Wednesday, December 23, 2009

History of Christmas Toys...


ANSWER TO LAST QUIZ... #32-T
In 1947, a group of Minnesota teachers realized their attempt to make and sell garden tools was failing. They decided to use their extra materials to make toys in a small schoolhouse basement. Over a half-century and 250 million toys later, this company uses more than 119,000 pounds of yellow paint and 5.1 million pounds of sheet metal to make these toys.
NAME THIS TOY COMPANY... TONKA TOYS

TODAY'S QUIZ...#33-T
Ruth Handler watched her kids play with many of their toys and noticed that most were based on little babies. During a trip to Europe with her son, Kenneth, and her daughter, Barbara she came across an exciting German toy based on a popular comic strip character appearing in a German newspaper. She bought 3 of these toys and brought them back to the U.S.
Handler re-designed the toy (with the help of engineer Jack Ryan) and exhibited her toy at the American International Toy Fair in New York City on March 9, 1959. The sales of her new toy hit 350,000 in its first year.
Today, these toys are sold in over 150 countries at the rate of 1 every second!
NAME THIS INCREDIBLY POPULAR CHRISTMAS TOY...