1860 - Milton Bradley, draftsman and lithographer in Springfield, MA, invented game, "The Checkered Game of Life"; April 3, 1866 - received patent for a "Social Game" ("called the 'checkered game of life'...and is intended to forcibly impress upon the minds of youth the great moral principles of virtue and vice"); May 22, 1866 - Lewis Bradley and Milton Bradley, of Springfield, MA, received a patent for "Improvement in Croqueterie" ("combination of arch and sockets to form a croquet bridge or arch...iron croquet bridge or arch coated with zinc, tin or other similar metal...painting croquet-balls in which the light balls are designated by black or dark stripes and the dark balls by white or light stripes").

1864 - Joseph Binney founded Peekskill Chemical Works, in Peekskill, NY (produced charcoal, lamp black); 1885 - Edwin (son), C. Harold Smith (nephew) formed partnership, Binney & Smith (early products: red oxide pigment used in barn paint, carbon black for car tires); 1902 - introduced first dustless school chalk (won gold medal at St. Louis World Exposition); incorporated as Binney & Smith Company; 1903 - produced first box of eight Crayola crayons, sold for a nickel (Crayola name, coined by Edwin Binney's wife Alice, came from "craie," French word for chalk, "ola," from "oleaginous"); October 23, 1928 - registered "Crayola" trademark first used June 10, 1903 (crayons, slate pencils, and chalk); 1984 - acquired by Hallmark; January 1, 2007 - renamed Crayola LLC.

1867 - Elisha Selchow established E.G. Selchow & Co., game wholesale company; 1874 - acquired rights to sell Parcheesi, The Royal Game of India (one of oldest American game trademarks); 1880 - formed partnership with John Righter, name changed to Selchow and Righter Co. (‘jobbers’, sold games from other companies); October 8, 1918 - Essanar Company, Inc. registered "Parcheesi" trademark first used in1869 (board and counter games); 1952 - took over production of Scrabble frpm James Brunot (acquired rights from creator Alfred Mosher Butts in 1949 after S&R passed); 1983 - acquired Trivial Pursuit; oldest privately held game company in America; May 1986 - acquired by Coleco; December 1986 - Coleco went bankrupt, taken over by Hasbro.

April 17, 1875 - Sir Neville Chamberlain invented game "snooker" (variation of pool).

August 23, 1887 - Samuel Leeds Allen, of Cinnaminson, NJ, received a patent for a "Sled"; April 24, 1888 - received second patent for a "Sled" ("related to that class of sleds known as double runners"); August 13, 1889 - received third patent for a "Sled"; Flexible Flyer; May 7, 1904 - S. L. Allen & Co. registered "Flexible Flyer" trademark..

November 30, 1901 - Frank Hornby received British patent for "Improvements in Toy or Educational Devices for Children and Young People"; named invention "Mechanics Made Easy" (part-based construction system); 1907 - formed Meccano Ltd. to manufacture, distribute products; August 22, 1911 - Meccano Limited Corporation (Liverpool, England) registered "Meccano" trademark (mechanical toys).

October 6, 1908 - Henry Simon Winzeler founded Ohio Art company, made Etch-A-Sketch.

December 1909 - Kewpie dolls debuted in Ladies’ Home Journal; March 4, 1913 - Rose O'Neill Wilson, of Day, MO, received a design patent for a "Doll"; Kewpie doll.

1923 - Henry, Helal Hassenfeld founded Hassenfeld Brothers in small office in Providence, RI ; sold textile remnants, soon moved into manufacturing pencil boxes, school supplies; name later changed to Hasbro; 1964 - introduced G. I. Joe, world's first "action figure" (poseable figure for boys); 1968 - name changed to Hasbro Industries; went public; 1984 - acquired The Milton Bradley Company, became biggest toy company; 1985 - name changed to Hasbro, Inc.; 1991 - acquired Tonka Corporation.

August 14, 1953 - David Mullany Sr., of Fairfield, CT, invented the wiffle ball, curved when thrown, for his 13-year-old son; February 1, 1966 - Wiffle Ball, Inc. (Shelton, CT) registered "Wiffle" trademark first used in 1959 (bays and a device for tossing a ball).

March 9, 1959 - Barbie doll debuted (3-dimensional doll little girls could play with; created by Ruth Handler, founder of Mattel; used her daughter's nickname; December 1, 1959 - Mattel Incorporated registered "Barbie" trademark first used May 9, 1958 (doll).

