Rest In Play - 2000 thru 2009

Feb. 13, 1918 - Nov. 24, 2008 From the NY Times: Betty James, who came up with the name Slinky for the stair-walking spring that has delighted children for more than 60 years and who ran the toy c...ompany after her husband, the inventor, left it and his family in 1960, died Thursday in Philadelphia. She was 90 and lived in Hollidaysburg, Pa., where the company, James Industries, is located. Read more here https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/business/25james.htmlShow more

1912 – July 22, 2009 We love this NY Times tribute to Lynn Pressman Raymond https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/business/02pressman.html

Ruth Handler was an American businesswoman and inventor. She co-foundMattel with her husband Elliot Handler and she served as President of Mattel Inc. In 1959, she invented the Barbie doll, which is t...he largest selling doll of all time with over a billion dolls sold.Show more

Founder of the toy company that bears his name, Russ Berrie died suddenly on Christmas day. The cause of his death was heart failure, the company said in a statement. Berrie, 69, was the chairman and ...CEO of his namesake company. After working as a salesman in the toy business, Berrie used his own savings to start his company in 1963, operating out of a rented garage in Oakland, N.J. The company introduced and capitalized on such collectibles as trolls, “Bobble-Bods,” “Animagnets,” an array of plush animals and special-occasion porcelain figurines and, recently, home décor items. From ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in October to making an appearance on CNBC on Christmas Eve, Berrie was his company’s greatest cheerleader. Berrie lucked into the toy business almost on a fluke. After completing three years of college, he answered a classified advertisement and ended up working as a salesman for a Chicago-based toy concern. While the company he was working for wasn’t setting the world on fire with its toys, Berrie at least got a taste for the toy business and subsequently went to work for what was then the finest U.S. stuffed-animal manufacturer: Master Industries. Accordingly, Berrie’s company outgrew its garage to become a leader in the gift industry – with annual sales of over $300 million and employing more than 1,700 people worldwide. Berrie was also known as a generous philanthropist. One of his most recent and most substantial donations was to endow the Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Selling, at New Jersey’s William Patterson University, scheduled to open to students in fall 2003. (NY Post https://nypost.com/2002/12/27/russ-berrie-titan-of-trolls-and-toys-dies/)Show more

(March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), also known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister.[1] He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the pr...eschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001. Rogers was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, and earned a bachelor's degree in music from Rollins College in 1951. He began his television career at NBC in New York, returning to Pittsburgh in 1953 to work for children's programming at NET (later PBS) television station WQED. He graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with a bachelor's degree in divinity in 1962. He became a Presbyterian minister in 1963. He attended the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development, where he began his 30-year long collaboration with child psychologist Margaret McFarland. He also helped develop the children's shows The Children's Corner (1955) and Misterogers (1963). In 1968, he created Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran for 33 years. The program was critically acclaimed for focusing on children's emotional and physical concerns, such as death, sibling rivalry, school enrollment, and divorce. Rogers died of stomach cancer on February 27, 2003 at age 74. His work in children's television has been widely lauded, and he received over 40 honorary degrees and several awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002 and a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 1997. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999. Rogers influenced many writers and producers of children's television shows, and his broadcasts have served as a source of comfort during tragic events, even after his death. Read More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_RogersShow more