Editing Hasbro (section)

=== Hassenfeld Brothers ===
Three [[History of the Jews in Poland|Polish-Jewish]] brothers,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mGGcTsNWYSkC&q=hassenfeld+brothers+poland&pg=PA204|title=Twin Killing|first=James|last=Stanley|date=September 15, 2003|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=9781410776587|via=Google Books|access-date=November 11, 2020|archive-date=August 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817015738/https://books.google.com/books?id=mGGcTsNWYSkC&q=hassenfeld+brothers+poland&pg=PA204|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Companies That Almost Weren't: Hasbro|url=http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/hasbro-toys-textiles-hassenfeld-family-pencil/12/11/2009/id/25774|date=December 11, 2009|website=Minyanville|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228050124/http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/hasbro-toys-textiles-hassenfeld-family-pencil/12/11/2009/id/25774|archive-date=February 28, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/businesses-and-occupations/hasbro-inc|title=Hasbro Inc &#124; Encyclopedia.com|website=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=July 15, 2019|archive-date=January 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113075405/https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/businesses-and-occupations/hasbro-inc|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://forward.com/culture/film-tv/375181/why-the-transformers-movies-are-really-stories-of-jewish-resilience-and-ada Why The Transformers Movies Are Really Stories Of Jewish Resilience and Adaptability] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716032426/https://forward.com/culture/film-tv/375181/why-the-transformers-movies-are-really-stories-of-jewish-resilience-and-ada/ |date=July 16, 2023 }} Nathan Abrams, Forward/</ref> Herman, Hillel, and Henry Hassenfeld,<ref name=idch/> founded Hassenfeld Brothers in [[Providence, Rhode Island]], in late 1923, a company selling textile remnants. Over the next two decades, the company expanded to produce pencil cases and school supplies. On January 8, 1926, Hassenfeld Brothers was incorporated in Rhode Island;<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Entity Summary {{!}} Hasbro, Inc. |url=https://business.sos.ri.gov/CorpWeb/CorpSearch/CorpSummary.aspx?FEIN=000015908 |access-date=2023-04-28 |website=RI Business Portal {{!}} Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division}}</ref> Hillel left for another textile business while Henry took charge of the corporation. They began making their own pencils after their pencil supplier began making pencil cases as well.<ref name=idch>{{cite web|title=Hasbro, Inc. History|url=https://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/hasbro-inc-history/|work=International Directory of Company Histories Vol. 16.|publisher=St. James Press|access-date=February 6, 2013|archive-date=May 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170514002912/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/hasbro-inc-history/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Hassenfeld Brothers produced modeling clay and then doctor and nurse kits as their first toys, and they became primarily a toy company by 1942. Hillel died in 1943 and Henry Hassenfeld became CEO, while his son Anthony Merrill became president. The company entered the plastic fields during World War II to support its toy line.<ref name=idch/> The Hassenfeld brothers, immigrants from [[Ulanów]], Poland, also spent the war years helping to rescue and employ fellow Jews from Ulanów;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Benioff |first=Marc |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H_HM3mmDYLwC |title=Compassionate Capitalism: How Corporations Can Make Doing Good an Integral Part of Doing Well |date=2009-01-22 |publisher=ReadHowYouWant.com |isbn=978-1-4429-5682-7 |language=en}}</ref> Jacob Klapper, a holocaust survivor born in Ulanów, recalled being told when he arrived in the United States that Hassenfeld Brothers would employ any survivor from Ulanów, no questions asked.<ref>Memoirs of Jacob Klapper (Privately Printed)</ref> Hassenfeld Brothers' first popular toy was [[Mr. Potato Head]],<ref name=idch/> which the company purchased from [[George Lerner]] in 1952. In 1954, the company became a [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] major licensee.<ref name=idch/>
[[File:Mr Potato Head 1952.jpg|thumb|The original version of [[Mr. Potato Head]], introduced in 1952]]
In 1960, Henry died and Merrill took over the parent company, and his older brother Harold ran the pencil-making business of Empire Pencil. Hassenfeld Brothers expanded to Canada with Hassenfeld Brothers (Canada) Ltd. in 1961. 

In 1962, Hasbro purchased the former Potter & Johnston manufacturing company building on Newport Avenue in [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island]]. The Pawtucket plant facilities were eventually expanded to over 300,000 square feet.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hasbro Headquarters (Potter & Johnston Manufacturing Company) |url=https://theclio.com/entry/63509 |website=Clio |access-date=30 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240630232529/https://theclio.com/entry/63509 |archive-date=30 June 2024}}</ref>

In 1963 the company introduced [[Flubber (material)|Flubber]], but reports of sore throats and rashes from the product and knock-offs prompted an investigation by the [[Food and Drug Administration]] and a voluntary recall by Hassenfeld Brothers.<ref name="turnto2">{{cite news |last1=Heim |first1=R.J. |title=What Happened to Recalled Flubber 50 Years Ago? |url=https://turnto10.com/archive/what-happened-to-recalled-flubber-50-years-ago |access-date=December 13, 2021 |work=[[WJAR]] |date=May 19, 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200918081229/https://turnto10.com/archive/what-happened-to-recalled-flubber-50-years-ago|archive-date= September 18, 2020}}</ref> The company was approached in 1963 to license a toy based on ''[[The Lieutenant]]'', which they turned down because they did not want to be tied to a possibly short-lived television series. Instead, Hassenfeld Brothers produced the [[G.I. Joe]] toy in 1964 which they termed an "[[action figure]]" in order to market it to boys who wouldn't want to play with dolls. In 1964 and 1965, G.I. Joe accounted for two-thirds of Hassenfeld's sales.<ref name=idch/>