Giayson Tawksbury photo

Circus days aren't really gone, not as far as children are concerned. If they can't go to one, they can make their own.

Circus days are slowly dying out and becoming part of America's cultural history, but the appeal of the circus to the hearts of children will always remain. So here's Bill Baker's own circus wagon—ex­cept that it becomes your child's circus wagon when you put his name on it.

There's nothing to the construction. Use 1/4-inch plywood for the wagon sides for easy jigsawing, and 3/4-inch thick wood for the front and back panels and bottom, for strength.

Work up the graph drawing to a full-scale pattern for tracing. Cut the wheels from 3/4-inch stock. (Note that when you build any toys, children raised even in today's cut-the-cost world love the feel of a strong, heavy, lasting plaything.) Drill 1/2-inch holes in the wheels for the dowel axles.

The 1/2-inch dowel axles can be secured by either a 1/8-inch dowel through a hole drilled in the axle, or by a metal pin. Use 1/2-inch washers between the wheels and body.

Be careful to hang the bottom exactly above the holes for the wheel axle. Use glue and 4d finishing nails for the assembly. Stock couplings on the front and back of the wagon allow it to be pulled with a string or actually coupled to other wagons that you'll be asked to make afterward. •

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