Wolverine Supply and Manufacturing Company
1903 - 1962
BiographyThe Wolverine Supply & Mfg. Co.was founded in 1903 in Pittsburgh, Pa. by Benjamin F. Bain, a die maker from Michigan. Named for the University of Michigan football team, the company began as a tool-and-die company, making the most profit manufacturing parts for kitchens. In 1910, Bain created dies for the Sandy Andy toy until the inventor of Sandy Andy died and Bain decided to manufacture the toy in his own factory. The first toys to be manufactured by Wolverine were sand-operated and made out of mechanical tin or pressed steel, such as Sandy Andy. Later, the company produced toy vehicles powered by a string motor as well as toy appliances. Wolverine became a major toy manufacturer by 1920. After Bain died, James Lehren took over as president who, throughout the Depression and World War II, steered the company to manufacture military equipment. In 1962, the company changed its name to the Wolverine Toy Company before being bought out by Spang Industries of Butler, Pennsylvania. All manufacturing operations were moved to Booneville, Arkansas in 1971 and the name was changed again in 1986 to Today’s Kids, and at which point the company changed its focus to the production of plastic toys. The company ceased operations in the 1990s.