The kid's got a thing at the moment for Lois Lenski's book, Policeman Small, and so I toggle between admiration of her clean, simple artwork and annoyance at the guy's apparently non-union job [a 12hour shift with only 30 minutes for lunch?]. Actually, I just noticed that there isn't a single non-white face walking down any street, either, but maybe that's how it was in the 40's. In Florida. And North Carolina. Anyway...
UNC-Greensboro has Lenski's archive, a gift of her son Steven Covey [not the dayplanner one], which includes some toys, too. There's a wooden Noah's ark Lenski's husband Arthur Covey made for their grandson, and there are a couple of little Lenski-designed trains that never made it into production.
But the best, I think, are these alphabet blocks, which really show off Lenski's clean lines--and that sweet moderne-ist typeface rocks. They were commercially manufactured at some point, but there's no date or company given. Just something to add to the hunt list.
I also love that someone--a member of Archivist's Local 139, no doubt--has the job of documenting the rhymes and letter combinations on each block.
Lois Lenski Collection [uncg.edu]
Update: Well, that took about two minutes. This motley lot of blocks on eBay looks like it includes at least a couple of Lenskis.
Next on your Lenski reading list should be "Fireman Small". Fireman small and his crew work their bums off to empty the house of its furniture and bust a hole in the roof to put out a fire.
Only then does the mother remember that, oh yeah, her baby is upstairs.
And, sodden house be darned, they all move back in at the end.