Jews and the Seduction of youth
For well over a century Jews in America have seen the opportunity to profit off of the natural appeal that toys hold for children; from Fredrick August Otto Schwartz, the founder of F.A.O. Schwartz; to the Kaufman Brothers who started K-B Toys; to Charles Lazarus, the founder of Toys-R-Us, Jews have made vast fortunes in the retail toy market. It is a fact that is surprising to many, but some of America's best known toys such as the Teddy Bear, Mr. Potato Head, G.I. Joe, the Barbie doll, Hot Wheels, the Frisbee and the Hula-Hoop, were all lucrative products marketed by Jews who made billions selling children's toys, largely as a result of successful commercial advertising campaigns broadcast through the Jewish controlled media of television.
F.A.O. Schwarz, the oldest continuously operating toy store in the United States, was founded in 1862 by Frederick August Otto Schwarz, a Jewish immigrant from Herford, Westphalia, Germany. Schwarz arrived in the United States at the age of 20, having immigrated with his three brothers, Henry, Richard, and Gustav, in 1856. Settling in Baltimore, Maryland, Schwarz found employment working for a Jewish stationer who sold paper goods imported from Europe. Some of the Jewish suppliers shipped toys and other goods along with stationary hoping to expand their export business and Schwarz began displaying these in the windows of the shop where he worked and soon realized that they were outselling the stationary. By 1862 Schwarz opened his own shop along with his brothers under the name “Toy Bazaar.” In 1870, Schwarz opened a New York City location known as the "Schwarz Toy Bazaar" at 765 Broadway which moved to 42 E. 14th Street in Union Square in 1880 and operated at that location until April 28, 1897, when it took over two vacant store locations at 39 and 41 W. 23rd Street. By then, The New York Times described Schwarz as "the largest dealer in toys in this city." Beginning in November 1869, the Schwarz Toy Bazaar held an exhibition of toys that would be available for the Christmas season, which in 1883 was described as the "14th Annual Exhibition." In 1896, Schwarz proclaimed the store as the "Original Santa Claus Headquarters" in New York. The FAO Schwarz holiday catalog has been published annually since 1876. In 1931, the New York City location moved to 745 Fifth Avenue where it operated for 55 years. The FAO Schwarz flagship store opened at its current location in 1986 in the General Motors Building at the corner of 58th Street and 5th Avenue. Since the 1990s, new FAO Schwarz stores opened throughout the United States and by 2000 the company had 40 locations.
Morris Michtom's Ideal Toy Company's Teddy Bear
Teddy bears first appeared in the United States in 1903 as the result of clever marketing on the part of toy merchants following the appearance of a popular cartoon by Clifford Berryman that appeared in the November 16, 1902, edition of The Washington Post newspaper, which depicted U.S. President, Teddy Roosevelt, refusing to shoot a captured bear on a hunting trip that he had just returned from earlier that month.
While visiting the Leipzig Toy Fair in Germany during the spring of 1903, Hermann Berg a buyer for the Jewish-owned doll retailer, George Borgfeldt & Co. of New York, noticed a display of small, soft, stuffed, bear dolls being exhibited at the trade show by their German maker, Richard Steiff, and bought the entire lot of 100, placing an order for an additional 3000 bears which quickly sold out due to their being marketed as "Teddy" bears in response to the incident portrayed in The Washington Post cartoon.
The toy bears were such a sensation that they attracted the attention of a Jewish candy merchant named Morris Michtom, who had his wife Rose to copy the stuffed bears and start making them to sell in their New York candy shop. The teddy bears proved to be such a success that Michtom and his wife decided to leave the candy business altogether and start their own toy company, which was founded in 1903 as the Ideal Toy and Novelty Company. In 1907 Ideal began marketing dolls based on the then popular comic strip character "The Yellow Kid." The company advertised its dolls as being "unbreakable" since they were made of composition, an inexpensive, plastic-like material formed from sawdust and glue, rather than more costly china or porcelain which had been the traditional material used for most commercially produced dolls up until that time. The company's name was changed to the Ideal Toy Company in 1938 and it continued to produce toys throughout the 20th century. The Ideal Toy Company was later acquired by Tyco Toys, which itself eventually merged with Mattel, another toy company founded by Jews.
