LEGO wasn’t always about plastic bricks. Back in 1932, Ole Kirk Kristiansen, a master carpenter and joiner, establishes his business in the village of Billund, Denmark. Ole’s firm manufactures stepladders, ironing boards, stools and wooden toys. By the early 1950s, LEGO was producing not just wooden toys; plastic toys account for half of the company’s output. The older wooden toys remain in circulation today, often as rare or collector items depending on their condition. Bailey Fullarton has used an apt mix of an original wooden LEGO tractor from the late 1940s/early 1950s and the plastic parts we all know and love to show off the vintage toy.

The LEGO Group’s many wooden and plastic products from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s took inspiration from social change and technological progress. In the early 1950s, the LEGO Group set up production of a Ferguson tractor in plastic. A range of implements is also available for the new toy tractor, including a cultivator and a plough, for hitching on the back of the tractor. These implements fit not only the plastic Ferguson tractor, but also the wooden tractors that are also part of the LEGO^® products at the time. The collection below shows the same tractor as Bailey used bit in better condition and with some of the accessories for working the land.

I personally prefer Bailey’s worn tractor with its played with, nostalgic feel.  I get the impression the tractor has had a hard life as a toy and now it is resting by the creek, enjoying the peace and quiet of retirement.