Isn't the History Channel Great?

Today I watched a lovely little documentary on toys! The Greeks invented the yo-yo and the pull toy was quite popular among the Egyptians.

The creator of the Lionel train company was originally an air conditioning fan motor salesman. His business always seemed to dry up when summer ended. He decided to advertise his motors in the off season by making an electric train set. His train was more popular than his air conditioners so he ditched the HVAC business to sell trains full time. Lionel was his middle name.

Billions of lego bricks are made and sold every year. They were made by a Danish man just after WWII who knew some kids didn't have the patience for the nuts and bolts of erector sets (invented in 1913). His bricks were instantly popular. In fact, Lego is a Danish contraction of the words Leg Godt which stands for play well. I know that I have played well with legos.

I think Ben is getting ready for the big boy legos. Unfortunately his ability to play with them is limited by the ever present number of small children who might view such small blocks as food. Maybe when I get married and move out of the house or something...

In the meantime he has been having fun with the larger duplo blocks. As long as he's happy its all good. I feel that one of the single greatest toys of all time is legos. It is the window to unlimited creativity. I have spent countless hours of creativity with legos. In fact, David Ashton and I reminisced together about our lego days of yore. Neither of us know where our little blocks are now.