By 1969, Coleco had 10 factories producing a variety of toys. It then picked up Playtime Products in 1966 and Eagle Toys of Canada in 1968. In 1963, it acquired an inflatable swimming pool company called Kestral Corporation and became the world's largest seller of above-ground swimming pools. Walt Disney Productions "Thank You" print ad for the 1954 NY Toy Fair, featuring some bold mid-century design work, and a trim Mickey Mouse somewhere between the style of the 1950s comic strips and the Tom Oreb commercial design /PLe1CNK5HJ It changed its name from Connecticut Leather Company to Coleco Industries in 1961 and went public with an IPO valued at $5 per share. Its enormous success led Coleco to sell off its leather and shoe repair assets. Using a new vacuum plastic molding technology, it began mass-producing plastic toys and wading pools. The recognition prompted the company to enter the toy industry in full force. As it turns out, its crafting kits are what transformed the company from a primarily industrial-focused supplier into a consumer-focused toymaker.ĭuring the 1954 New York Toy Fair, Coleco won the Child Guidance Prestige Toy award for its leather moccasin kit.
A little over five years later, it added leather crafting kits. It later began selling rubber boots and saw an explosion of growth in 1939 at the start of World War II.īy 1945, Coleco had expanded into selling new and used shoe machinery, hat cleaning equipment, and shoeshine stands. The name is a portmanteau for Connecticut Leather Company-a company founded in 1932, which sold leather and shoe repair tools to shops specializing in the craft. The Coleco brand was around for a lot longer than most realize. Despite going out of business decades ago, Coleco left its mark in gaming history with a fascinating story and its many attempts to pioneer the burgeoning home computer market. Unfortunately, like so many others at the time, Coleco had too many eggs in one basket and fell victim to the 1983 video game crash. Its home-gaming system, the ColecoVision, competed with the likes of Atari and Intellivision, and was arguably the company's most iconic product. For those growing up in the 1980s, the name "Coleco" stirs up nostalgic memories of a gaming era long past.
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