![]() ![]() But the lasting appeal of Lincoln Logs was already baked in-the perfect product with the perfect marketing campaign, all born from the mind of a man with a unique perspective on the delicate balance between 20th century urban progressivism and rural, frontier romanticism. There were many imitators that tried to steal Lincoln Logs’ niche over the years, including the “Frontier Logs” of crosstown rival Halsam Toys. There is even a sly reference to building “little houses” at a time when Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” book series was all the rage among the gentler set. Today we don’t have to do the things the pioneers did, but you boys and girls can build the same sort of little houses, barns, forts and villages that the pioneers did if you use LINCOLN LOGS.”īesides the appreciated Fort Dearborn shoutout, the key takeaway from the copy above is the phrase “boys and girls.” Gender based toy segregation usually dictated the selling of dollhouses to girls and train sets to boys, but Lincoln Logs were for everybody. ![]() They also built a big fort called Fort Dearborn and made it entirely out of logs. “How they cleared land, built log cabins, and fought the Indians. “You all know the stories people tell about the pioneers who settled our country,” read a 1934 Lincoln Logs advertisement. And yet, through a magical confluence of imagination, nostalgia, and patriotism, they somehow became “America’s National Toy.” Why worry about complex assembly lines and detailed craftsmanship when you can just sell a kid a box of raw materials and let them finish the job?! In an industry typically dominated by hip new technology and shiny objects that “do stuff,” Lincoln Logs were nothing more than what they purported to be-logs. ![]() One of the most successful toys of the 20th century was also one of the most ingenious from a manufacturing sense. Marshsall Field’s bought all I could make.” –John Lloyd Wright, from his memoir My Father, Frank Lloyd Wright, 1946 1958 Ad “When I completed the design for ‘Lincoln Logs’ toy construction blocks, their success encouraged me, and making wooden objects became my temporary source of income. Museum Artifact: Original Lincoln Logs Set 1C, c. ![]()
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