Alphabet Blocks, 1865-1875
Add to SetSummary
Mid-nineteenth-century companies drew on new technologies to produce and distribute inexpensive toys. In 1858, New York firm S. L. Hill patented "a new and Improved Spelling-Block" with imagery applied directly to the wood. Hill became the first American manufacturer to mass produce toy alphabet blocks. These popular toys helped children learn letters and numbers and practice spelling. They also served as stackable building blocks.
Mid-nineteenth-century companies drew on new technologies to produce and distribute inexpensive toys. In 1858, New York firm S. L. Hill patented "a new and Improved Spelling-Block" with imagery applied directly to the wood. Hill became the first American manufacturer to mass produce toy alphabet blocks. These popular toys helped children learn letters and numbers and practice spelling. They also served as stackable building blocks.
Artifact
Alphabet block
Date Made
1865-1875
Keywords
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Object ID
91.0.11.491
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Wood (Plant material)
Paper (Fiber product)
Technique
Lithography
Color
Multicolored
Dimensions
Height: 1 in
Width: 6 in
Length: 6 in
Inscriptions
box lid: Hill's Alphabet Blocks
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