# Classic cascading kids' toy **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581 "2013-07-03T20:15:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581/1 "2013-07-03T20:15:42Z")
Does anyone remember the classic kids’ toy that was a series of wood (now plastic) pieces hinged together with straps so that the top piece appeared to cascade to the bottom. What is it called and do you know of any on-line pictures or videos of same? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581/2 "2013-07-03T20:17:41Z")
Jacobs Ladder [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uqU2BX1bIc4/hqdefault.jpg "Jacob's Ladder Toy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqU2BX1bIc4) ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581/3 "2013-07-03T21:34:55Z")
Not to be confused with [Jacob’s ladder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_voltage_traveling_arc#Visual_entertainment). Or [Jacob’s ladder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%27s_ladder_(nautical)). Or [Jacob’s ladder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%27s_Ladder). Or […](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%27s_Ladder_(disambiguation)) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581/4 "2013-07-03T21:59:21Z")
[Another photo](http://www.teachersource.com/product/jacobs-ladder-flipping-illusion/light-color) from teachersource dot com, where you can buy one. I never knew the name “Jacob’s Ladder” for them. When I played with these, I think they (or at least the brand I knew) were called “Click Clack Blocks”. In one of Martin Gardner’s books on mathematical games and diversions, he has a chapter on making folded paper goodies that he calls [Tetraflexagons](http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Tetraflexagon.html) (not to be confused with the much-better-known hexaflexagons, a chapter in another of his books). (Just google _tetraflexagon_ for many more cites.) These come in many varieties. The classic Jacob’s Ladder toy is a more elaborate version of a tetraflexagon. ETA: [Instructions for building one of your own.](http://www.woodcraftarts.com/jacob.htm) ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581/5 "2013-07-03T22:50:57Z")
[Jacob’s Ladder?](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lightspiralstudios.games.jacobsladder1) ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581/6 "2013-07-04T00:16:40Z")
Yes, the toy pictured as Jacob’s ladder is what I was thinking about, but we didn’t call it that. I believe we did call it something like click clack blocks so that indeed might be a brand name. The Jacob’s ladder I recall (apart from the Biblical reference) was one of the steps in the string game Cat’s Cradle. Thanks all. I was trying to explain it to a Chinese student. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581/7 "2013-07-04T01:32:06Z")
“Jacob’s Ladder” isn’t a brand name. It’s not clear when it was first given that name. The name is obviously based on the Biblical reference. The Wikipedia entry on it isn’t consistent within itself about the origin of the toy: > **[Jacob's ladder (toy)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%27s_ladder_(toy))** > > A Jacob's ladder (also magic tablets, Chinese blocks, and klick-klack toy) 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. This effect is a visual illusion which is the result of one block after another flipping over. It may be considered a kinetic illusion, where the blocks appear to change position when they do not. Its name Jacob's Ladder comes from the biblical ladder to heaven Of un... ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581/8 "2013-07-04T05:45:08Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Jacobs Ladder > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqU2BX1bIc4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqU2BX1bIc4) Jeez, I had totally forgotten about that toy. My grandma had one around her house back when I was a kid and I remember being totally fascinated by it. I “discovered” most of the moves in that video; Now I want to get my hands on one as an adult and inspect it further to figure out how it works (yeah, wiki has a diagram, but i prefer kinesthetic learning. I want to play with the damn thing. :D) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581/9 "2013-07-04T06:49:05Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Jeez, I had totally forgotten about that toy. My grandma had one around her house back when I was a kid and I remember being totally fascinated by it. I “discovered” most of the moves in that video; Now I want to get my hands on one as an adult and inspect it further to figure out how it works (yeah, wiki has a diagram, but i prefer kinesthetic learning. I want to play with the damn thing. :D) So build one of your own. It doesn’t get more kinesthetic than that! See the link I posted, above, to a page with instructions for building one. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581/10 "2013-07-04T11:11:22Z")
I remember having one of those as a kid. The blocks were mirrorlike - shiny silver on one side, shiny blue on the other, with white ribbons holding it together. I remember it being called a “click-clack”. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581/11 "2013-07-04T11:27:51Z")
Mine was called a Click Clack and dates from the mid-60s I’d guess. It was plastic of different colours, with black cotton straps connecting the sections. The pieces all had a round indentation in the centre and, iirc, if you put a sixpence in one at the ‘top’ you could make it travel down to the other end or, in another set-up, make it disappear. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581/12 "2013-07-04T12:57:36Z")
I got one when I was 10 or so and was so fascinated I took it apart and reassembled it to see how it was built. Then I got some wood and ribbon and started making them for friends. I remember making a super long one I had to stand on a chair to use. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-cascading-kids-toy/662581/13 "2013-07-04T13:41:41Z")
We called them Flip-Flop Blocks. And the same principle is used to make the more complicated Rubik’s Magic toy.