Construction set:Lott's Tudor Blocks

By the beginning of the 20th century, Germany had become an epicenter of toy production, exporting toys to countries throughout the world. The outbreak of World War I, however, caused many countries to cut off trade with Germany, which in turn encouraged the growth of domestic toy industries. English manufacturer E. A. Lott took advantage of his country's split from Germany and began producing toys from a factory in Watford, England. In 1918, Lott offered Lott's Bricks, a set of construction blocks made of resin-bound artificial stone and sold in Modern and Tudor style sets. Lott's Bricks filled a void in the toy market left by the unavailability of German-made Anchor Blocks, produced since the 1880s by F. Ad. Richter. The English construction sets became a successful substitute for Anchor Blocks.