Rest In Play - 2000 thru 2009

Harvey Greenfield was the former chairman of the Board of Commonwealth Toys & Novelty Co. Inc. He was passionate about creating toys and bring joy into the lives of children, especially his own childr...en and grandchildren.Show more

Feb. 13, 1918 - Nov. 24, 2008 Betty came up with the name for the Slinky her husband Richard James invented. She ran James Industries, the firm that manufactured the toy, by herself starting in 1960... after her husband left the firm, Betty and their six kids for Bolivia. From the NY Times: Betty James, who came up with the name Slinky for the stair-walking spring that has delighted children for more than 60 years and who ran the toy company after her husband, the inventor, left it and his family in 1960, died Thursday in Philadelphia. She was 90 and lived in Hollidaysburg, Pa., where the company, James Industries, is located. Read more here https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/business/25james.htmlShow more

1912 – July 22, 2009 We love this NY Times tribute to Lynn Pressman Raymond https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/business/02pressman.html

Ruth Handler was an American businesswoman and inventor. She co-foundMattel with her husband Elliot Handler and she served as President of Mattel Inc. In 1959, she invented the Barbie doll, which is t...he largest selling doll of all time with over a billion dolls sold.Show more

Founder of the toy company that bears his name, Russ Berrie died suddenly on Christmas day. The cause of his death was heart failure, the company said in a statement. Berrie, 69, was the chairman and ...CEO of his namesake company. After working as a salesman in the toy business, Berrie used his own savings to start his company in 1963, operating out of a rented garage in Oakland, N.J. The company introduced and capitalized on such collectibles as trolls, “Bobble-Bods,” “Animagnets,” an array of plush animals and special-occasion porcelain figurines and, recently, home décor items. From ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in October to making an appearance on CNBC on Christmas Eve, Berrie was his company’s greatest cheerleader. Berrie lucked into the toy business almost on a fluke. After completing three years of college, he answered a classified advertisement and ended up working as a salesman for a Chicago-based toy concern. While the company he was working for wasn’t setting the world on fire with its toys, Berrie at least got a taste for the toy business and subsequently went to work for what was then the finest U.S. stuffed-animal manufacturer: Master Industries. Accordingly, Berrie’s company outgrew its garage to become a leader in the gift industry – with annual sales of over $300 million and employing more than 1,700 people worldwide. Berrie was also known as a generous philanthropist. One of his most recent and most substantial donations was to endow the Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Selling, at New Jersey’s William Patterson University, scheduled to open to students in fall 2003. (NY Post https://nypost.com/2002/12/27/russ-berrie-titan-of-trolls-and-toys-dies/)Show more