While visiting the Leipzig Toy Fair in Germany during the spring of 1903, Hermann Berg a buyer for the Jewish-owned doll retailer, George Borgfeldt & Co. of New York, noticed a display of small, soft, stuffed, bear dolls being exhibited at the trade show by their German maker, Richard Steiff, and bought the entire lot of 100, placing an order for an additional 3000 bears which quickly sold out due to their being marketed as "Teddy" bears in response to the incident portrayed in The Washington Post cartoon.
The toy bears were such a sensation that they attracted the attention of a Jewish candy merchant named Morris Michtom, who had his wife Rose to copy the stuffed bears and start making them to sell in their New York candy shop. The teddy bears proved to be such a success that Michtom and his wife decided to leave the candy business altogether and start their own toy company, which was founded in 1903 as the Ideal Toy and Novelty Company. In 1907 Ideal began marketing dolls based on the then popular comic strip character "The Yellow Kid." The company advertised its dolls as being "unbreakable" since they were made of composition, an inexpensive, plastic-like material formed from sawdust and glue, rather than more costly china or porcelain which had been the traditional material used for most commercially produced dolls up until that time. The company's name was changed to the Ideal Toy Company in 1938 and it continued to produce toys throughout the 20th century. The Ideal Toy Company was later acquired by Tyco Toys, which itself eventually merged with Mattel, another toy company founded by Jews.
Dolls made by the Effanbee doll manufacturing company in the 1920s
The Effanbee Doll Company was first begun in 1912 by two Jewish businessmen named Bernard Fleischaker and Hugo Baum, the company's name, Effanbee, was based on the intials F. and B. from the last name of its founders. Specializing in dolls made from composition, a then new material that was promoted as "cheap, sanitary and durable," Effanbee produced a number of doll designs that were widely popular, including Baby Dainty produced from 1912 to 1925. The Patsy doll was one of Effanbee’s earliest and most popular creations. The original 14-inch Patsy dolls were produced between 1928 and 1946. The earliest dolls had molded heads and cloth bodies, while the latter editions were all modeled composition. Later dolls were made in hard plastic, such as Effanbee's version of the popular Kewpie doll, which the company began manufacturing in 1949.
One of the most successful toy manufacturers in America, Louis Marx, was born in 1896 to a family of Jewish immigrants from Austria living in Brooklyn, New York. Marx graduated from high school at age 15 and started his career working for Ferdinand Strauss, a Jewish manufacturer of mechanical toys. By 1916, Marx was managing Strauss' plant in East Rutherford, New Jersey. But within a year, Marx was fired by Strauss' board of directors over a disagreement about sales practices. In 1919 Louis Marx and his brother David, founded their own toy company in New York. The company's advertisements said their goal was to "give the customer more toy for less money," and stressed that "quality is not negotiable" Initially Marx was only a distributor with no products or manufacturing capacity, but by working as a middle man and studying available products, finding ways to make them cheaper, and then closing sales, Marx eventually made enough money to purchase tooling from his previous employer, Strauss, for two obsolete tin toys - the Alabama Coon Jigger and Zippo the Climbing Monkey. With subtle changes, Marx was able to turn these toys into hits, selling more than eight million of each within two years. By the 1930's, Marx had begun to manufacture and sell toy soldiers, dolls, and costumes modeled after the soldiers and uniforms of Hitler's Third Reich, which were marketed to children of German-Americans.
Examples of early toys produced by Louis Marx & Co.
By the close of World War II Marx had toured Europe and acted as a consultant on how toy manufacturing could aid reconstruction efforts. Marx used the contacts he made in this manner to forge partnerships and open factories in Europe and Japan. Marx was featured on the cover of Time magazine on December 12, 1955, with his portrait eclipsing an image of Santa Claus, while examples of his toys swirl in the background. By 1951, the Marx company had 12 factories worldwide, and for much of the 1950s it was the largest toy manufacturer in the world, with much of the success coming from Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog sales and the many themed playsets available. In 1969, Marx introduced one of his most susscessful products, the Big Wheel, a low-riding tricycle made of plastic, manufactured in his plant at Girard, Pennsylvania.
