FLLW Carboard Model

[John]

Any one have one of these for sale?

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/ ... 001843.asp

[peterm]

Haven't seen that, but there is Robie...

http://www.amazon.com/Assemble-Frank-Wr ... 0486253686

[SDR]

Antique models are especially covetable. This one has charm, and color -- but -- it's grossly mal-proportioned, isn't it ?

I can forgive the paper-thin roof planes, of course . . . !

SDR

[Jeff Myers]

I use to buy these building kits as a kid one was an Egyptian Temple, there was also a castle... ah the days before I realized how much of an affect those little paper model kits and legos would play into my future.

[SDR]

I have an enduring memory of a farm cutout -- house, barn, car, entourage -- printed on the inside of a cereal box. Blue ink on grey-brown cardboard ? I seem to recall waking up my dad early in the AM, to help me cut or assemble a part. The car (so help me) was a '48 Nash . . .

SDR

[peterm]

I grew up playing with four of the five shown here:

http://www.3ds.com/blog/draftsight/engi ... struction/

Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys as a young child, then The Erector Set (sans rocket launcher...) followed by that amazing Miesian girder panel system, which I loved to build with. For some reason, I never ended up having Legos..

You can tell that Legos were marketed to budding architects by the boy with the Le Corbusier bow tie... It's so enlightened of the French to show girls building with them. And their structure is even taller than the Bauhaus Boy's!

[Roderick Grant]

I have the Robie House, but have never bothered to assemble it. Just another thing to dust. In addition to Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs and Erector Set, I had a Lego predecessor. I don't know what it was called, but it consisted of CMU-like white plastic blocks, 1x2 and 1x1, clear plastic blocks (glass blocks were popular after the war), lintels for windows and doors and cardboard roofing. I had that during my mania with mansions, but there were never enough bricks to build anything big enough to satisfy me. (When I discovered the Gamble House, I drew my own version with a 475' long facade. That cured me of mansions; I couldn't come up with enough uses for the endless rooms.)

[DRN]

I have the Robie house kit, and mine too is still in its book...the same company used to make a series of skyscraper kits in '80-'83. I assembled the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and Sears Tower. As one might imagine, the intricate Chrysler was more difficult to build than the blocky Sears. They stood proudly in my dad's guest room until we closed his house a few years ago.

I'm with you peterm on the Girder and Panel set. I loved that as a kid. In the '70's, a bridge set was available that was compatible with the building set. I spent many rainy afternoons building "tripping hazards" in my parent's living room that consisted of hybrid buildings, towers, and bridges spanning from one piece of furniture to the next. The Sweeton house is short on storage space, but I did find enough to tuck those two sets away.

[John]

This is what I originally intended:



October 10, 1938

[Roderick Grant]

Architects of entries, top row in traditional styles, bottom modern.

Top row: Richard Koch, H. Roy Kelley, Royal Berry Wills, Aymar Embury

Bottom row: Edward Durell Stone, William Wilson Wurster, Unknown, Wallace Harrison & Andre Fouilhoux

Inspired by this article, a book was published by Life comparing the work of Royal Berry Wills and Frank Lloyd Wright, not listed in Sweeney's bibliography.

[jmcnally]

There are various groups and websites on the net for sharing, downloading, and assembling cardboard models of buildings. I have downloaded (but not built) the Disneyland Haunted Mansion, and other famous buildings are available. Alas, FLW is a bit complicated and I have not found any of his designs.

There also was a more elaborate cardboard model of the Robie house that I purchased somewhere in the Chicago or Oak Park area. It did not come in book form.

[jim]

From the web:

"Fascinating facts about the invention
of Lincoln Logs by John Lloyd Wright in 1916.

"Lincoln Logs Collector's Edition In the 1910s, American builders were busy on construction sites in the city and in the playroom. Introduced just after Tinkertoys and the Erector Set, Lincoln Logs were yet another construction toy to make it big during the decade. John Lloyd Wright, son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, brought out the line of sturdy, interlocking logs in 1916. Wright claimed that the foundation of Tokyo’s earthquake-proof Imperial Hotel, which he saw while it was under construction, inspired the shape of his logs.

"Lincoln Logs turned out to be a toymaker’s dream. The original sets were an instant success, and after World War II, sales of Lincoln Logs got another boost from the baby boom. The sets were popular among postwar parents because they were more sophisticated than plain building blocks but still challenged children’s powers of concentration and eye-hand coordination. Ironically, Lincoln Logs—long a favorite of proponents of educational toys—were among the first toys to be promoted on a television show, 1953’s Pioneer Playhouse. The ads targeted affluent parents, who were most likely to own a television set and to buy educational toys. Sometimes a toy that has had a previous life returns to catch the eyes of children at just the right moment in history. "

[Unbrook]

I have a partially built model of the Pope Leighey house. It was printed on sturdy paper stock. I never thought to look who published it, but would like to see it reprinted.

[PrairieMod]

Apparently, the Pope Leighey paper model was available in the late 60s/70s and was by a company called Monte Enterprises:



http://www.wurlington-bros.com/Workshop/tour2.html

http://www.amazon.com/Pope-Leighey-Hous ... nterprises