Louis Marx and Company was an American toy manufacturer from 1919 to 1978. Its boxes were imprinted with the slogan, "One of the many Marx toys, have you all of them?" A teddy bear A Toy is an object used in play. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ...

Marx logo on a lighted Watchman Tower from a train set.

The Marx logo was the letters "MAR" in a circle with a large X through it, resembling a railroad crossing sign. Because of this, Marx toys are sometimes misidentified as "Mar" toys. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ...

Marx's toys included tinplate buildings, toy soldiers , toy dinosaurs, mechanical toys, toy guns, action figures, dolls, doll houses, toy cars, and HO scale and O scale toy trains. Marx's less-expensive toys were extremely common in dime stores, and its larger, costlier toys were staples for catalog retailers such as Sears and Montgomery Ward, especially around Christmas. Although the company is now largely forgotten except by toy collectors, several of its toys remain well known. Rock'em Sock'em Robots, introduced in the 1960s, remained popular for years and has been reintroduced by several different companies. Its last hurrah was the Big Wheel ride-on pedal toy, which was introduced in 1969 and became one of the most popular toys of the 1970s. 54mm Toy Soldiers by Imperial Productions of New Zealand A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier. ... U.S. Prototype model of an HO scale (1:87) center cab switcher made by Bachmann. ... O scale (or O gauge) is a scale commonly used for toy trains and model railroading. ... A toy train is a toy which represents a train, distinguished from a model train by an emphasis on low cost and durability, rather than scale modeling. ... Five and dime was a common nickname in the United States for five-and-ten-cent stores (also called 5 and 10s), popular in the early to mid-20th century. ... This article refers to Sears as it existed prior to its merger with Kmart. ... Montgomery Ward (later known as Wards) was an American department store chain, founded as the worlds first mail order business in 1872 by Aaron Montgomery Ward. ... Christmas is an annual holiday that marks the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. ... Rock Em Sock Em Robots was a two-player game/toy designed by Marvin Glass and released by Marx in 1967. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... A Big Wheel is a type of tricycle, traditionally made of plastic, with an oversized front wheel that rides very low to the ground. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ...

Founded in 1919 in New York City by Louis Marx and his brother David Marx, the company's basic policies were "Give the customer more toy for less money," and "Quality is not negotiable," which made the company highly successful. Initially the company had no product designs and no manufacturing capacity, so Marx raised money by positioning itself as a middle man, studying available products, finding ways to make them cheaper, and then closing a sale. Funds raised from these effort proved sufficient to purchase tooling for two obsolete tin toys—called the Alabama Minstrel Dancer and Zippo the Climbing Monkey—from toymaker Ferdinand Strauss, one of Louis Marx's former employers. With subtle changes, Marx was able to turn these toys into hits, selling more than 8 million of each within two years. Marx then bought the company it had subcontracted to manufacture the toys. By 1922, both Louis and David Marx were millionaires. Initially Marx produced few original toys, but was able to predict what toys would be hits and manufacture them less expensively than the competition. The yo-yo is an example: Although Marx is sometimes wrongly credited with inventing the toy, Marx was quick to market its own version, and during the 1920s sold an estimated 100 million of them. New York, NY redirects here. ... Louis Marx (August 11, 1896 - February 5, 1982) was an American toy maker and businessman whose company, Louis Marx and Company was the largest toy company in the world in the 1950s. ... middle_man is a program created by Krunch Software with the sole purpose of Enhancing your AIM experience. The AOL Instant Messenger plug-in enhances and extends funtionality of AIM to its users. ... Official language(s) English Capital Montgomery Largest city Birmingham Area  Ranked 30th  - Total 52,419 sq mi (135,765 km²)  - Width 190 miles (306 km)  - Length 330 miles (531 km)  - % water 3. ... FUCK YOU BITCHES ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... The yo-yo is a toy consisting of two equally-sized discs of plastic, wood, or metal, connected with an axle, around which a string is wound. ...

An O Scale Marx train set made in the late 1940s or early 1950s.

Unlike most companies, Marx's revenues grew during the Great Depression. By 1937, the company had more than $3.2 million in assets ($42.6 Mil. in 2005 dollars), with debt of just over $500,000. Marx was the largest toy manufacturer in the world by the 1950s. In a 1955 article, Time Magazine proclaimed Louis Marx "the Toy King," and that year, the company had about $50 million in sales. Marx was the initial inductee in the Toy Hall of Fame, and his plaque proclaimed him "The Henry Ford of the toy industry." Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Great Depression was a time of economic down turn, which started after the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... Henry Ford (1919) Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was the founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. ...

