Pressman Toy Corporation
Encyclopedia
Pressman Toy Corporation is a toy manufacturer based in New York City which was founded in 1922 by Jack Pressman. It currently focuses on family games and licensed products. Its slogan is "Games people play. Together." Though the company's long-time headquarters were in Manhattan
's Toy Center
at 23rd Street
and Broadway
, the company is now headquartered in Piscataway Township, New Jersey
, with an office at 7 West 18th Street in Manhattan.
The company was founded in 1922 by Jack Pressman, who brought in Max Eibitz as a partner in 1925, with Pressman doing sales and Eibitz managing the firm's Brooklyn
factory. One of the company's first hits was Chinese checkers
, a game that Pressman acquired the rights to in 1928 after spotting the game on a trip to Colorado, and first marketed as "Hop Ching Checkers".
The company was an innovator in licensing games and toys from popular media, such as the Little Orphan Annie
and Dick Tracy
comic strips. After the release of Walt Disney
's first full-length animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
in 1937, Pressman released a series of Snow White toys based on the film.
Pressman ended his partnership in 1947. He reincorporated later that year as Pressman Toy Company and brought in his wife, Lynn Pressman
, who had held senior positions in New York City department stores, as the new company's executive vice president. As Jack Pressman's health deteriorated, she took a greater role in the operation of the firm, and served as its president following his death in 1959.
The 1950s brought the Doctor Bag, designed to help children feel more comfortable with visits to the doctor, which was followed by a Nurse Bag and corresponding Ken and Barbie versions licensed in 1962. A series of items were licensed from the Walt Disney Company, starting after the debut of The Mickey Mouse Club television series in 1955. Lynn Pressman oversaw the signing of baseball star Roger Maris
to promote the company's Big League Action Baseball, and later signed Tom Seaver
of the New York Mets
and Carl Yastrzemski
of the Boston Red Sox
to represent the product.
Inspired by a letter from the anti-war Westchester Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Raymond oversaw the creation of a series of Pen Pal Dolls, each approved by UNICEF, which included a pen, stationery and information about the doll's country including a simple dictionary, with the name and address of a girl in one of 20 countries around the world.
James Pressman, son of Jack and Lynn, took over as president in 1977. Since that time, Pressman Toy Company has marketed a series of family games including the code-breaking game Mastermind
, the tile-based game
Rummikub
and the dominoes
variant Tri-Ominos. The company has also created licensed products for game shows such as Deal or No Deal
, Jeopardy!
, Wheel of Fortune
and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
and markets games based on Scooby-Doo!, Hello Kitty, Dinosaur Train, Happy Feet Two, The Smurfs, Modern Family, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Jack Pressman's oldest son is Edward R. Pressman
, producer of Hollywood films such as Conan The Barbarian
and Reversal of Fortune
.
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Toy Center
Toy Center
The Toy Center, also known as the International Toy Center, is a complex of buildings in the New York City borough of Manhattan that for many years has been a hub for toy manufacturers and distributors in the United States. It consists of two buildings located between 23rd Street and 25th Street...
at 23rd Street
23rd Street (Manhattan)
23rd Street is a broad thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is one of few two-way streets in the gridiron of the borough. As with Manhattan's other "crosstown" streets, it is divided at Fifth Avenue, in this case at Madison Square Park, into its east and west sections. Since...
and Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
, the company is now headquartered in Piscataway Township, New Jersey
Piscataway Township, New Jersey
The township consists of the following historic villages and areas: New Market, known as Quibbletown in the 18th Century, Randolphville, Fieldville and North Stelton...
, with an office at 7 West 18th Street in Manhattan.
The company was founded in 1922 by Jack Pressman, who brought in Max Eibitz as a partner in 1925, with Pressman doing sales and Eibitz managing the firm's Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
factory. One of the company's first hits was Chinese checkers
Chinese checkers
Chinese checkers is a board game that can be played by two, three, four, or six people, playing individually or with partners...
, a game that Pressman acquired the rights to in 1928 after spotting the game on a trip to Colorado, and first marketed as "Hop Ching Checkers".
The company was an innovator in licensing games and toys from popular media, such as the Little Orphan Annie
Little Orphan Annie
Little Orphan Annie was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and made its debut on August 5, 1924 in the New York Daily News...
and Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy is a comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a hard-hitting, fast-shooting and intelligent police detective. Created by Chester Gould, the strip made its debut on October 4, 1931, in the Detroit Mirror. It was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate...
comic strips. After the release of Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's first full-length animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
in 1937, Pressman released a series of Snow White toys based on the film.
