Tonka is an American toy company most known for its signature toy trucks and construction equipment.

History

 

On September 18, 1946 Mound Metalcraft was created in Mound, Minnesota with three men as partners, Lynn Everett Baker (1898–1964), Avery F. Crounse, and Alvin F. Tesch. The first products produced by the fledgling company were two versions of a metal tie-rack. Their original intent was to manufacture garden implements. However, when their building's former occupant, the Streater Company, attempted to market two metal toys and failed, the three men at Mound Metalcraft thought they might make a good side line to their other products.

 

After some modifications to the design by Alvin Tesch and the addition of a new logo created by Erling Eklof with the Dakota Sioux word "Tonka", which means "Great" or "Big", the company began selling metal toys. This soon became the primary business. On November 23, 1955, Mound Metalcraft changed its name to Tonka Toys Incorporated. The logo at this time was an oval, showing the Tonka Toys name in red above waves, presumably honoring nearby Lake Minnetonka.

 

The impact of the Tonka truck concept has been enduring and pervasive, especially the Mighty Dump Truck and associated "Mighty" line of construction equipment models introduced from 1964. The all-metal "Tonka Trucks" were sold throughout the world and earned a reputation as being indestructible, although the steel has been increasingly replaced by plastic from the late 1980s onwards.

 

The company was purchased by Hasbro in 1991.

 

Tonka trucks were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York, in 2001.

 

Other products

Tonka has produced a wide variety of toys over the years, including dolls (Star Fairies, Bathing Beauties, Maple Town, and Hollywoods Dolls) and other toys aimed at girls like Keypers and aimed at boys like Gobots, Rock Lords, Spiral Zone, and Steel Monsters. It was also the original manufacturer of the Pound Puppies toy line, and in the late 1980s were the U.S. licensees of products inspired by Maple Town, an animated series from Japan's Toei Doga.

 

Tonka also produced a variety of computer games, including Tonka Raceway, and purchased the rights to distribute and market the Sega Master System after Sega of America decided to stop competing against the Nintendo Entertainment System in the U.S. However, the Master System's market share declined, since Tonka didn't have experience with video games or how to market them.

 

Hasbro sold the digital gaming rights for various properties (including My Little Pony, Magic: The Gathering, Tonka, Playskool, and Transformers) to Infogrames for US$100 million in 2000, buying back the rights for US$66 million in June 2005.

 

In 1964, Tonka acquired the Mell Manufacturing Company in Chicago, Illinois, allowing Tonka to expand into producing barbecue grills, eventually under the "Tonka Firebowl" label.

 

The Winifred Museum in Winifred, Montana, has a collection of more than 3,000 Tonka toys, possibly the largest collection in the world, according to the museum.

--------------

Avon Products, Inc. NYSE: AVP is an American cosmetics, perfume and toy seller with markets in over 135 countries across the world and a sales of $7.74 billion worldwide.

Traditionally a direct marketing company, Avon's fastest growing markets today are in China and Russia. Currently, the company is headed up by Andrea Jung, the company's chairman and CEO, who was promoted to the position in 1999. Avon uses both door-to-door sales people ("Avon ladies," primarily) and catalogs to advertise their products, but in some markets (most notably China, who banned all door-to-door selling in the 1990s) Avon products are sold primarily in retail stores.

Some of Avon's product lines include Avon Color, Anew and Solutions, Skin-So-Soft and Naturals, as well as various perfumes, pieces of jewellery and clothing.

Although the company has always been more directed towards female customers, Avon's line of male products continues to expand, and their children's products (such as shampoos and toys) have also proved to be a good source of revenue. Two recent brand diversifications, "mark." (targeted to younger, college-aged women) and "M" (an Avon catalogue for men) have helped the company reach out into markets they traditionally have not serviced in the past. Mark. proved to be extremely successful in reaching a new generation of recruits, primarily ages 18-25, with a monthly "magalog" featuring award-winning products.

In addition to its corporate pursuits, the Avon corporation is also involved in philanthropic causes, primarily centered on women's empowerment and health issues.

History

The company was founded in 1886 by then 28-year-old David H. McConnell as the California Perfume Company (CPC) in New York, New York in a 500 square foot manufacturing and shipping office at 126 Chambers Street. In 1897, McConnell built a small (3000 square foot) laboratory in Suffern, New York; by 1971 the lab would grow into the Avon Suffern Research and Development facility; by 2005 they opened a $100 million dollar 225,000 square foot R&D "glass curtain" facility to house its over 300 Research and Development Scientists on the original site in Suffern, NY. In 1906, the West Coast office in San Francisco was destroyed in the Great Earthquake of that year. Offices open in Luzerne, Pennsylvania and Davenport, Iowa. In 1914 the first non-U.S. office is opened in the Canadian province of Quebec. By 1918, five million units are sold in North America, and by 1928, sales reached $2 million. In October, 1939, the name was changed to Avon Products, Inc. The company was taken public in 1946. By 1954, sales reached $55 million, and the famous "Avon Calling" advertising campaign is introduced. By 1979, sales reach $3 billion, with one million direct sales agents.

In Fiction

Because of the familiar faces of the "Avon Ladies", they have become a popular trademark and have been featured in a handful of fictious works.

In the 1983 film, Strange Invaders, one of the aliens poses as an Avon Lady.

In Amalgam Comics, the frequent "Avon calling" catchphrase is used by Dare The Terminator.

Avon have appeared in the Tim Burton film, Edward Scissorhands, as well as the Animaniacs parody of this film, Skullhead Boneyhands with Mr. Skullhead.