Play set:The New Pretty Village, School House Set

John McLoughlin, a Scottish coachmaker living in New York City, first became interested in the publishing industry in 1819. After a job with the New York Times introduced him to the printing process, McLoughlin and his brother Edmund started their own printing company in 1855, which they called McLoughlin Brothers. The New York City company focused primarily on children's books but produced games, play sets, alphabet and building blocks, and paper toys as well. The brothers mastered the art of color printing, also known as chromolithography, and vibrantly colored images adorned their books, games, box covers, and other products. Though the games division ceased operations in 1920 when Milton Bradley bought the rights to the company, the McLoughlin name continued to appear on books and toys until the 1940s.