Play set | construction set:Playskool Village

Playskool was founded by a former Milwaukee schoolteacher, Lucille King, in the 1920s. While an employee of at the John Schroeder Lumber Company in Milwaukee Kingdeveloped the idea for Playskool toys. She and another teacher had previously designed wooden toys for use in the classroom. King took her plans to the lumber company's management and launched the Playskool Institute in 1928. King's line of toys consisted of basic, durable wooden items that aimed to develop coordination and stimulate minds. By 1930 Playskool produced more than 40 different toys, including a pounding bench, wooden beads and blocks, a table-mounted sandbox, a pegboard, and others. Playskool Institute's slogan was "Learning While Playing," and some items were billed as "Home Kindergarten." Another slogan the company used was "Playthings with a Purpose." As early as 1930 Playskool's toys were endorsed by child guidance experts, and the aura of educational enrichment clung to the brand. Since the 1940s, the company expanded by purchasing other toy companies including the J. L. Wright Company, maker of Lincoln Logs, in 1943; in 1958, Playskool bought Holgate Toys, another compnay that produced wooden toys designed by Jerry Rockwell, brother to American artist Norman Rockwell; In 1962 it acquired the Halsam Company, an established manufacturer of wooden blocks. Halsam also owned the Embossing Company, which was the only American manufacturer of embossed wooden blocks--the common alphabet blocks. Playskool continued to grow; in 1968, in was purchased by the Milton Bradley company, which wisely retained the company's emphasis on toddler and preschool toys. When Hasbro, Inc. purchased Milton Bradley in 1984, the toy giant acquired Playskool as well.