American Bricks

These bricks were created by a company called Elgo that later changed it's name to Halsam

They were an alternative to Lego bricks, but completely incompatible.

The bricks had several configurations that were similar to Legos, but are wider and longer and not as toll as the more popular brick. 

These bricks were intended for the use of building houses or other buildings.

The basic configuration of an American Brick is 8 pegs x 2 pegs.  The size is 1 3/4 inches long, 3/4 inch wide and 1/4 inch tall.

The were made in two colors: white and red.

The white bricks were intended as foundation pieces and lintel pieces for the doors and windows.

The red bricks are the actual wall pieces.  They have brick texture on the outside

Other red pieces are the roof peak pieces.  They are the 2x2 hole configuration on the bottom and are a wedge that is 2 bricks tall.  The idea with these pieces is to build the peak on the ends of the house and then lay the green cardboard roofing pieces over the finished model.

There are several different configuration pre-made windows bricks in these sets. Most of them were hinged, so you could open and close them at will.
There are small 1 brick windows, 2x2 windows and 2x3 windows that have the hinges. 
There are also non-hinged picture windows and slatted glass windows.

All sets come with pre-formed, hinged doors as well.

The hinge configurations on doors and the windows that have them are right side and left side.  All intended for double window or "French" door style doors.

Some of the larger sets have garage doors

All of the accessory pieces have a hole in the bottom and a peg at the top so that they can all be built directly into the walls of the models

Here's a nice description of American Bricks from Jackie's Architectural Toys page

The American Bricks toy was my first introduction into construction toys.  I never had a set, but my cousin, who lived across the road, had a couple of sets and I would go to his house and play with them several hours a day in my early childhood.

These toys are what I credit with my love for building toys of all sorts.