At its peak, Louis Marx and Company operated three manufacturing plants in the United States: Erie, Pennsylvania, Girard, Pennsylvania, and Glen Dale, West Virginia. The Erie plant was the oldest and largest, while the Girard plant, acquired in 1934 with the purchase of Girard Model Works, produced toy trains, and the Glen Dale plant produced toy cars. Additionally, Marx operated numerous plants overseas. Nickname: The Gem City Location in Pennsylvania Location of Pennsylvania with the U.S.A. Coordinates: County Erie County Founded 1795 Government  - Mayor Joseph Sinnott Area  - City  28. ... Girard is a borough located in Erie County, Pennsylvania. ... Glen Dale is a city located in Marshall County, West Virginia, along the Ohio River. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In the 1960s Marx capitalized on the space toy and robot craze. It produced the Big Loo "Your friend from the Moon" in 1964 and originated the popular Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. Big Loo is a very rare toy robot that was manufactured by Louis Marx and Company for the holiday season of 1963. ... Rockem Sockem Robots Rock Em Sock Em Robots is a two-player game/toy designed by Marvin Glass and Associates and released by Marx toys in 1967. ...

"Donald the Demon" figurine

In 1963, they began making a series of plastic figurines called the Nutty Mads which included some almost psychedelic creations such as Donald the Demon: a half duck half madman, driving a miniature car. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 518 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (897 × 1038 pixel, file size: 252 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photo of figurine from Louis Marx Co I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 518 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (897 × 1038 pixel, file size: 252 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photo of figurine from Louis Marx Co I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Donald the Demon Nutty Mads were a popular plastic toy originally manufactured in 1963-1964 by the Marx Toy Company. ...

In 1972, Marx sold his company to the Quaker Oats Company for $54 million ($246 Mil. in 2005 dollars) and retired at the age of 76. Quaker owned the Fisher-Price brand, but struggled with Marx. Quaker had hoped Marx and Fisher-Price would have synergy, but the companies' sales patterns were too different. Marx has also been faulted for largely ignoring the trend towards electronic toys in the early 1970s. In late 1975, Quaker closed the plants in Erie and Girard, and in early 1976, Quaker sold its struggling Marx division to the British conglomerate Dunbee-Combex-Marx, who had bought the former Marx UK subsidiary in 1967. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... The official logo for Quaker Oats. ... Fisher-Price is a well-known brand of toys, with headquarters located in historic East Aurora, New York. ... // Electronics is the study of electron mechanics. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ...

A downturn in the British economy in conjunction with high interest rates caused Dunbee-Combex-Marx to struggle, and these unfavorable market conditions caused a number of British toy manufacturers, including Dunbee-Combex-Marx, to collapse. By 1978 the Marx brand disappeared, and Dunbee-Combex-Marx filed for bankruptcy and was liquidated in 1980. The Marx assets were then liquidated, with many of the patents and molds going to Mego Corporation, another famous maker of dime store toys, and a large number of them going to Canadian toy maker Aurora. Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, put into administration - see text) in the UK. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organizations to pay their... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... The Mego Corporation was a toy company that dominated the action figure toy market during most of the 1970s. ...

The rights to some of Marx's toys are now owned by other companies, and some of its former products are still in production. Marx Toys, Inc., was sold and transformed into 'Marx Toys & Entertainment, Inc.' Marx Trains, Inc. produces lithographed tin trains, both of original design and based on former Louis Marx designs. K-Line produces plastic O scale train cars and scenery using former Marx molds, which it markets under its own brand name. Model Power produces HO scale trains from old Marx molds. Rights to the original Marx Big Wheel are owned by KidsWheels, Inc., and Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots is claimed by Mattel. Marx's toy soldiers and other plastic figures are in production today in China for the North American market and are mostly targeted at collectors, although they sometimes appear on the general consumer market, particularly at dollar stores. Lithography is a method for printing on a smooth surface, as well as a method of manufacturing semiconductor and MEMS devices. ... This article refers to a Japanese shipping company. ... U.S. Prototype model of an HO scale (1:87) center cab switcher made by Bachmann. ... Mattel Inc. ... A 99 cent store A dollar store is a store that sells inexpensive items for one dollar or less each. ...

The Marx name itself has changed hands several times as well. Despite the similar names, neither of the Marx-branded companies of today have any connection to the original Louis Marx and Company.

The original Marx toys are highly regarded by collectors.

External links

• Marx Toy Museum of Glen Dale, West Virginia
• Marx Toy Museum of Erie, Pennsylvania
• Ameritrains (makers of reproduction Marx tinplate trains)
• Info about Marx and other toy companies from the past