(Vol. 5, # 4)
It really gets my
attention when someone e-mails (or regular mails) a set of pictures of an
Anchor building. I have some from past letters and from old photo albums,
but I like best the contemporary ones. This church was designed and
built by Tim Fullam of Juneau, Alaska. Check out the
builder's page to see more pictures.
On my own page is a "work in progress". In March I visited a family in the Washington (D.C.) area. They own about 25K stones which came from F. R. Mason of Philadelphia. The collection, as all large collections do, includes some drawings and pictures. One is a castle based on the Large CAstle of 1894, which is featured on an Anchor advertising poster. Using the three photographs and the drawings, one of which is the ground plan, I am rebuilding the castle. So over the next three months you will see on this page a "work in progress". I will not finish the building in time for the May page, as a lot of time will be lost on preparations for the trip to the CVA meeting. For the record, AV Mason began the castle in October, 1914 and completed it on May 8, 1916.
Even if you have only a limited amount of time to spend looking at the Anchor web site, I urge you to at least go to the builder's page. This web page features Anchor buildings by Anchor people from around the world. The pictures are changed every month.
Richter's Anchor Stone Building Sets (Richters Anker Steinbaukasten) were the world's most popular construction toy from the early 1880s through W.W.I. These building stones were made in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany, (and at the company's branches in Vienna, New York and, possibly, St. Petersburg, Russia). Starting in 1880, Richter's Anchor building stones were covered by international patents and trademarks.
Today, there are many collectors and builders using Anchor Stone Building Sets. These collectors often participate in setting up Anchor displays at various exhibitions. A number of them are members of the international Club of Anchor Friends (Club van Ankervrienden), a Dutch club with members from the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain and the USA.
Over 600 different Anchor Stone Building Sets were produced in a number of different series. In addition Richter offered other "stone" products such as puzzles and laying games. Information on these building set series is provided here, but one can e-mail me on other Richter products. People who would like to know more about a specific set, including value, or are only interested in additional general information are urged to contact George Hardy (This page usually shows some of my buildings.) by e-mail. All e-mail questions will be answered, to the extent of my knowledge.
Sets and puzzles are being produced again! The quality is high. I urge people interested in starting Anchor building, and those who want to provide their educational benefits to their children, to consider buying new puzzles and sets. I also have available a limited selection of old sets, including a new set and some special prices. Anchor Stone Building Sets are great presents, and the supplement sets make wonderful follow up gifts. These new sets recently won the 1997 Parents' Choice Gold Medal. In 1999, the Anchor sets won the National Parenting Publications Award. For an 1880 toy to win in 1997 says a lot about the quality of these sets and Anchor in general. These sets are a perfect supplement to computers.
For those who are really interested in Anchor stones, I have written a book about them. (I just got tired of either looking up the same information again and again, or trusting my memory on specific details such as dates and names.) It is expensive, $70 (or 100 DM) ppd, because I print it myself on my PC and color ink is expensive. The book undoubtedly contains far more information about Anchor stones and sets, the Richter company, etc. than you'll ever want to read. This book is a lot of work to print (I print about a dozen at a time, in either English or German, and it takes a week, full time.), so please don't think I am urging you to buy one.
The CVA has published its Stone Catalog, which covers all of the stone shapes Richter made, plus shapes made by other innovators. Metal parts and most other accessories are included in the catalog. The contents of the sets are also listed. The cost of the catalog sheets (European size paper, intended for loose leaf use) is f 40, plus postage costs, in Europe. I bought four copies at the recent spring meeting, along with European four hole binders. All of them are already gone. The cost, including postage, was $40. I brought back six in November, but without the binders, but they are all gone now. All Anchor people need, and will want, a copy.
Web Page Notes: Most subpages do not change from month to month. I will try to remember to add the note "(new)" after those subpages which have undergone major changes recently. The "builder's page" and "my page" are revised every month. A few people have asked me to number the "issues" of the Anchor page. Well, they started in August, 1996, (with Vol. 1, # 8, to keep the number of the month the same as the issue's number). The number of this "issue" is shown at the top of this page. I can make a CD-ROM of the old pages for anyone who wants it. CD-ROMs are so cheap now that the only real cost is postage (see below if you want one).