Hasbro's G.I. Joe
In 1923 three Jewish brothers from Rhode Island, Henry, Hilal, and Herman Hassenfeld, founded a company that was to eventually become Hasbro, one of America's largest toy manufacturers. Originally known as Hassenfield Brothers, the company began life as a retailer of textile remnants, a business that would later evolve into producing pencil cases and school supplies, and eventually included toy doctor and nurse kits, along with modelling clay, which it marketed during the 1940's. Hasbro later went on to purchase Mr. Potato Head from its Jewish inventor, George Lerner, in 1952.
In 1963, Hasbro was approached by the producers of a military themed television series called The Lieutenant, to manufacture a toy figure based on the show's main character, a Marine corps lieutenant; however the president of Hasbro declined the offer and shortly thereafter began manufacturing and selling its own military themed action figures under the name of G.I. Joe starting in 1964.
In 1963, Hasbro was approached by the producers of a military themed television series called The Lieutenant, to manufacture a toy figure based on the show's main character, a Marine corps lieutenant; however the president of Hasbro declined the offer and shortly thereafter began manufacturing and selling its own military themed action figures under the name of G.I. Joe starting in 1964.
Ruth and Elliot Handler with Mattel's Barbie doll
In 1945, Israel Elliot Handler, a Jewish industrial designer, went into business with his friend, Harold Matson, and together they formed the company known as Mattel, which became well known as the manufacturers of the Barbie doll and Hot Wheels cars. The Barbie doll was the idea of Handler's wife, the former Ruth Moskowicz, who he had first met at a B’nai B’rith dance for teenagers in 1929. Ruth came up with the idea for a girl's dress-up doll with a fully developed female figure after seeing a Bild Lilli fashion doll while the couple was on vacation in Germany in the 1950's. After redesigning the German doll and renaming it after their daughter, Barbara, the Handlers marketed their new Barbie doll at the New York Toy Fair, a toy marketing show, on March 12, 1959. Sales of the doll quickly skyrocketed when Mattel purchased a number of commercial advertising spots on Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Club television show. A male doll was later added as a companion for Barbie, which was named "Ken" after the Handler's son.
In 1968, Mattel began selling a line of die cast toy racing cars under the name of Hot Wheels, which were similar to the Matchbox brand of die cast vehicles first produced in the 1950's by Lesney Products in England, that were originally marketed through Moko, a retail distribution company owned by another Jew named Moses Kohnstam. Mattel's American line of toy race cars proved so popular that they soon cornered the market, and the company eventually bought out Matchbox cars in 1997.
In 1968, Mattel began selling a line of die cast toy racing cars under the name of Hot Wheels, which were similar to the Matchbox brand of die cast vehicles first produced in the 1950's by Lesney Products in England, that were originally marketed through Moko, a retail distribution company owned by another Jew named Moses Kohnstam. Mattel's American line of toy race cars proved so popular that they soon cornered the market, and the company eventually bought out Matchbox cars in 1997.
Wham-O's Hula-Hoop in action
Yet another well-known toy manufacturing company, Wham-O, was also the result of the Jewish penchant for capitalizing on children's love of toys. The company began as a partnership between two Jewish college students, Richard Knerr and Arthur Melin in 1948 after they graduated from the University of Southern California. Their first product was a wooden slingshot, but this was soon eclipsed in 1957 with their version of a traditional exercise hoop dubbed the "hula-hoop" which they began manufacturing in a type of plastic called Martex. Twenty-five million were sold in less than four months, and by 1959 the company had realized a forty-five million dollar profit, selling more than 100 million units.
In 1957 Wham-O bought the rights to produce a flying plastic disc known as the "Pluto Platter" developed in 1955 by Fred Morrison, which was renamed and marketed as the "Frisbee", sales of which began to take off in 1959 and steadily increased through the 1960's and 1970's. Other well-known products marketed by Wham-O included the Slip 'N Slide, Silly String, and the Magic Window.
