Antique Wooden Jumping Jack

Jack Be Nimble – Brief history of the “Jumping Jack” | Positive ...

Show signs of life at 7:30AM.  The “jumping jack” is performed the world over by military personnel, professional athletic teams, and morning playmates like us.

At MFS Academy , you find constant celebration and jumping around, affirmation and achievement.

The jumping motion of the “Jumping Jack” models the jumping motion of a child’s wooden toy first made in the 1940′s.   During World War II, almost all metals were held from toy manufacturers since they were critical to the war effort. Wood was just about the only medium available for toy making. At this time, Henry and Jane Schlosser, in 1943, started their Bonnie Barn Toy Co. in Roslyn, New York.

Henry was a German immigrant who had been detained by US authorities for about 9 months at the entry of the United States into the war. Henry and Jane’s wartime romance is told in the book “Love Stories of World War II” by Larry King.

Jane Schlosser’s antique toy shop, Toys of Another Day, is located in Stoudtburg Village in Adamstown, Pennsylvania. She has a life long interest in toys that goes back to her days with her husband and the Bonnie Barn Toy Company.

There, in her shop in Stoudtburg Village, is her personal collection of Bonnie Barn toys… artistically done wooden horses, jumping jacks, circus performers, and other characters.

They reflect the toy artistry of Henry and Jane  Schlosser. The wood used in most of these toys came from discarded scraps from ammunition crates made during the war.

So why not “jumping Bob, or Carol, or Jehoshaphat”?  Enter Jack LaLanne.

Jack LaLanne was an American fitness, exercise, and nutritional expert, celebrity, lecturer, and motivational speaker who is widely referred to as “The Godfather of Fitness”. LaLanne gained worldwide recognition for his success as a chiropractor and bodybuilder, and for his incredible and prodigious acts of strength and endurance. Through his career, LaLanne has won numerous awards including the Horatio Alger Award from the Association of Distinguished Americans, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Hall of Fame.

Jack LaLanne popularized substituting the word PLAY for the word EXERCISE.  He was so prolific, that he and an animated wooden toy led the way for Jumping jacks and Jumping Jills everywhere.

People like to be around animated people with positive agendas, setting goals and reaching them. It’s contagious! They influence those around you, and become a positive habit in your lifestyle, part of your positive public image. That’s why we play at MFS Academy . Care to join us?

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