Please note that this home page is revised monthly. Most of the graphics are JPEG, which improves quality and reduces file size. The URL name -- ankerstein.org -- indicates that this site is the official web site of the Club of Anchor Friends.
My e-mail address is georgeh@ankerstein.org. That address is an alias for my 'real' e-mail address, which is georgeh@ankerstein.org. But if I ever change the ISP for the web site -- www.ankerstein.org -- my 'rlc' e-mail address would change, but my 'ankerstein' e-mail address is (more or less) permanent.
Another web problem connected with the change of ISP has been the loss of a reference on most of the search engines. I am putting the page back up, but it takes time.
Many new graphics, and additional text, are uploaded once a month, as close to the first as possible. I do not change the full set of graphics, as most people never read beyond the first page. If you only have a little time, I urge you to take a look at the "builders" page. And please plan to drop by monthly to see the new pictures. In the restricted space of my home page, I can provide only a limited view of the wonderful world of Richter's Anchor stones.
Other web sites with Anchor pictures and
information:
new
Anchor factory in Rudolstadt, Germany, (in German and
English);
a German
retailer of Anchor sets, (in German);
an American retailer
of Anchor sets, (including the small sets #s 4 & 4A, which
are not offered here);
an English retailer of Anchor
sets;
German
Museum in München, (in German);
Stephen Wessel's Anker
page, (in German);
Construction
Toys;
Lego on Long
Island;
Architectural
Toys;
the
puzzle web page
is a must for all puzzle collectors, although not much on Anchor puzzles.
For the month of April, 2000.
Anker-Steinbaukasten, auf deutsch.
Anker-Steenbouwdozen, in nederlands (und auf Deutsch).
Anchor Stone Building sets, in English. (You found it.)
Notes on Looks at this Web Site
The full service counter now gives us a lot of information, which I will update here in future months. In the last seven months, August, 1999, through February, 2000 (213 days), there have been 8,434 "sessions", or about 40 sessions per day. About 70% of the sessions look at only one page; 25% look at 2 - 5 pages; 5% look at 6 or more pages. (These numbers seem to be holding quite constant.) About 60% of all sessions are identified by location. There have been viewers from the following countries: USA (3,227), Canada (166), Germany (123), Netherlands (121), UK (96), Austria (50), Switzerland (31), Australia (30), Japan (25), Belgium (11), Singapore (9), Finland (8), Norway (8), Czech Republic (5), France (5), New Zealand (4), Sweden (4), Malaysia (3), Portugal (3), Spain (3), UAR (Egypt) (3), Denmark (2), Hungary (2), India (2), Korea (2), United Arab Emirates (2), Brazil (1), China (1), Cypress (1), Greece (1), Israel (1), Italy (1), Malaysia (1), Mexico(1), Pakistan (1), Slovenia (1). Thailand (1) and Tonga (113). (Tonga has sold its identity to the "European Regional Internet", so these sessions are not really from Tonga.)
If there is interest, I will add a full page with more information. It is interesting. For example: Altavista continues to be the most important referring web site, except for eBay while I was selling some (new) sets. Yahoo is second search engine, but the puzzle site of John Rausch and the new Anchor factory in Rudolstadt, Germany are the second and third referring web sites. But recently google.com has become a very important search engine referring site. If you have not tried google.com, I suggest that you give it a try. You will like it. MS Internet explorer passed Netscape in popularity -- MSIE 36%, Netscape 29%, AOL 19%. Operating systems: Win98 36%, Win 95 27%, NT 10%, Mac 8%. I am really out of step with Win 3.1 -- only three, of which I am one (I check the page as soon as I get home from delivering the floppy disk.).
From the first appearance of the Anchor home page, August 30, 1996, there has been a slow but steady increase in the number of people accessing it. This site has been updated every month since August, 1996. I can supply a CD-ROM of all of the past web pages if you want one. If you want one, to cover the cost of the blank CD and postage, please send $5. Remember, each month you hold off on this purchase adds yet another of the monthly web pages.
Thank you for visiting the CVA "Anchor" web site.
or you can write to:
George Hardy
1670 Hawkwood Ct.
Charlottesville, VA 22901
Tel: (804) 295 4863
Fax: (804) 295 4898
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No Java. No music. No moving icons. No garbage. Ever. Just Anchor.