Schaper Toys - Company History

Company History

William Herbert "Herb" Schaper was a Minnesota postman who created, developed, and manufactured a children's game known as Cootie. After whittling a fishing lure in 1948, he molded the object in plastic, fashioned a game around it, and formed the H. W. Schaper Mfg. Co., Inc. to manufacture and publish the game. In the fall of 1949, the game was launched on the market, and sold through Dayton's department stores. Schaper sold 5,000 Cootie games by 1950, and over 1.2 million games by 1952.

Schaper Toys manufactured a host other games including the well-known Ants in the Pants and Don't Break the Ice. While most children's games of the period were made of paper and cardboard, Schaper Toys was one of the first toy and game manufacturers to extensively use plastic in its products. Schaper games were constructed almost completely of plastic.

The company introduced Stompers, a battery-powered line of toy trucks and other vehicles in 1980.

In the early 1980s Schaper became one of the licensed producers of Playmobil in the United States. A large deal with McDonald's to promote Playmobil by distributing figures in Happy Meals ended badly when the toys were found to violate American child safety regulations.

Schaper Manufacturing operated as the Schaper Toy division of Kusan Inc. in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1986, Schaper Toys was acquired by Tyco Toys, which is now a division of Mattel Inc. In the deal, Tyco sold the rights to four Schaper games including Cootie to Hasbro's Milton Bradley division. Cootie is manufactured and sold today through Milton Bradley with legs featuring in-line skates, sneakers, and other fanciful accessories.