stuffed animal: Hardee's Baby Pound Puppy

During the 1983 holiday season, Mike Bowling purchased his daughter a handcrafted doll. She doted on the doll. Mike soon began to brainstorm a toy that could be produced with the same efficiency as the cars rolling out of the Ford automobile assembly line where he worked. Bowling created tiny, pellet-stuffed dogs called Pound Puppies. The dogs had floppy ears, expressive eyes, and would come in cardboard crates complete with adoption papers.

In 1984, Irwin Toy, a distributor based in Canada, was eager for a low-risk opportunity and they licensed the Pound Puppies and released them in Canada. Parents were thrilled to appease their kids’ needs to nurture a puppy without the responsibilities of a real dog. By 1985, Tonka brought Pound Puppies to the United States. They sold out across the country—that year, more than 2.5 million puppies were adopted. Kids could also get stickers and a dog tag for $3.50. Pound Puppies remained a popular pet for several years, and in 2011, Bowling sold the IP to Hasbro.