Pressman ended his partnership in 1947. He reincorporated later that year as Pressman Toy Company and brought in his wife, Lynn Pressman
Lynn Pressman Raymond
Lynn Pressman Raymond was an American business executive who joined her husband Jack Pressman in developing and growing the Pressman Toy Corporation, and was an innovator in creating and licensing toys based on hit television programs and professional athletes in her two decades as president of...
, who had held senior positions in New York City department stores, as the new company's executive vice president. As Jack Pressman's health deteriorated, she took a greater role in the operation of the firm, and served as its president following his death in 1959.
The 1950s brought the Doctor Bag, designed to help children feel more comfortable with visits to the doctor, which was followed by a Nurse Bag and corresponding Ken and Barbie versions licensed in 1962. A series of items were licensed from the Walt Disney Company, starting after the debut of The Mickey Mouse Club television series in 1955. Lynn Pressman oversaw the signing of baseball star Roger Maris
Roger Maris
Roger Eugene Maris was an American Major League Baseball right fielder. During the 1961 season, he hit a record 61 home runs for the New York Yankees, breaking Babe Ruth's single-season record of 60 home runs...
to promote the company's Big League Action Baseball, and later signed Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver
George Thomas "Tom" Seaver , nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched from 1967-1986 for four different teams in his career, but is noted primarily for his time with the New York Mets...
of the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
and Carl Yastrzemski
Carl Yastrzemski
Carl Michael Yastrzemski is a former American Major League Baseball left fielder and first baseman. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Yastrzemski played his entire 23-year baseball career with the Boston Red Sox . He was primarily a left fielder, with part of his later career...
of the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
to represent the product.
Inspired by a letter from the anti-war Westchester Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Raymond oversaw the creation of a series of Pen Pal Dolls, each approved by UNICEF, which included a pen, stationery and information about the doll's country including a simple dictionary, with the name and address of a girl in one of 20 countries around the world.
James Pressman, son of Jack and Lynn, took over as president in 1977. Since that time, Pressman Toy Company has marketed a series of family games including the code-breaking game Mastermind
Mastermind (board game)
Mastermind or Master Mind is a code-breaking game for two players. The modern game with pegs was invented in 1970 by Mordecai Meirowitz, an Israeli postmaster and telecommunications expert, but the game resembles an earlier pencil and paper game called bulls and cows that may date back a century or...
, the tile-based game
Tile-based game
A tile-based game is a game that uses tiles as one of the fundamental elements of play. Traditional tile-based games use small tiles as playing pieces for gambling or entertainment games...
Rummikub
Rummikub
Rummikub is a tile-based game for two to four players.-History:...
and the dominoes
Dominoes
Dominoes generally refers to the collective gaming pieces making up a domino set or to the subcategory of tile games played with domino pieces. In the area of mathematical tilings and polyominoes, the word domino often refers to any rectangle formed from joining two congruent squares edge to edge...
variant Tri-Ominos. The company has also created licensed products for game shows such as Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which was the Dutch Miljoenenjacht produced by Dutch producer Endemol. It is played with up to 26 cases with certain sums of money...
, Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers large cash prizes for correctly answering a series of multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The format is owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television International. The maximum cash prize is one million pounds...
and markets games based on Scooby-Doo!, Hello Kitty, Dinosaur Train, Happy Feet Two, The Smurfs, Modern Family, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Jack Pressman's oldest son is Edward R. Pressman
Edward R. Pressman
Edward R. Pressman is an American film producer.Pressman was born in New York City, New York, the son of Lynn and Jack Pressman, known as the "King of Marbles", who founded the Pressman Toy Corporation.-Filmography:...
, producer of Hollywood films such as Conan The Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...
and Reversal of Fortune
Reversal of Fortune
Reversal of Fortune is a 1990 film adapted from the 1985 book Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case, written by law professor Alan Dershowitz...
.
Products
External links
- Pressman Toy Corporation Official site.
- Scooby Doo 3D Haunted House - The Board Game from Pressman Toys - The description, assembly instructions, and other information about the 2007 game from Pressman Toys.
- IBM Global Services - Case study - Pressman Toys raises its games and cuts costs with SAP business solutions by IBM and SAP
- http://www.macraesbluebook.com/search/company.cfm?company=421166