Lincoln Logs

Build your own log cabin! Stack the notched wooden logs together to make cabins, forts, ranches, and whatever else you want to build.

Simple and fun! Lincoln Logs are small wooden logs with notches near the ends so they can be fitted together. Stack them up, overlap the corners, add the green planks to form a roof, and you've got your own log cabin. Or a fort. Or a ranch house - or whatever else you want to build.

Lincoln Logs have been around for more than 100 years! They were invented by John Lloyd Wright, the son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Surprisingly, the idea for Lincoln Logs did not come from American log cabins. Wright says he was inspired after watching the construction of his father's earthquake-resistant Imperial Hotel in Japan, which used an interlocking structure designed to remain stable during an earthquake.

Lincoln Logs really took off in popularity in the 1950s, when cowboys, pioneers, and the American frontier were everywhere. TV shows such as Davy Crockett helped make log cabins and frontier life pretty exciting to kids, and Lincoln Logs advertising tied right into that craze.

Unlike many toys from the 1950s, Lincoln Logs have remained consistently popular and essentially unchanged over the decades. I had Lincoln Logs when I was a kid, and years later my kids got Lincoln Logs for Christmas, too. While there are a few modern variations, the most popular by far are the original wooden logs, green slat planks, and of course the little red chimney (with the "V" shaped notch on the bottom) to complete the roofline.