Guess who invented Lincoln Logs
Consider buying your child an old-fashioned set of Lincoln Logs and take the time to get down on the floor and build with them.
Some of the Bicentennial Edition logs, put out in a commemorative tin canister by Hasbro in 2009 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, may still be available in stores or online. The notched logs give children a great way to understand how the pioneers, like Abraham Lincoln, constructed their homes on the frontier.
While this classic toy does not actually date back to Lincoln himself, it does have a venerable history and will celebrate its own centennial in 2016.
John Lloyd Wright, son of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, invented the interlocking wooden blocks in 1916, got a patent on them in 1920 and registered the name in 1923, according to the incredibleart.org website.
The original sets were miniature notched wooden logs that could easily be assembled into a log cabin structure. In fact, they came with instructions on how to build Abraham Lincoln's log cabin and also Uncle Tom's Cabin from the book by Harriet Beecher Stowe and were manufactured by the Red Square Toy Company, John Lloyd Wright's own toy company, until 1943 when he sold the patent.
Wright always said that the foundation of Tokyo's earthquake-proof Imperial Hotel, which he worked on as his father's chief assistant, inspired the shape of his logs. He spent 16 months testing various foundations and handled the working drawings and made the plaster model of the elaborate Japanese hotel.
But there were problems between father and son, thanks to the elder Wright's legendary difficulties with money. He refused to pay his son a consistent salary, forcing John to subsist on sporadic handouts, according to incredibleart.org.
Eventually, John took his wages out of a residential commission his father sent him to collect in Japan and Frank fired him by cable.
That ended his apprenticeship and John began designing wooden toys which Marshall Field and Company distributed for him. But Lincoln Logs were, by far, his most successful toy invention.
“Lincoln Logs turned out to be a toymaker's dream,” an article on the incredibleart.org website says. “The original sets were an instant success and after World War II, sales of Lincoln Logs got another boost from the baby boom. The sets were popular among postwar parents because they were more sophisticated than plain building blocks but still challenged children's powers of concentration and eye-hand coordination.”
“Lincoln Logs were among the first toys to be promoted on television, 1953's Pioneer Playhouse,” the article went on. “The ads targeted affluent parents who were most likely to own a television set and to buy educational toys.”
Ironically, John Lloyd Wright sold the rights to Lincoln Logs before they shot to toy stardom. He sadly missed out on making millions from his invention, incredibleart.org lamented.
Today the toy is made by Hasbro.