Two Boyhood Playthings Poem by Ananta Madhavan

Who invented 'Plasticine'?
I want to know,
Because it was a clay-thing
That has partly moulded me.

Who invented 'Meccano'?
I want to know,
Because its metal parts and wheels
Both built and dismantled me.

Seven decades later, I learnt
That the modelling clay-thing
Was thought of by William Harbutt,
Patented and traded in sculpted colours.

Those metallic strips with rows of holes
Wherewith boys assembled mini-cars and pulleys:
We owe to the brain of Frank Hornby.
Praise be to the 20th century, not outdated.