Tootsietoys

Charles Dowst founded the Dowst Brothers Publishing Company in 1878 to publish the National Laundry Journal. The brothers later used Linotype casting equipment to produce small metal novelties, including buttons, cufflinks and promotional pieces. By the beginning of the twentieth century, making metal novelties had become a central part of the business. In 1911, Dowst introduced a generic toy limousine; a miniature Ford Model T followed a few years later. Samuel’s son Theodore, who joined the firm as a bookkeeper in 1906, became a designer and later company president.

After Charles and Samuel Dowst died, Theodore expanded the vehicle range with models based on cars and trucks from manufacturers including Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Mack. The TootsieToy name, associated with Theodore’s daughter Catherine, was registered as a trademark in 1924. In 1926, Dowst merged with Chicago novelty maker Cosmo Manufacturing, and the combined firm became Dowst Manufacturing Company. The 1933 Graham Series used separate castings for the body, chassis and grille; rubber tires and zinc alloy castings also appeared in the company’s cars. During the Second World War, Dowst shifted production toward detonators and buckles, then returned to toys after the war.

Dowst acquired the plastic model and slot-car maker Strombeck-Becker in 1961 and became the Strombecker Corporation. Slot cars became a major product, while Tootsietoys continued as part of a broader toy business. The company returned to Tootsietoys as its primary trade name in later decades. In 2004, Daniel Shure sold Strombecker-TootsieToys to Processed Plastics; after that company’s liquidation, the intellectual property and Tootsietoys were acquired by J. Lloyd International.