Brand record
Schoenhut
Schoenhut was an American toy maker established in Philadelphia by Albert Schoenhut in 1872. It began with toy pianos, whose metal sound bars replaced fragile glass, and later made other musical instruments, dolls, dollhouses, and wooden circus figures. Its Humpty Dumpty Circus, introduced in 1903, included articulated performers and animals with elastic joints. The company became a major United States toy manufacturer before declaring bankruptcy in 1935.
- Founded
- 1872
- Countries
- United States
- Locations
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · 1872
- Founders
- Albert Schoenhut
The story of Schoenhut
Albert Schoenhut came from a German family of toymakers and arrived in Philadelphia in 1866 to work at John Wanamaker’s store. He repaired miniature pianos there, replacing their fragile glass bars with metal ones. In 1872 he opened his own toy business on Frankford Avenue in Kensington, producing toy pianos and metallophones.
The company expanded beyond musical toys to make instruments, dolls, wooden dollhouses and furniture, and circus figures. Around the turn of the century Schoenhut patented clown figures; in 1903 the firm began its Humpty Dumpty Circus, a range of figures, animals, and accessories. Its articulated wooden animals could be posed using elastic joints. The company had become the largest toy manufacturer in the United States by the time of Schoenhut’s death in 1912. The Depression brought declining sales, and A. Schoenhut Co. declared bankruptcy in 1935.
Collectors’ Corner
Posts about this brand
No posts about this brand yet. Do you own one, or know its story? Share your photos or ask fellow collectors.