In 1957 Wham-O bought the rights to produce a flying plastic disc known as the "Pluto Platter" developed in 1955 by Fred Morrison, which was renamed and marketed as the "Frisbee", sales of which began to take off in 1959 and steadily increased through the 1960's and 1970's. Other well-known products marketed by Wham-O included the Slip 'N Slide, Silly String, and the Magic Window.
Pack of Topps baseball cards
In 1938 four brothers: Abraham, Philip, Isadore and Joseph, sons of a Jewish tobacco merchant, Morris Shorin of New York, were looking for a way to expand their father's company which had been in decline as a result of the Great Depression. The Shorin brothers decided to focus on a new product but take advantage of the company's existing distribution channels. To do this, they relaunched the company as Topps, with the name meant to indicate that it would be "tops" in its field. The chosen field was the manufacture of chewing gum.
At the time, chewing gum was still a relative novelty sold in individual pieces. Topps’ most successful early product was Bazooka bubblegum, which was packaged with a small comic on the wrapper. Starting in 1950, the company decided to try increasing gum sales by packaging them together with trading cards featuring the television cowboy western character Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd). When Topps next introduced baseball cards as a product, the cards immediately became its primary emphasis.
The "father of the modern baseball card" was a Jew named Sy Berger. In the autumn of 1951, Berger, then a 28-year-old veteran of World War II, designed the 1952 Topps baseball card set with together with a fellow Jew named Woody Gelman on the kitchen table of his Brooklyn apartment. The card design included a player's name, photo, facsimile autograph, team name and logo on the front; and the player's height, weight, bats, throws, birthplace, birthday, stats and a short biography on the back. Berger would work for Topps for 50 years (1947-1997) and serve as a consultant for another five, becoming a well-known figure on the baseball scene, and the face of Topps to major league baseball players, whom he signed up annually and paid in merchandise, like refrigerators and carpeting.
The Shorins, in recognition of his negotiation abilities, sent Sy to London in 1964 to negotiate the rights for Topps to produce Beatles trading cards. Arriving without an appointment, Sy succeeded in negotiating a deal by speaking in Yiddish to Brian Epstein, the Beatles Jewish manager.
The value and collectibility of Topps' baseball cards skyrocketed after Sy Berger hired a garbage boat to remove leftover boxes of 1952 baseball cards stored in their warehouse, and rode with them as a tugboat pulled them off the New Jersey shore. The cards were then dumped into the Atlantic Ocean. The cards included Mickey Mantle's first Topps card, the most valuable card of the modern era. Currently, a pack of 1952 Topps baseball cards can fetch more than $5,000 among collectors
At the time, chewing gum was still a relative novelty sold in individual pieces. Topps’ most successful early product was Bazooka bubblegum, which was packaged with a small comic on the wrapper. Starting in 1950, the company decided to try increasing gum sales by packaging them together with trading cards featuring the television cowboy western character Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd). When Topps next introduced baseball cards as a product, the cards immediately became its primary emphasis.
The "father of the modern baseball card" was a Jew named Sy Berger. In the autumn of 1951, Berger, then a 28-year-old veteran of World War II, designed the 1952 Topps baseball card set with together with a fellow Jew named Woody Gelman on the kitchen table of his Brooklyn apartment. The card design included a player's name, photo, facsimile autograph, team name and logo on the front; and the player's height, weight, bats, throws, birthplace, birthday, stats and a short biography on the back. Berger would work for Topps for 50 years (1947-1997) and serve as a consultant for another five, becoming a well-known figure on the baseball scene, and the face of Topps to major league baseball players, whom he signed up annually and paid in merchandise, like refrigerators and carpeting.
The Shorins, in recognition of his negotiation abilities, sent Sy to London in 1964 to negotiate the rights for Topps to produce Beatles trading cards. Arriving without an appointment, Sy succeeded in negotiating a deal by speaking in Yiddish to Brian Epstein, the Beatles Jewish manager.
