Hasta La Ideas

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.

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