Lego vs. Legos: Americanism? Regionalism?

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Jul 30, 2007, at 6:46 PM, Larry Horn wrote:

> At 9:23 PM -0400 7/30/07, Alice Faber wrote:
>>
>> 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?

maybe my memory is just wrong.  i might have projected the Legos back
from my daughter's childhood to my own.  i don't recall any time when
Legos were "new", so i might have re-worked my memory in such a way
that they were always there.  that sort of thing happens a lot.  (as
you all know, i am repeatedly distrustful of reports about linguistic
usages from the past, when there's no documentation.  everybody's
memories -- my own included -- about such things are notoriously
undependable, and people can be absolutely certain of memories that
are in fact significantly flawed.)

arnold the unmemorious

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