The value and collectibility of Topps' baseball cards skyrocketed after Sy Berger hired a garbage boat to remove leftover boxes of 1952 baseball cards stored in their warehouse, and rode with them as a tugboat pulled them off the New Jersey shore. The cards were then dumped into the Atlantic Ocean. The cards included Mickey Mantle's first Topps card, the most valuable card of the modern era. Currently, a pack of 1952 Topps baseball cards can fetch more than $5,000 among collectors
The comic book as we know it was created during the dark days of the Great Depression by two Jewish publishing industry salesmen, Maxwell Gaines (born Maxwell Ginsburg) and Harry Wildenberg, who collaborated in the publication of the first comic book, Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics, a 36 page, saddle-stitched, pulp magazine, illustrated with color comic-strip cartoons. Maxwell Gaines later partnered with another Jewish comic book publisher, Jack Liebowitz, in 1938 and formed All-American Publications, one of three American comic book companies that combined to form the modern-day DC Comics, one of the world's two largest comics publishers. Superheroes created for All-American include the original Atom, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and Wonder Woman during the so-called Golden Age of comic books in the 1940's.
Action Comics, originally known as Detective Comics, Inc., which merged with All-American Publications, and became known as DC Comics, was the comic that first introduced the character of Superman, created by two Jewish cartoonists, Jerry Siegle and Joe Schuster in 1938. Following the successful publication of its Superman series, DC comics went on to introduce a new character called Batman, created by Jewish cartoonist Bob Kane (born Robert Kahn) along with Jewish comic writer Bill Finger in 1939.
In the years following the Great Depression, the Jewish dominated comic book industry flourished in the United States, with new titles and characters being introduced on a regular basis. Many comic books reflected themes then popular in the Jewish controlled Hollywood movie industry, with characters from horror movies being introduced into comic books series format. Themes of horror and violence that were frequently depicted in comic books ultimately led to government investigations carried out by the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, to determine whether or not comic books were a contributing factor of increased violence among American youths.
Action Comics, originally known as Detective Comics, Inc., which merged with All-American Publications, and became known as DC Comics, was the comic that first introduced the character of Superman, created by two Jewish cartoonists, Jerry Siegle and Joe Schuster in 1938. Following the successful publication of its Superman series, DC comics went on to introduce a new character called Batman, created by Jewish cartoonist Bob Kane (born Robert Kahn) along with Jewish comic writer Bill Finger in 1939.
In the years following the Great Depression, the Jewish dominated comic book industry flourished in the United States, with new titles and characters being introduced on a regular basis. Many comic books reflected themes then popular in the Jewish controlled Hollywood movie industry, with characters from horror movies being introduced into comic books series format. Themes of horror and violence that were frequently depicted in comic books ultimately led to government investigations carried out by the United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, to determine whether or not comic books were a contributing factor of increased violence among American youths.
The public hearings took place on April 21, 22, June 4, 1954 in New York. They focused on particularly graphic "crime and horror" comic books of the day, and their potential impact on juvenile delinquency. When Jewish comic book publisher William M. Gaines (son of Maxwell Gaines) contended that he sold only comic books of good taste, Kefauver entered into evidence one of Gaines' comics which showed a dismembered woman's head on its cover. The exchange between Gaines and Kefauver led to a front-page story in The New York Times the following day.
Chief Counsel Herbert Beaser asked: "Then you think a child cannot in any way, shape, or manner,be hurt by anything that the child reads or sees?" William M. Gaines responded: "I do not believe so." Beaser: "There would be no limit, actually, to what you'd put in the magazines?" Gaines: "Only within the bounds of good taste." Sen. Kefauver: "Here is your May issue. this seems to be a man with a bloody ax holding a woman's head up which has been severed from her body. Do you think that's in good taste?" Gaines: "Yes sir, I do - for the cover of a horror comic. A cover in bad taste, for example, might be defined as holding her head a little higher so that blood could be seen dripping from it and moving the body a little further over so that the neck of the body could be seen to be bloody." Kefauver: (doubtful) "You've got blood coming out of her mouth." Gaines: "A little."
What none of the senators knew was that Gaines had already cleaned up the cover of this issue. Artist Johnny Craig's first draft included those very elements which Gaines had said were in "bad taste" and had him clean it up before publication.
