Tonka

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For the spice, see Tonka bean. For the rocket fuel, see Tonka (fuel). For the German DJ, see DJ Tonka.
an old-style steel toy dump truck by Tonka
an old-style steel toy dump truck by Tonka

Tonka is an American toy company most known for its signature toy trucks and construction equipment.

On September 19, 1946 Mound Metalcraft was created in Mound, Minnesota with three men as partners, Lynn Everett Baker (1898-1964), Avery F. Crounse, and Alvin F. Tesch. The first products produced by the fledgling company were two versions of a metal tie-rack. Their original intent was to manufacture garden implements. However when their building's former occupants, the Streater Company, attempted to market two metal toys and failed, the three men at Mound Metalcraft thought they might make a good side line to their other products. After some modifications to the design by Alvin Tesch and the addition of a new logo created by Erling Eklof with the Dakota-Sioux word "Tonka", which means "Great" or "Big", the company began selling metal toys. This soon became the primary business.[1] On November 23, 1955, Mound Metalcraft changed its name to Tonka Toys Incorporated. The logo at this time was an oval, showing the Tonka Toys name in red above waves, presumably honoring nearby Lake Minnetonka[1]. Celebrating the company's 60th anniversary, Tonka released a big dump-truck toy. The impact of the Tonka truck concept has been enduring and pervasive.

The company was purchased by Hasbro of Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1991.

[edit] Other products

Tonka has produced a wide variety of toys over the years, including dolls (Star Fairies, Bathing Beauties and Hollywoods) and other toys aimed at girls like Keypers. They were also the original manufacturers of the Pound Puppies toyline.

They have also produced a variety of computer games, including Tonka Raceway, and purchased the rights for the Sega Master System after Sega decided to stop competing against the Nintendo Entertainment System in the U.S.. However, the Master System's market share declined, since Tonka didn't have experience with video games or how to market them.

Hasbro sold the digital gaming rights for various properties (including My Little Pony, Magic: The Gathering, Tonka, Playskool, and Transformers) to Infogrames for USD$100 million in 2000, buying back the rights for USD$66 million in June 2005.[2]

In 1964, Tonka acquired the Mell Manufacturing Company in Chicago, Illinois, allowing Tonka to expand into producing barbecue grills, eventually under the "Tonka Firebowl" label.[3][4]

The Winifred Museum in Winifred, Montana, has a collection of more than 3,000 Tonka toys, possibly the largest collection in the world, according to the museum.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Tonka by Dennis David and Lloyd Laumann
  2. ^ "HASBRO REACQUIRES DIGITAL GAMING RIGHTS FROM INFOGRAMES FOR $66 MILLION", Hasbro press release, 8 June 2005.
  3. ^ Dennis David, Lloyd L. Laumann, Tonka, 2004, MBI Publishing Company, pp. 85-6, ISBN 0760318689
  4. ^ LIFE Magazine ad, May 27, 1966, 2Neat Magazines
  5. ^ Winifred Museum home page, accessed May 11, 2008

[edit] External links