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Hasbro, Inc. ( / ˈhæzbroʊ /; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herman Hassenfeld and is incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. [5]
Hasbro traces its origin to an enterprise founded in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1923 by Henry, Hilal, and Herman Hassenfeld, brothers who had emigrated to the United States from Poland. The Hassenfeld brothers engaged in the textile remnant business, selling cloth leftovers.
- Early History from 1923 to The 1930s
- Transformation to Toy Manufacturing from The 1930s to 1960
- Turbulent Times During The 1960s and 1970s
- Major Acquisitions Mark The 1980s
- Acquisitions Continue During The 1990s
- Restructuring For The 21st Century
- Principal Subsidiaries
- Principal Operating Units
- Principal Competitors
- Further Reading
Hasbro traces its origin to an enterprise founded in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1923 by Henry, Hilal, and Herman Hassenfeld, brothers who had emigrated to the United States from Poland. The Hassenfeld brothers engaged in the textile remnant business, selling cloth leftovers. By the mid-1920s they were using the remnants to make hat liners and pen...
During the late 1930s the Hassenfeld Brothers began to manufacture toys, an extension of the company’s line of school supplies. Initial offerings included medical sets for junior nurses and doctors and modeling clay. During World War II Henry’s younger son, Merrill Hassenfeld, acted on a customer’s suggestion to make and market a junior air raid wa...
Henry Hassenfeld died in 1960. Merrill Hassenfeld then assumed full control of the parent company, while his older brother Harold Hassenfeld, continued to run the pencil making operations. Merrill Hassenfeld’s succession was logical given his interest and expertise in the toy business, but it also marked the beginning of an intramural rivalry betwe...
In 1983 Hasbro acquired GLENCO Infant Items, a manufacturer of infant products and the world’s largest bib producer. Hasbro also sold about 37 percent of its own stock to Warner Communications in exchange for cash and Warner’s struggling Knickerbocker Toy Company subsidiary, which made Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls. The new Warner holdings did...
A new and more challenging era began when 41-year-old Alan Hassenfeld became chairman and CEO of Hasbro. The younger Hassenfeld continued the acquisition trend of the 1980s, as Hasbro acquired Tonka Corporation in 1991 for $486 million. With the deal, Hasbro added not only the Tonka line of toy trucks but also Tonka’s Parker Brothers unit, the make...
As the 20th century came to a close, Hasbro seemed prepared to seriously challenge incumbent children’s toy leader Mattel. However, precipitous drop-offs in Pokemon and Star Wars merchandise sales and a weak interactive games market led to Hasbro’s first negative financial quarter since 1995. Hasbro’s software games division, Hasbro Interactive, an...
Galoob Toys, Inc; Tiger Electronics Inc.; Milton Bradley Company.; Playskool, Inc.; Tonka Corporation; Parker Brothers & Co; Nomura Toys Ltd. (Japan); Romper Room Enterprises; Kenner Products; Wizards of the Coast, Inc; Oddzon Products, Inc.; Laramie Corporation; WowWee, Inc.
Hasbro Games Group; Hasbro Toys Group; Hasbro Canada; Hasbro de Mexico; Hasbro Latin America; Hasbro France; Hasbro Deutschland; Hasbro Italy; Hasbro Spain; Hasbro UK.
Mattel; LEGO; Acclaim Entertainment; Applause; Bandai; Electronic Arts; Infogrames, Inc.; JAKKS Pacific; Marvel Enterprises; Nintendo; Ohio Art; Play-By-Play; Playmates; Play-mobil; SEGA; Sony; Toymax International; Ty; Vivendi Universal Publishing.
“America’s Toy Industry: Nightmare,” The Economist,December 16, 1995, pp. 58, 62. Barnes, Julian E., “Hasbro Has Loss as Pokemon Wanes,” New York Times,April 24, 2001, p. 9. Gaudiosi, John, “Infogrames Passes Go on Hasbro Buy,” Video Business,December 11, 2000, p. 1. Goodman, Julie, “Hasbro Buys Seller of Red-Hot Pokemon,” Columbian,September 10, 1...
One hundred years ago, three Polish emigrants, brothers Henry, Hilal and Herman Hassenfeld, began selling cloth remnants used for pencil box covers and pouches for school supplies. After incorporating their business as Hassenfeld Brothers in 1926, the company made pencils and pencil cases.
When Herman Hassenfeld was born on 26 August 1882, in Ulanów, Nowy Kawęczyn, Skierniewice, Łódź, Poland, his father, Isaiah Yishai Hassenfeld, was 32 and his mother, Chaya Sheindel Reich, was 28. He married Pessel Laufer about 1899, in Ulanów, Głogów, Lower Silesia, Poland.
- Male
- Pessel Laufer
By the mid-1920s, the rest of the Hassenfeld family members (including their brother Herman) joined the two brothers in Rhode Island, U.S.A. Some of them joined the venture as employees and helped manufacture the plush-lined pencil cases.
Dec 15, 2023 · It was Henry Hassenfeld’s son, Merrill, who saw potential to get into playthings: His reasoning was that Hasbro needed product outside of school shopping season.
