Highlights Archives
Favorite American Toys Made in Wisconsin
Duncan. American Girl. Dungeons and Dragons. These are some of the biggest names in American toys and games. Among the scores of playthings on display in the museum exhibition Toy Stories are a dozen beloved toys whose stories are rooted in Wisconsin. Learn how innovative Wisconsin individuals and businesses created and produced toys enjoyed by generations of children around the world.
For 95 years the Garton Toy Company of Sheboygan manufactured millions of pedal car toys in their distinctive "Garton red" color. Wooden and plastic Duncan yo-yos were manufactured in both Luck and Baraboo for decades. Manitowoc's Aluminum Goods Manufacturing Company (Mirro) and Aluminum Specialty Company, already world famous for their cookware products, adapted their expertise to produce the space-age Sno-Coaster "saucer" sled and true-to-life toy tea and cookware sets that were "Just like Mother's." Not long after, another Wisconsin company created toys from a different medium — plastic. Hartland Plastics of Hartland introduced their now famous horse-and-rider sets in 1954. Capitalizing on the contemporary craze of anything Western, Hartland modeled their figures after popular television heroes.
Nearly 20 years later, Wisconsin was the birthplace of new generation of famous plastic toys. In 1973 two Brookfield, Wisconsin, women turned their sons Cub Scout craft project into a family favorite — Shrinky Dinks. The next year a Lake Geneva war-gamer launched Dungeons and Dragons, considered today the grandfather of all role-playing games.
Wisconsin companies continued to create toys and games that became household names. In 1986 Middleton's Pleasant Company introduced the first generation of their influential American Girl dolls. Beloit's Patch Products, formed in 1985, hit the big time in 1992 when they entered the board game business by obtaining the license for the word game TriBond. From there Patch Products began creating their own line of toys and games for adults and children. At the end of the millennium, Out of the Box Publications of Madison introduced the award winning card game, Apples to Apples.
There is still time to enjoy these toys and more than 100 other favorites from the last 60 years at the Wisconsin Historical Museum. Join us on April 17 for a screening of the thought provoking film, Toying With Their Future and on May 15 for a program about the Garton Toy Company.
:: Posted April 9, 2007
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