E. R. Ives founded the Ives company in 1868; over its 60 years in business, the company went through seven name changes and made a variety of toys including moveable tinplate figures, and cast-iron vehicles, it is best known for its wind-up and electric trains. The Ives company, in fact, pioneered the making of electrically powered toy trains. Though Ives trains first appeared in a 1-gauge model, it established the O gauge as the popular American track measurement. Ives declared bankruptcy in 1929, and Lionel took it over, using the Ives name for some of its products for several years.