Creative Playthings MCM Birds on a Tree Puzzle and Balancing Toy spider web with the only visible flaw

with the only visible flaw being a tiny chip at the very tip of the peak of one of the dark cranes

with carved notch at the end that also looks a bit like an old key

and roughly translating to the English expression pork barrel) was an illustrated French weekly satirical magazine with anarchist political leanings that was chiefly produced between 1901 and 1912

I believe) I would guess were made in the late 19th/early 20th c

Someone not long ago either reframed it or replaced an old backing on the frame with a new piece of foam core

Creative Playthings MCM Birds on a Tree Puzzle and Balancing Toy spider web with the only visible flawThis fabulous birds in tree puzzle balancing toy display piece I think perfectly encapsulates the spirit and philosophy of the wonderful design company that was Creative Playthings, founded in NYC by Frank and Theresa Caplan in 1945 with the goal of creating simple but beautiful educational toys and materials emphasizing shape, color and texture that would promote a childs creativity and imagination. And indeed this puzzle does, lending itself to an