October 16, 1962 - Wham-O Mfg. Co. (San Gabriel, CA) registered "Hula-Hoop" trademark first used May 21, 1958 (plastic toy hoops).

June 4, 1963 - Robert Patch (6) received a U.S. patent for a "Toy Truck"; could separate into a chassis, driver's cab, truck body, wheels and four axles so it could be reassembled in either a closed van body or dump truck form.

February 2, OR February 9, 1964 - GI Joe, debuted as popular American boy's toy; October 11, 1966 - Samuel F. Speers, of North Attleboro, MA, and Hubert P. O'Connor, of Warwick, RI, received a patent for a "Toy Figure Having Movable Joints" ("amusement device...that closely simulate the movable portions of the human anatomy"); GI Joe; assigned to Hassenfeld Bros.

January 26, 1965 - Noah W. and Joseph S. McVicker, of Cincinnati, OH, received patent for a "Plastic Modeling Composition of a Soft, Pliable Working Consistency"; Play-Doh.

December 26, 1967 - Edward E. Headrick, of La Canada, CA, received a patent for a "Flying Saucer" ("related to aerodynamic toys to be thrown through the air and in particular to flying saucers for use in throwing games"); frisbee; assigned to Wham-O Manufacturing Co.

May 26, 1969 - Wham-O Mfg. Co. registered "Frisbee" trademark fist used July, 8, 1957 ("toy flying saucers for toss games").

1974 - Erno Rubik, lecturer at the Department of Interior Design at the Academy of Applied Arts and Crafts in Budapest, introduced Rubik's Cube in Hungary; September 1979 - Stewart Sims, Vice President of Marketing of the Ideal Toy Corporation, ordered one million cubes; March 29, 1983 - Erno Rubik, of Budapest, Hungary, received two patents for a "Spatial Logical Toy" ("having a total of eighteen toy elements which form a regular or irregular spatial body, preferably an oblong body, in the assembles state"); and for a "Spatial Logical Toy" ("comprising a total of eight toy-elements, e.g. eight cubes or eight other solids with a spherical outer surface, which form a large cube, sphere or other geometric solid in an assembled state"). June 21, 1983 - Ideal Toy Corporation registered "Rubik's Cube" trademark first used March 18, 1980 (puzzles).

December 15, 1979 - Scott Abbott, sports editor for Canadian Press, Chris Haney, photo editor for Montreal Gazette, created game (pieces of their Scrabble game missing); 1982 - Trivial Pursuit, acquired by Selchow & Righter (New York), released; May 3, 1983 - Horn Abbot Ltd. Company (Toronto, ON) registered "Trivial Pursuit" trademark (Equipment Including a Playing Board, Die, Rules of Play, Question and Answer Cards, Card Boxes, Player Tokens and Scoring Wedges Sold as a Unit for Playing a Board Game); 1984 - 20 million games sold; 2008 - rights acquired by Hasbro for $80 million.

1982 - Kransco Group Companies bought Wham-O for $12 million; 1994 - Mattel bought WHAM-O from Kransco; 1997 - Mattel sold assets of Wham-O (sales of $18 million) at auction to group including Charterhouse Group and Seven Hills Partners; 2006 - Charterhouse Group sold Wham-O (sales of $80 million) to an affiliate of Cornerstone Overseas Investments Ltd. (Hong Kong).

August 19, 1993 - Mattel, Fisher Price toys merged.

February 17, 1996 - World chess champion Gary Kasparov defeated Deep Blue, IBM's chess-playing computer, by winning a six-game match 4-2, in a regulation-style match held in Philadelphia, as part of the ACM Computer Science Conference; May 3, 1997 - Garry Kasparov began chess match with IBM supercomputer Deep Blue; May 11, 1997 - Deep Blue defeated Kasparov; Russian master conceded defeat after 19 moves in the sixth game of the tournament, losing the match 2.5 to 3.5; first time the grandmaster ever lost a six-game match in championship play. Chess was born in India in the 6th century as a war game called Chaturanga.

2000 - LEGO named "Toy of the Century" by both Fortune magazine, British Association of Toy Retailers.

November 19, 2002 - David L. Pickens of Honolulu, HI, received patent for "Registered Pedigree Stuffed Animals" ("designed to simulate the biological laws of inheritance both for educational, recreational and aesthetic purposes"); pair of opposite sex "parent" toy animals are sold with a serial number to identify parent's genotype and phenotype, then "bred", "offspring in litter" sold.  