Because of the unfavorable press coverage resulting from the hearings, the comic book industry adopted the Comics Code Authority, a self-regulatory ratings code that was initially adopted by nearly all comic publishers and continued to be used by some comics until 2011. In the immediate aftermath of the hearings, several publishers were forced to revamp their schedules and drastically censor or even cancel many popular long-standing comic series.
Chief Counsel Herbert Beaser asked: "Then you think a child cannot in any way, shape, or manner,be hurt by anything that the child reads or sees?" William M. Gaines responded: "I do not believe so." Beaser: "There would be no limit, actually, to what you'd put in the magazines?" Gaines: "Only within the bounds of good taste." Sen. Kefauver: "Here is your May issue. this seems to be a man with a bloody ax holding a woman's head up which has been severed from her body. Do you think that's in good taste?" Gaines: "Yes sir, I do - for the cover of a horror comic. A cover in bad taste, for example, might be defined as holding her head a little higher so that blood could be seen dripping from it and moving the body a little further over so that the neck of the body could be seen to be bloody." Kefauver: (doubtful) "You've got blood coming out of her mouth." Gaines: "A little."
What none of the senators knew was that Gaines had already cleaned up the cover of this issue. Artist Johnny Craig's first draft included those very elements which Gaines had said were in "bad taste" and had him clean it up before publication.
Because of the unfavorable press coverage resulting from the hearings, the comic book industry adopted the Comics Code Authority, a self-regulatory ratings code that was initially adopted by nearly all comic publishers and continued to be used by some comics until 2011. In the immediate aftermath of the hearings, several publishers were forced to revamp their schedules and drastically censor or even cancel many popular long-standing comic series.
Jews and the video game industry
In today's world, computer video games have largely replaced comic books and baseball cards as a source of entertainment for young people, and Jews have been at the forefront of developing and producing violent and sexually graphic video games which they market to children and teens.
Ralph H. Baer (born March 8, 1922) is a German-born Jewish American video game pioneer, inventor, engineer, known as "The Father of Video Games", who is noted for his many contributions to games and the video game industry. He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1938.
Michael Morhaime, CEO of Blizzard Entertainment, creators of The World Of Warcraft franchise attracts teens into a fantasy world that never ends. They charge $15 per month from each teenage gamer, and have over 11 million subscribers. Owned by Activision.
Michael Jaret, Running With Scissors, producers of the worlds most violent and degrading video games. In the game 'Postal', the player's objective is to shoot priests, blond women and white rednecks, set them on fire with gasoline, and there's even an option to urinate on your enemies which forced them to vomit so you can kill them more easily. Quote from Michael Jaret's profile page on his website: "ISRAEL 4 LIFE MOTHA FUCKER!! LECHAYEM!"
Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision, known for their extremely successful Call of Duty series. These are some of the most popular games played on the internet. In most of these games, the player shoots, burns, and stabs an endless stream of German soldiers. The franchise has even been criticised for using a repetitive theme, which finally forced the developers to make one game set in the future, but the evil faction were still white. Writer: Michael Schiffer, Composer: Justin Skomarovsky. Everyone on the development teams of these games, except the designers, are Jews.
Jean Bernard Levy, CEO of Vivendi, owns companies like Activision, and BMG: The largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry. With a 25.5% market share (est. 2005), it is one of the "big four" record companies. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vivendi; Universal Studios (run by Jews). UMG owns the largest music publishing business in the world, Universal Music Publishing Group, following the acquisition of BMG Music Publishing in May 2007.
Robert Altman, CEO of Zenimax, owners of Bethesda Softworks. The company's original founder, Chris Weaver, had transformed the company from a committee-run organization to one run which had to follow "a single person's vision": his. "For 18 years," Weaver stated, "from 1981 through 1999, all the money that was invested in the company was my own." The company was then bought by Zenimax company, which is dominated by the following Jews: Jerry Bruckheimer, Leslie Moonves, Harry Sloan, Bethesda: Vlatko Andonov; Executive Producer: Todd Howard.