Lego vs. Legos: Americanism? Regionalism?

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:23 PM -0400 7/30/07, Alice Faber wrote:
>Chris F Waigl wrote:
>>Wilson Gray wrote:
>>>At least 40 years, Beverly?! Damn! "Unhip" is one thing, "totally
>>>clueless" is another. I thought that Lego was something new, like
>>>within the past five years or so. I remember Lincoln Logs, but that's
>>>about it. IAC, thank you for the description of it. "Live and learn,"
>>>to coin a phrase.
>>>
>>
>>Now you surprise me. Maybe it came to the US late?
>>
>>Over 30 years ago my brother and I "inherited" a wicker basket of
>>already well chewed Lego bricks (the basic, multicoloured kind) that had
>>been handed down from a cousin one generation older. I remember the
>>event, but it only added to our own stock. My rarely visited maternal
>>grandmother also had a basketful stashed somewhere, to keep visiting
>>grandchildren amused. I don't think during my youth I ever went to a
>>household with children that didn't contain at least some Lego, and back
>>then they were gender neutral. I was actually shocked to see gendered
>>Lego sets as a young-ish adult. The original Danish Legoland opened
>>before I was born.
>>
>
>I was Lego-age in the 50's, and I don't recall having Legos alongside
>the Lincoln logs that I do remember fondly. But my cousins, who are
>about 5 years younger than I am, did have Legos. So I would guess that
>they became widespread in the early 60s. And, indeed, Google turns up
>the following page
><http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/lego.htm>, which says that
>Legos were introduced to the US in 1962, though they were around earlier
>in Denmark.
>
Hmmm.  That's consistent with my (non-)memory of Legos in the 1950's,
but not with Arnold's distinct memory of having played with them
"well over 50 years ago".  Maybe Arnold's set was smuggled in from
Europe, hidden between those copies of Lady Chatterley and Ulysses?

LH

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