The toy industry had been in significant decline since the start of the Great Depression in , and dwindled to a near standstill at the start of World War II in The company, under the new name R. Herzog, started manufacturing insulators for proximity fuses for bombs. The small company began to expand. Once the war was over, Ralph Herzog slowly returned to toy production, this time including his sons Donald and James.
Its name restored to Smethport Specialty, the factory resumed production of the Flicker Top, one of the only toys that had remained popular during the Depression. It also continued to sell the themed three-piece magnet sets that had begun the business in I came in and ground the magnets one day and all of a sudden it came to me. I put a pile of dust on a piece of cardboard and used magnets to play around with it. Around the same time, the U. Army began making 3-D maps by vacuum-forming heated plastic.
Donald Herzog suggested to his brother that this process could be used to contain the magnetic pieces in a formed plastic case. Mackowski would often hide his name in the art on the back of the package. Using a wand with a small magnetic tip at the end, a user could move the magnetite whisker material around Wooly Willy, giving him anything from bangs to beards to bowties.
With confidence in the ingenuity and replay value of their toy, the Herzog brothers began to pitch to toy retailers. For several months, Wooly Willy was turned down by everyone. One buyer called it the worst toy he had ever seen. When Herzog approached a buyer at the G. But many more were simply "inspired" by Wooly Willy. As Herzog said, the packaging was the product, which made manufacture extremely inexpensive.
Sockets, and Ben Toomd. Wooly Willy is everywhere, from this incredibly impressive real-life homage to this all-Bill Murray tribute. BY Mike Rampton. The cost of the original Wooly Willy was 29 cents. Thousands of complimentary letters were received about the Magnetic Drawing Sets.
One mother wrote "My young son had been in the hospital for three months without a single smile, until he received Dapper Dan. Seldom has such an inexpensive toy produced so much entertainment over so many years. Some bald politicians even asked for promotional sets. Hollywood once requested a large order with special pictures of a leading male and female performer only to destory the entire production run as the actress felt it diminished her image.
Demand for Magnetic Drawing sets expanded to include colored magnetic hair and with the addition of many other toys a new manufacturing facility was required. In , the firm moved to Magnetic Avenue on Route 59, west of Smethport, were it continues today. Herzog collection photo credit: James R. Herzog collection Detail of back of "Wooly Willy" showing instructions as to how to use the toy. Herzog collection If you look closely in the middle of the picture, to the right of the mushroom you will see the Leonard Mackowski's name.
He was the talented artist from Bradford who designed the display card for the Wooly Willy. The name has been on every Wooly Willy ever produced since its beginning 45 years ago. Herzog, and Menford and Maxine Tenglund.
From to , the building was the office and factory of Smethport Specialty. Herzog became sole owner of the company in The Herzog family moved the business from Fulton Street to its present location on Magnetic Avenue, west of Smethport, in
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