Who owns playskool

Knowing this, the women one named Lucille King, the other unknown started their own company that made toys inspired by experiences in their classrooms, known back then as The Playskool Institute.

These toys were filled with ways to keep kids busy discovering, tinkering, using their senses, and - most importantly - having fun. Nearly a century later, the Playskool brand is still doing what we love most: making quality, dependable products for generations of babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and their families. By , The Playskool Institute produced more than 40 different toys including a pounding bench, wooden beads and blocks, a table-mounted sandbox, a pegboard, and others.

Who knew getting dressed could be so much fun? Tonka including Kenner Products was purchased by Hasbro bringing their famed trucks and iconic Sit 'n Spin to the Playskool family of products. Meythaler built on the educational cachet with which the brand already was invested by advertising in magazines for sophisticated consumers such as Parents, Redbook, and Psychology Today.

Some of the early Playskool toys were deemed to boost a child's intelligence or, at least, to prepare children for intelligence tests. For example, a wooden mailbox introduced in the s had differently shaped holes and pegs. Learning to push the round peg into the round hole and the square peg into the square hole prepared children for a standard test of development. Playskool also extended its line of educational toys by acquiring other manufacturers.

In the company bought the J. Wright Company, manufacturer of Lincoln Logs. Wright was the son of famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. While with his father during the building of the landmark Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, J. Wright came up with the idea for interlocking logs as a construction toy for children.

Lincoln Logs was a leading brand in the American toy market and is still manufactured. Another essential purchase Playskool made was that of Holgate Toys in Holgate was a Philadelphia woodworking company dating back to The company specialized in utilitarian products such as broom handles and brushes until some time in the s, when a daughter of the firm's treasurer married a notable child psychologist, Lawrence Frank.

Frank had been a leader of a movement in the s to establish child study institutes in the United States. He persuaded his father-in-law's company to begin producing wooden toys, which, like Playskool's, would be good for children.

Holgate's toys were designed by Jerry Rockwell, brother of the artist Norman Rockwell. Jerry Rockwell is credited with designing some of the most enduring toys in the Holgate and, later, Playskool line, including a cobbler's bench, stacking rings, nesting blocks, pegboards, and lacing shoes. When Playskool bought Holgate in , Rockwell went to work for the new company.

There he created Playskool's Tyke bike, another enduring favorite toy that is still part of the Playskool line. South Bend had an established line of doll carriages and also made equipment for wooden outdoor games such as croquet and horse shoes.

Playskool built its product line up carefully, buying companies that meshed well with its own existing lines. In it acquired the Halsam Company, an established manufacturer of wooden blocks. Halsam also owned the Embossing Company, which was the only American manufacturer of embossed wooden blocks--the common alphabet blocks. The Embossing Company also was also a major manufacturer of checkers and dominoes. Playskool got the block, embossed block, and checkers and dominoes lines when in it bought Halsam in Robert Meythaler continued to direct the company's marketing efforts toward magazines for educated parents, and the theme "Learning While Playing" was still in use.

Meythaler attributed this big jump to the introduction of the federal Operation Headstart program. Headstart emphasized just the type of play-learning that had long been associated with Playskool's products, and the popularity of the program expanded the market for educational toys. Playskool had to start up new factories in the mids to keep up with demand.

Though the sales outlook for the company was good, costs associated with plant construction led to steep declines in earnings. In Playskool was bought out by the Milton Bradley Company. Milton Bradley, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, was famous for its board games, including Monopoly.

As a subsidiary of Milton Bradley, Playskool retained its focus on preschool and infant toys. Playskool advertised during the popular children's show "Captain Kangaroo," while still reaching out to parents and teachers through magazines such as Good Housekeeping, McCall's, and Instructor.

Playskool retained its own headquarters, separate from Milton Bradley's Massachusetts establishment. In Playskool consolidated its various offices and plants into a giant million-square-foot complex on Chicago's northwest side. The company operated there throughout the s.

By Playskool's factory employed approximately 1, people. Though the bonds were issued as an incentive for the factory to stay in the city and add jobs, Playskool soon announced that it was laying off almost half its work force. Then in the largest toy company in the United States, giant Hasbro, Inc. Hasbro was known for its G. Many Hasbro products targeted at preschoolers were rebranded with the Playskool name, including Play-Doh and Tonka.

Playskool also began licensing toys from other designers, creating licensing agreements to manufacture Teddy Ruxpin, Barney, Arthur, Teletubbies, and Nickelodeon branded products. Hasbro also began licensing the Playskool brand name to other vendors, manufacturing a number of products under the Playskool name, including books, baby care supplies, video games, and children's apparel. Playskool Wiki Explore. Wiki Content. Recently Changed Pages Mr.

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