 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
I remember coming into contact with the Lincoln Log toy set when I was eight years old. A friend of mine who lived down the street received the set as a Christmas gift. It was the perfect compliment for our cowboy and Indian figurines The set came in a round cylindrical container that had a lid you pried off. Inside there were miniature redwood logs of various shapes and sizes with notches cut into them on both ends. There were also green pieces that were to be used for roof construction. Along with the logs came an instruction book featuring building designs such as Abe Lincoln’s cabin, blizzard lookout, Uncle Tom’s cabin, avalanche cabin and many other designs. We spent hours building our forts and then staffing them with our soldiers only to commence bombarding each other’s fort with left over pieces to determine who built the superior fort by how well it stood together under attack. This activity would easily consume a better part of a Saturday. First toy set on your TV set Years later to my amazement while researching information
on Lincoln Logs I found it was one of the first educational toys
marketed on television. It made its debut on Pioneer Playhouse
in 1953 and advertised on Walt Disney‘s Davey Crocket. Digging
a little deeper I found that inventor John Lloyd Wright was son
of the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. John, who was also
an architect, became inspired by a trip with his father to Tokyo
in which he observed the construction of the Imperial Hotel where
his father introduced the floating cantilever design — a
process of interlocking beams that enabled a building to withstand
earth quakes .
In 1947 Playskool purchased Lincoln logs from Wright Inc. This was to be a profitable move because baby boomers [with the help of Walt Disney’s two hit series, Davey Crockett in 1954 starring Fess Parker, and Daniel Boone in 1964 also starring Fess Parker] helped keep the demand for frontier toys strong. As a result boomers turned out in large numbers to purchase the logs. One hundred million sets have been sold since 1916. As late as 1975, a million sets a year were being sold requiring four freight car loads of Oregon ponderosa pine a month. Building your collection Because of the sets popularity and their mass production, it isn’t hard to find the old sets in mint condition if you wish to buy one. As far as collecting goes they don’t appreciate much, you can get a pretty good original set with red wood logs for about $75. On the other hand, it is still a good toy for your kids. So always remember don’t throw anything out! —Frank Sources used in writing this article:
Also check out the official Lincoln Logs website.
|
Boom me back to the main
archives page!
|
|
The
Best Building Set Ever—
In
1926 Child Life magazine advertised Lincoln logs as “Americas
national toy” once again fanning the flames of patriotism
just in time for the Christmas season. Then again in 1928 Child
Life featured the toy as “The Heroic Epic Of Early
Settlers” spurring sales in time for another Christmas season.
Soon competitors like Halsam’s American Logs entered the
market but they did not last long because consumers clearly preferred
the original.