Wooden Toy Alphabet Blocks Recalled
Kids’ product recall 77-120. Announced by CPSC on Dec 8, 1977.
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The short answer
Announced by CPSC on Dec 8, 1977. Copied from CPSC on Oct 19, 2026.
Every line below is in CPSC’s own words, with its source beside it.
What’s wrong with it?
Lead
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What should you do?
The notice gives no remedy in a field of its own.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Which ones are recalled?
December 8, 1977 Release # 77-120 WASHINGTON, DC (Dec. 8) -- The M.W. Kasch Company, Mequon, Wisconsin, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) today announced the recall of 8,400 sets of wooden toy alphabet blocks. According to CPSC laboratory tests, paint used on some of these blocks has a lead content which exceeds the current permissible level of 0.5%. The agency’s lead-in-paint regulation is intended to reduce the risk of lead poisoning in children who may ingest paint chips or peelings. Effective February 28, 1978, the maximum permissible level for paint used on toys manufactured after that date will be reduced to 0.06%. The blocks being recalled were packaged in a plastic bag, either 15 or 28 to a set, with a cardboard label stapled at the top stating “ABC Educational Blocks - Made in Taiwan for Skyline International, Milwaukee, Wisconsin U.S.A.” The 15-block set retailed for about $1.35 and the 28-block set for about $3.00. The blocks are painted either red, green, yellow or blue and the letter background is white. The blocks have been sold since March 1976 in the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Consumers who have a set of these blocks should return them to the store where purchased for a full refund. A pre-Christmas survey by the Commission of 41 retail stores throughout the U.S. turned up other toys which the agency will be investigating further
ABC Educational Blocks wooden toy alphabet block sets.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Who made and sold it?
- Made by M.W. Kasch.
- Made in Taiwan, as the notice gives it.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Was anyone hurt?
The notice doesn’t say whether anyone was hurt.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What the record doesn’t say
- The notice lists no UPCs, so check the model, the description and the photos.
- The notice lists no model numbers in a field of their own; its description may give them.
- How many have been returned or fixed isn’t in the notice.
Hearth Record wrote these lines.
Sources
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U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Recalls API.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.
Recalls of kids’ and home products are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record. Copied on Oct 19, 2026.