December 25 - Legendary holiday-season successes: 1983-Cabbage Patch Kids; 1990s-Beannie Babies; 1996-Nintendo-64; 1998-Tickle Me Elmo; 1999-Pokemon; 2000-Playstation 2; 2002-Nike Air Force 1; 2004-iPid Mini, Nintendo DS; 2005-Xbox 360, iPod, iPod nano

(Cabbage Patch Kids), William Hoffman (1984). Fantasy: The Incredible Cabbage Patch Phenomenon. (Dallas, TX: Taylor Pub. Co., 217 p.). Doll industry--United States; Cabbage Patch Kids dolls.

(Chess), David Shenk (2006). The Immortal Game: A History of Chess or How 32 Carved Pieces on a Board Illuminated Our Understanding of War, Art, Science, and the Human Brain. (New York, NY: Doubleday, 327 p.). Chess--History. Interaction between chess and cultures in which it has been played; microcosm for wider social issues; remarkably omnipresent factor in development of civilization.

(Class Struggle), Bertell Ollman (2002). Ballbuster: True Confessions of a Marxist Businessman. (Brooklyn, NY: Soft Skull Press, 300 p.). Wilf Family Department of Politics (New York University). Ollman, Bertell; Board game industry United States History. 

(Creative Playthings Inc.), Theresa Caplan (1999). Frank Caplan: Champion of Child's Play. (New York, NY: Vantage Press, 567 p.). Caplan, Frank; Creative playthings, Inc.--History; Businessmen--United States--Biography; Toy industry--United States--History.

(Doom), David Kushner (2003). Gamers: The True Story of How Two Guys Created a Video Game Empire, Transformed Pop Culture, and Unleashed Doom. (New York, NY: Random House, 335 p.). Romero, John, 1967- ; Carmack, John; Computer games--History; Computer games--Programming--History; Computer programmers--United States--Biography.

(Frisbee), Fred Morrison, Phil Kennedy (2006). Flat Flip Flies Straight: True Origins of the Frisbee. (Wethersfield, CT: Wormhole Publishers, 436 p.). Creator of Frisbee. Frisbee; Flying toy.

(A. C. Gilbert Company -1913 first erector set), Bruce Watson (2002). The Man Who Changed How Boys and Toys Were Made: The Life and Times of A. C. Gilbert, the Man Who Saved Christmas. (New York, NY: Viking, 244 p.). A. C. Gilbert (1884-1962); Erector Set; Toy industry--History.

(Hasbro), John Michlig; with a preface by Don Levine (1998). GI Joe: The Complete Story of America's Favorite Man of Action. (San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 208 p.). Hasbro, Inc.; G.I. Joe figures--History; Action figures (Toys)--United States--History.

(Hasbro), G. Wayne Miller (1998). Toy wars: The Epic Struggle Between G.I. Joe, Barbie, and the Companies that Make Them. (New York, NY: Times Books, 348 p.). Hassenfeld, Alan Geoffrey, 1948-; Hasbro, Inc.; Toy industry--United States; Businessmen--United States--Biography.

(Lionel Corporation), Roger Carp (1998). The World's Greatest Toy Train Maker: Insiders Remember Lionel. (Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Books, 112 p.). Lionel Corporation--History; Railroads--Models.

(Lionel Corporation), Ron Hollander (2000). All Aboard!: The Story of Joshua Lionel Cowen and His Lionel Train Company. (New York, NY: Workman Pub., 288 p. [rev. ed.]). Cowen, Joshua Lionel, 1880-1965; Lionel Corporation--Biography; Railroads--Models--History.

(Lionel Corporation), Dan Ponzol (2000). Lionel: A Century of Timeless Toy Trains. (New York, NY: Friedman/Fairfax Publishers, 160 p.). Lionel Corporation--History; Railroads--Models--United States--History.

(Mattel), M. G. Lord (1994). Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll. (New York, NY: Morrow, 326 p.). Barbie dolls. Barbie doll conceived in 1959 as a teenage fashion model.

(Mattel), Ruth Handler, with Jacqueline Shannon (1994). Dream Doll: The Ruth Handler Story. (Stamford, CT: Longmeadow Press, 230 p.). Founder of Mattel & Creator of the Barbie Doll in 1959. Handler, Ruth; Mattel, Inc.; Dollmakers--United States--Biography; Barbie dolls.

