1990s Playskool Miniature Adjustable Pliers & Wise Grips

Playskool, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of children’s and infants toys. Its core line consisted through much of the company’s history of wooden toys such as blocks and peg boards, which were considered by the public and by child experts as educational. The company also owns some of the best known American toy brands, such as Mr. Potato Head and Play Doh. The Playskool brand name is found on diverse items such as clothing, stuffed animals, and ride-on vehicles. Playskool is the largest manufacturer of wooden blocks in the United States. The company licenses its name to a line of preschool books published by Dutton and has entered the interactive computer game market with software based on the Mr. Potato Head character. Playskool was founded by a former Milwaukee schoolteacher, Lucille King, in the 1920s. King apparently had abandoned her teaching career and was working at the John Schroeder Lumber Company in Milwaukee when she came up with the idea for Playskool toys. She and another teacher had developed plans earlier for wooden toys for use in the classroom. King took her plans to the lumber company’s management and launched the Playskool Institute in 1928. King’s line of toys consisted of basic, durable wooden items that aimed to develop coordination and stimulate the minds of children. By 1930 Playskool produced more than 40 different toys, including a pounding bench, wooden beads and blocks, a table-mounted sandbox, a pegboard, and others. Playskool Institute’s slogan was “Learning While Playing,” and some items were billed as “Home Kindergarten.” Another slogan the company used was “Playthings with a Purpose.” As early as 1930 Playskool’s toys were endorsed by child guidance experts, and the aura of educational enrichment clung to the brand. More info at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playskool https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/playskool-inc https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/playskool/ https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/company:6380