The results of these changes were felt quickly, as earnings dropped precipitately in 1969. Batdorf and Wenkstern, who had operated as a team, then split their responsibilities, with Batdorf becoming chief of operations and Wenkstern chief executive, solely in charge of corporate policy and plans. Tonka built new corporate headquarters, putting distance between the manufacturing plant and the executives. As a result, the company reorganized into a more complex management structure, adding many layers to its hierarchy. Tonka hired two consulting firms, one from Milwaukee and oneįrom Philadelphia, to help the company plan. In 1968 Tonka ’s management decided to concentrate on long-range planning and on breaking into foreign markets.
Problems began for the company when it changed its management structure, to operate more like a big company. The company also controlled its labor costs by hiring mostly area housewives, who were not unionized. Though new models were introduced every year, they followed basic shapes, which made retooling simple. Wenkstern was a former high school shop teacher and Batdorf had worked in Tonka production, so both men had a deep understanding of how the toys were made. Tonka ’s original owners left the company in 1961, and the top management position was filled by a two-man team, Gordon Batdorf and Russell Wenkstern. Between 19 sales more than doubled, from around $22 million to more than $45 million, and profit levels were high.
The market seemed to make itself, and the company made no effort to diversify into other products. In 1966 the surveyed families had on average 3.2 trucks per household, but the 1969 survey showed families owning on average 5.4 Tonka toys, with a significant portion of the population owning upward of nine Tonkas. And families were buying more Tonka trucks, too. Three years later that figure had jumped to more than 90 percent. By 1966 one marketing survey showed that 85 percent of households interviewed owned Tonka toys. Then the company added a jumbo truck line, Mighty-Tonka, in 1965. The company introduced Mini-Tonka in 1963, a smaller and cheaper truck aimed at younger children. And to encourage parents to buy more than one Tonka Truck, the company restyled its product line each year. households, the toy no boy should be without. Tonka trucks were a high-end product, made of expensive and durable materials. Its penetration into the American market was already stupendous. Tonka went public in 1961 and two years later began selling its toys in overseas markets. Between 19 sales at Tonka tripled, and the company acquired a sterling reputation for its high quality product. The company ’s Tonka Trucks were made of heavy, automobile-gauge steel and were extremely realistic and durable they caught on quickly among postwar baby boom parents. The name Tonka came from Lake Minnetonka, which the first manufacturing facility overlooked. These Tonka brand trucks quickly became its preeminent product, and the company changed its name to Tonka Toys in 1955. But the company manufactured toy trucks as well, apparently as a sideline, and the three founders began exhibiting them at the New York Toy Fair as early as 1947. Mound Metalcraft, as the company was at first called, specialized in manufacturing tie racks and garden tools. Its three founders, Lynn Baker, Avery Crouse, and Alvin Tesch, started the company in 1946. Tonka Corporation began as a small metal manufacturing company located in an old school house in Mound, Minnesota. Though its famed trucks are still its best known product, Tonka also produces dolls and soft toys for girls, as well as various games, toy guns, balls, tools, and other assorted playthings. Since 1991 the company has operated as a division of Hasbro, Inc., the largest toy company in the United States. Tonka Corporation has a long history as America ’s premier manufacturer of toy trucks. SICs: 3942 Dolls & Stuffed Toys 3944 Games, Toys & Children ’s Vehicles 3949 Sporting & Athletic Goods, Not Elsewhere Classified
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