Construction set:Liberty Stone Bricks No. 3

The Phoenix Toy Company of Milwaukee offered its Liberty Bricks in the 1940s. The company was pretty much ensured success because the blocks were very similar to Anchor Bricks which had been popular among American children for nearly 50 years. Anchor Bricks, for all their popularity, however originated in Germany in the 19th century. And even though the A. C. Gilbert Company of New Haven, Connecticut, bought the rights to manufacture and sell Anchor Bricks in the United States, sales may have dipped during the years when America fought against Germany in World War II. That the Phoenix Toy Company called their construction set "Liberty Bricks" suggests that it hoped an appeal to patriotism might sell its product. The Milwaukee company was no doubt aware of the success of the John L. Wright Company that sold its sets of wooden pieces shaped like tree trunks as "Lincoln Logs."