Vintage Christmas Images: America's National Toy
Friday, November 28, 2008 at 3:36PM 
Long ago, before the age of Lego, there were Lincoln Logs, “America’s National Toy.” Do you know who invented them? I’ll give you a hint: It wasn’t Abraham Lincoln.
Do you need another clue? Lincoln Logs were the brainchild of the son of the architect who designed the building on the left. You can click on the photo for a larger view if you think that will help you identify the architect.
Even if you don’t know enough about architecture to recognize this man’s work, you may want to take a closer look at the photo. It’s a grand building that looks just a little Lincoln loggish if you ask me.
It was when this son-of-an-architect traveled with is father to Tokyo while this hotel was being built that he saw the interlocking beams in the basement, beams that were especially designed to withstand Tokyo’s earthquakes, and beams that would be the inspiration for his construction set idea.
Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention. In this case, maybe the invention came before the necessity, but the necessity was certainly the motivation behind the development and marketing of this invention. When his famous architect daddy refused to pay him a salary, son-of-an-architect began pilfering a bit here and there from the fees he collected for his father on this very hotel. Daddy found out and fired him. And children everywhere benefit because the filching son was forced to fend for himself.
The Christmas ad pictured above is from the December 1928 issue of Child Life. That would be four years after Lincoln Logs were first sold to the public. I’ve cut the copy from the ad, but you can still see the whole thing if you wish. Here’s some of it:
The very “Spirit of America” is typified by the creative possibilities of LINCOLN LOGS. A new enlarged Design Book shows many novel building ideas and suggests ways of using LINCOLN LOGS which arouse and maintain interest in this “ALL AMERICAN Toy” and make it “the most used Toy in the Playroom.”
And you thought people today overuse quotation marks.
“LINCOLN LOGS,” we’re told, “‘Fit In’ with Other Toys.” Good to know; the playroom is no place for misfits.
A single set of logs sold for $1, a double for $2, and a triple for $3. There was, it seems, no savings for buying in bulk back then. I have photos of ads from 1928 and 1934 (scroll down) and the prices are exactly the same, but by 1934, a set that includes log wheels for making “OX CARTS, WHEELBARROWS, WAGONS and CANNON of the olden times” and “modern Motor Cars” and airplanes has been added to the selection.
My sister and I received a set of Lincoln Logs for Christmas when I was five years old. I’ve told you here before that I had very few toys as a child. My family had no money for extras, and toys—believe it or not—are extras. But that Christmas three teenaged boys from the church my father pastored made each of us girls a big doll cradle, and they threw in a set of Tinker Toys and a set of Lincoln Logs to boot.
I never did play with my cradle. I didn’t do dolls, either. I preferred cars and trucks, and not in the “Hi, baby truck, I’m a big truck and I’m your mommy!” way my youngest daughter did. Nope, I built national parks in the dirt and drove in the tourists. You can imagine how much I loved my Lincoln Logs.
The only problem with Lincoln Logs is that there are never enough of them. Do you know how many sets it must have taken to do that whole town in the ad pictured above? Remember that each roof slat is a piece, as well as each single linker used in the doors and windows. I doubt you could make that big central building from a triple set of 166 logs.
My husband solved the piece shortage problem for my own kids by making them hundreds and hundreds of additional pieces out of wood scraps from his shop. They filled whole rooms with their cities. Somewhere in the storage room in the basement is a 4 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot cardboard box filled with his home made Lincoln logs. No one plays with them anymore, but I can’t get rid of them, can I?
Someday, perhaps, I’ll have grandchildren and we’ll dig them out again. They won’t know their grandpa, but they’ll be able to play with the toys he made. That’s a consolation prize, I suppose, but it’s an okay consolation prize.
There is no prize, consolation or otherwise, for guessing which architect’s son invented Lincoln Logs. If you know only one famous architect and you guess him, you will probably be (w)right.
Lincoln Logs are, you might say, “America’s National Toy” from the son of “America’s National Architect.”
Other Vintage Christmas Images
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Reader Comments (6)
I was (w)right!! It's John Lloyd Wright who invented Lincoln Logs, son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Its so cool when all that trivial knowledge I have stored up pays off. ;-)
I was (w)right, too. However, it was just a guess, so I can't think I'm toooo smart. What about donating the logs to either a children's hospital or an orphanage? Might take their mind of whatever ails them. Just a thought.
Karen/Monrovia, CA
I couldn't part with them. :)
And I thought the Old Log Meeting House was on 3rd and Elliott here in Whitehorse.
I can understand why you'd want to keep your Lincoln logs.
I'm not setimental about Lego. I plan to take our collection to Africa for the school but first I have to ask permission from our 35 year old sons.
Oh, how I loved my Lincoln Logs! And so did my boys.
We live reasonably close to Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. I'd love to visit them someday. I love Lloyd Wright's work.
And your husband was quite a father. I hope his grandchildren will realize how special those Stark Logs are. :)
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Sharon