Is it expensive? Actually, it is at around $60 for a classic set of 86 pieces. And they will even learn team work and they realize their strengths and weaknesses and pool them to do even better work than they might do on their own. They will spend time building and learning from the other children in the room, how THEY play together, how THEY build, THEIR techniques. (photo credit: Incredible Art Department) They will not forget this introduction to a truly great toy and they will ALWAYS want to play with Lincoln Logs again. (photo credit: Incredible Art Department)Īnd that’s all you really need to get them started with their love affair with their own creativity, their own hands, and a simple humble toy that has passed the test of time. Take it from me: if you bring out a box of Lincoln Logs, hold it high in the air, and let the contents spill to the floor with a resounding crash, the eyes of your child audience will light up and they will absolutely POUNCE on those logs to see who can build the best structure. Because A) I am a mother of 12 kids and B) I am a grandmother of 9. They sigh with resignation and come holiday time, head straight for the DVD department to purchase a Dora the Explorer disk. They aren’t even going to try to find a toy that will make children actually use their hands to create, a toy that makes kids explore the recesses of their own minds, awakening synapses that have overslept for too many years. Some parents have thrown in the towel at this point. What toy could possibly compete with computer games and the World Wide Web? Not to mention the explosion of social media beginning with Facebook. Then came the personal computer which rendered the television a second class citizen in terms of entertainment potential. They’d buy the little ones whatever toys were currently popular in hopes they’d find that magic toy: the one that would make the kids lose interest in passively observing a constant feed of images and sounds by way of the boob tube. First mothers tried to get their kids away from television screens. Toys have been vying for supremacy over screens for 50 years now. And that’s no small thing in the age of technology. Kids see Lincoln Logs and they automatically feel their hands twitch with the need to build and create. Below is a box of Wright Blocks from that era.Lincoln Logs have been around longer than most people have been alive, yet here it is, alive and well, still the same humble toy, still popular. Below: In late 1949 he patented-and in 1950 began to sell-a new version of his Wright Blocks, an interlocking block set which he had first patented in 1933.
The ads targeted affluent parents, who were most likely to own a television set and to buy educational toys.Ībove: The Imperial Hotel - John got the idea for Lincoln Logs by observing his father build this beautiful building in Japan. Ironically, Lincoln Logs were among the first toys to be promoted on television, 1953’s Pioneer Playhouse. 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. The original sets were an instant success, and after World War II, sales of Lincoln Logs got another boost from the baby boom. Lincoln Logs turned out to be a toymaker’s dream. That the foundation of Tokyo’s earthquake-proof Imperial Hotel, which he saw while his father was building it, inspired the shape of his logs. The Lincoln Logs Construction Set was manufactured by the Red Square Toy Company from 1916 to 1943.
These sets were originally made of all-wood, and came with instructions on how to build Uncle Tom's Cabin and President Lincoln's log cabin. Lincoln Logs consisted of notched miniature logs that could easily be assembled into a log cabin structure. In 1920, a patent was issued to John Lloyd Wright for his invention of the Lincoln Logs Construction Set. He missed out on making millions from his invention.ġ920 US Patent - Lincoln Logs Construction Set John sold the rights to Lincoln logs before they became popular. Above you see a much larger version of Lincoln Logs. You can see John Lloyd Wright's signature on the plans on the left.
Wright's version was very successful from the beginning and has remained so to this day.Ĭlick on the pictures to see the large version. Building logs of similar designs had been produced by several other toy companies since the civil war but John L. Wright Company of Chicago, Illinois, obtained its patent for the design on Augand had the Lincoln Logs name registered on August 28, 1923. Lincoln Logs were first produced in 1916 by John Lloyd Wright. Many people aren't aware that John Lloyd Wright is the inventor of Lincoln Logs and other games.