When did American plastic bricks come out?

American Plastic Bricks were a toy creation from the 1960’s consisting of interlocking uniformly-sized red and white plastic brick pieces.

What are American bricks?

American Bricks were produced in Chicago from the 1940s onwards. They are similar to Lego bricks in that the studs are laid out in a 4 x 2 pattern on a standard brick. As with this example, they were originally produced in wood, but later made in plastic.

Did elgo become Lego?

It was ELGO, not LEGO, that built its bricks first! was actually established as a division of Chicago’s Halsam Products Company in 1941—long before LEGO entered the American marketplace (1961).

What existed before Lego?

A year ago, it was “Bild-O-Brik” that was made in 1934. This is made by American Rubber Specialties Company. It is like this when you sort in the oldest order. On top of the accumulation of the past, blocks like the current Lego are made.

What are plastic bricks?

Matee is the founder of Nairobi-based Gjenge Makers, which has founded a novel way of converting plastic waste into sustainable materials. She has created lightweight and low-cost bricks made of recycled plastic with sand—a stronger material than concrete.

Who invented LEGO bricks?

Ole Kirk Christiansen
LEGO, plastic building-block toys that rose to massive popularity in the mid-20th century. LEGO blocks originated in the Billund, Denmark, workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, who began making wooden toys in 1932. Two years later he named his company LEGO after the Danish phrase leg godt (“play well”).

Who invented the plastic bricks?

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. But in the case of Nzambi Matee, a 29-year-old Materials Engineer, its paver bricks. Matee is the founder of Nairobi-based Gjenge Makers, which has founded a novel way of converting plastic waste into sustainable materials.

Why did LEGO change from wood to plastic?

Just five years after launching its System of Play, LEGO sustained a third catastrophic fire. Like the first, this blaze sealed the company’s fate: Since the fire burned up all of the company’s wooden toy inventory, the company decided to ditch wood for good and move ahead with plastic.

What is the history of Halsam American bricks?

Halsam American Bricks only had three different shapes. I had so much fun doing the 100 Toys Build that I decided to start another vintage toy build project. This time the subject is Halsam American Bricks. Its a building toy with a somewhat convoluted history. Halsom Products Co. was established in 1917. Their specialty was wooden toys.

What color are American bricks made of?

In the late 1950s the company moved American Bricks to Elgen, its plastics division. The bricks were completely redesigned and were made with injection molded plastic. Colors were still basic. Bricks were red. Capstones, doors, and windows (now plastic instead of paper) were white.

When did Lego come out with interlocking bricks?

Odder still, the inter-locking toy bricks developed by Halsam / ELGO were introduced in the late 1930s, pre-dating LEGO’s foray into that same field (1949’s “Automatic Binding Bricks) by a full decade. Everything may be awesome in Legoland, but original?

When was the first toy block patented?

[Several drawings from a 1920 patent application, by Samuel G. Goss (no “Junior” or “Senior” specified), for the “Method of and Apparatus for Manufacturing and Printing Toy Blocks.” The patent was approved in 1923 as U.S. patent 1,465,638]