(Meccano Limited), Kenneth D. Brown (2007). Factory of Dreams: A History of Meccano Ltd, 1901-1979. (Lancaster, UK: Crucible, 230 p.). Meccano Limited.--History; Railroads--Models--History.

(Milton Bradley), James J. Shea as told to Charles Mercer (1960). It's All in the Game - A Biography of Milton Bradley, The Man Who Taught America to Play. (New York, NY: Putnam, 284 p.). Bradley, Milton, 1836-1911; Milton Bradley Company.

(Parker Brothers), Ellen Wojahn (1988). Playing by Different Rules. (New York, NY: AMACOM, 306 p.). General Mills, inc.; Parker Brothers, inc.; Consolidation and merger of corporations -- United States -- Case studies; Corporate divestiture -- United States -- Case studies.

(Parker Brothers), Philip E. Orbanes (2004). The Game Makers: The Story of Parker Brothers from Tiddledy Winks to Trivial Pursuit. (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 245 p.). Former Executive (Parker Brothers). Parker Brothers, Inc.; Board game industry United States History.

(Parker Brothers), Rod Kennedy, Jr.; text by Jim Waltzer in association with The Atlantic City Historical Museum (2004). Monopoly, The Story Behind the World's Best-Selling Game. (Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 96 p.). Monopoly (Game)--History; Atlantic City (N.J.)--History. 

(Parker Brothers), Philip E. Orbanes (2006). Monopoly: The World's Most Famous Game-And How it Got that Way. (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 288 p.). President of Specialty Games Company Winning Moves, Former Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Parker Brothers. Monopoly (Game)--History; Parker Brothers, Inc. Origin, growth, global impact of game that has become a cultural icon (over 200,000,000 copies sold worldwide since 1935. 

(Radio Flyer Inc.), [edited by] Robert Pasin and Paul Pasin (1999). My Little Red Wagon: Radio Flyer Memories. (Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Pub., 143 p.). Radio Flyer Inc.; Wagons--Anecdotes; Toys--United States--Anecdotes.

(Sony Playstation), Reiji Asakura (2000). Revolutionaries at Sony: The Making of the Sony Playstation and the Visionaries Who Conquered the World of Video Games. (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 241 p.). Kutaragi, Ken, 1950- ; Sony Computer Entertainment--Management; Sony Computer Entertainment; Sony video games--History; Electronic games industry--Management--Case studies; Sony Playstation.

(Margarete Steiff GmbH), Gunther Pfeiffer (2002). 100 Years Steiff Teddy Bears. (Konigswinter, Germany: Heel, 184 P.). Margarete Steiff GmbH--History; Teddy bears--Germany--History--20th century; Soft toys--Germany--History--20th century.

Anne Allison; foreword by Gary Cross (2006). Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 356 p.). Professor and Chair of Cultural Anthropology (Duke University). Toys--Japan; Games--Japan; Animated films--Japan; Video games--Japan; Consumer goods--Japan; Toy industry--Japan; Toys--Japan--Marketing; Philosophy, Japanese; Japan--Social life and customs. Author explores global popularity of Japanese youth goods;  questions make-up of fantasies and capitalistic conditions of play involved.

Kenneth D. Brown (1996). The British Toy Business: A History Since 1700. (London, UK: Hanmbledon Press, 278 p.). Toy industry--Great Britain--History.

Chris Byrne; foreword by Judy Ellis (2003). Toys: Celebrating 100 Years of the Power of Play. (New York, NY: Toy Industry Association, 279 p.). Toys--United States--History--20th century; Popular culture--United States--History--20th century.

Paul Budnitz (2006). I Am Plastic: The Designer Toy Explosion. (New York, NY: Abrams, 368 p.). Founder and Creative Director of Kidrobot and kidrobot.com. Plastic toys. Visual history of designer toy phenomenon, has energized toy world, global art community.

Howard P. Chudacoff (2007). Children at Play: An American History. (New York, NY: New York University Press, 269 p.). George L. Littlefield Professor of American History (Brown University). Children--United States--History; Play--United States--History; Children--United States--Social life and customs. Activities that genuinely occupied children's time vs. what adults thought children should be doing; chronological history of play in U.S. from point of view of children (6-12); transformations of play that have occurred over last 200 years.

