Baby rattles were not a big part of The Toycrafter product line. In addition to this design, I made a few "ring" rattles - ones with several wooden rings turned from one piece of wood with a shaft in the middle, and loose rings. Another rattle design was a ring of wood with a cross bar that had a loose bead on it that could be rattled. This latter design also served nicely as a teething ring! I made all of the rattles myself. The one in the picture is from two pieces of walnut, with a center layer of Baltic birch. Each end of each half has a hole drilled into the flat side before the glue up, and partially filled with dry mung beans. This rattle makes a very subtle sound, and is nice to hold! It was very difficult to turn the shape and not break through into the hole full of beans! I'm guessing this and the other rattles were made around 1976 - 77 (?) in our Rochester shop. Little did I know that about 40 years later, I would be giving this one to my granddaughter Stella Mae. This picture was taken this year in her living room. I can't find the picture I took of Stella with this rattle. She actually seemed to like it quite a bit, though the baby rattle stage of life is surprisingly short! If I find pictures or samples of the other two designs mentioned, I will post them.
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