Core77

Toy Design History: Lincoln Logs were designed by...Frank Lloyd Wright's kid, based on a Japanese hotel basement?

By Rain Noe - October 24, 2010

in Object Culture

I always assumed Lincoln Logs, the popular notched sticks that are along with Lego part of a child's first foray into architecture, were named for log-cabin-dwelling Abe Lincoln. I couldn't have been more wrong. In fact they were invented by John Lloyd Wright, Frank's kid, who apparently observed the interlocking beams his father had wrought in the basement of Tokyo's Imperial Hotel.

FLW designed the Imperial Hotel's interlocking beams to counter earthquakes (though there is some controversy as to whether it was effective), and John (w)rightly predicted the system would make a great children's toy. He named the logs for FLW's discarded middle name, Lincoln, and they've been selling them since freaking 1918.

o
1

Favorite This
Q
2

Comment

Comments

conrad brown

14 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

John Lloyd Wright was Frank's second son, not his "kid", goats have kids. Also the Imperial hotel sat on wooden piles not interlocking beams. Log cabins were common in this country, particularly on the frontier in John Lloyd's time. There was no controversy about the effectiveness of wood piles under the Imperial. It stood relatively unfazed while nearly all else Tokyo was leveled by a quake months after the hotel was finished.
!Report as spam
SWPU

14 years ago

Z

Z

Reply

You may be missing the pun. The logs are linkin' because they link.
!Report as spam