Eric Clark (2007). The Real Toy Story: Inside the Ruthless Battle for America’s Youngest Consumers. (New York: Free Press, 272 p.). Toy industry--United States.

M. P. Gould (1975). Frank Hornby: The Boy Who Made $1,000,000 with a Toy. (London, UK: New Cavendish Books, 141 p. [orig. pub. 1915]). Hornby, Frank, 1863-1936; Meccano Limited; Meccano models; Inventors--Great Britain--Biography. 

David D. Hamlin (2007). Work and Play: The Production and Consumption of Toys in Germany, 1870-1914. (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 286 p.). Assistant Professor of History (Fordham University). Toy industry--Germany--History. Valuable tool for understanding influence of consumerism on Wilhelmine society at time of extreme social transformation; how this new industry helped to lead way toward German modernity. 

Deborah Jaffe(2006). The History of Toys: From Spinning Tops to Robots. (London, UK: Sutton Publishing, 288 p.). Toys--History. Nostalgic exploration of toys through the ages. One of the few consumer markets in which the purchaser is generally not the same person as the user.

Marvin Kaye (1973). A Toy Is Born. (New York, NY: Stein and Day, 190 p.). Toy industry--United States.

Woodrow Phoenix (2006). Plastic Culture: How Japanese Toys Conquered the World. (New York, NY: Kodansha International, 112 p.). Plastic toys; Plastic toys--Japan; Action figures (Toys). Plastic toys based on Japanese comics, movies, TV shows have had  powerful effect on imaginations, markets of the West, have kick-started trends in design and pop culture.

Sydney Ladensohn Stern and Ted Schoenhaus (1990). Toyland: The High-Stakes Game of the Toy Industry. (Chicago, IL: Contemporary Books, 339 p.). Toy industry--United States.

Tim Walsh (2004). The Playmakers: Amazing Origins of Timeless Toys. (Sarasota, FL: Keys Pub., 298 p.). Game-inventor and toy-industry veteran; co-invented TriBond; inducted into the Games Magazine Hall of Fame. Toys--History; Games--History; Board games--History. 

Christine L. Williams (2006). Inside Toyland: Working, Shopping, and Social Inequality. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 252 p.). Professor of Sociology (University of Texas). Toy industry--United States--Employees; Clerks (Retail trade)--United States; Discrimination in employment--United States; Consumers--United States; Equality--United States. New look at what selling and buying for kids are all about.

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Business History Links

History of Toys and Games   http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/toys/              Exhibit on toy and game history features a timeline (4000 B.C. to the 1990s), essays on inventors (such as Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley) and toys (Barbie dolls, crayons, and teddy bears), and a quiz. From the website for the History Channel.

History of Toys and Game http://www.ideafinder.com/features/everwonder/toys.htm Founders and founding dates associated with many favorites.

Museum of Yo-Yo History                     www.yoyomuseum.com

National Farm Toy Museum http://www.nationalfarmtoymuseum.com/                         Iowa museum houses "thousands of toys and exhibits. ... of tractors, implements, trucks, miniature farm dioramas, toy manufacturing information, and pedal tractors. Features photos of dozens of toy tractors from the museum's collectors tractor series, a "Kids Corner" with a tractor-part identification guide, and links to related sites.

National Yo-Yo Museum               http://www.nationalyoyo.org/                                         Worlds largest public display of yo-yo's and yo-yo memorabilia. Featuring displays of yo-yos from the earliest commercial production to the current performance yoyo's used by todays top competitors and performers.

Nebraska Toy Stories  http://www.nebraskahistory.org/sites/mnh/toystory.htm  Companion to an exhibit at the Museum of Nebraska History that "showcased a selection of toys dating from the 1860s through the 1960s grouped by theme." Provides images of some of the exhibit items, such as building blocks, marbles, tin planes and cars, dolls and dollhouses, and rocking horses. From the Nebraska State Historical Society.

Pastimes and Paradigms: Games We Play http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/games/                                 This exhibition of "the evolution of games since 1800 ... includes a wide variety of antique and contemporary games, as well as rare books on rules, strategies, and recreation. Featured items include early nineteenth-century geographical board games; a Civil War game; suffrage games that garnered support in the battle for women's votes; a vintage Monopoly game; gambling punchboards; and a selection of games inspired by television programming." From Cornell University Library. Subjects: Games.