pajeau, a stonemason from Evanston, Illinois. Inspired by watching children play with pencils, sticks and empty spools of thread, he developed several basic wooden parts which could be assembled into three dimensional structures. He formed the Toy Tinkers company, and introduced the product at the 1913 American Toy Fair in New York. Playskool acquired the Tinkertoy line from Child Guidance in 1985, and 'modernized' them in 1992, changing to all plastic construction.