With due credit to Vincent Santelmo, the author of the Complete Encyclopedia to GI Joe....I thought I would briefly give the background history of the Hasbro company and the GI Joe action figure. It's a pretty cool reference book, and although I don't know him, he seems to know a lot about GI Joe....tip of the hat to you, sir.
Hasbro Inc. started out as Hassenfeld Brothers in 1923. It was started up by two brothers in Providence, Rhode Island. They sold various other products early on, and they didn't get started in the toy business until post WWII. By then, one of the brothers, Hillel, had left control of the business to the other brother, Henry. Henry's sons joined the family business as well.
They had some popular toys produced prior to GI Joe. Familiar items such as Mr. Potato-Head and Sno-Cones were hot items thoroughout the United States.
By the
1960s, things were going great for Hasbro. They were expanding to Canada, and sales were doing very well. Henry's grandsons had also joined on in the family business.
In
1962, a new show called
The Lieutenant starring Gary Lockwood inspired Hasbro's creative director with the idea of a movable action figure soldier for boys...good idea. The Lieutenant was not joined up with GI Joe in the long run since it was more of an adult show...but the inspiration nonetheless.
Through a lot of hard work and remarkable innovation, the GI Joe fighting man debuted in 1964. The people at Hasbro went to great lengths to ensure that GI Joe uniforms were as close to authentic as possible...just scaled down to fit the 11 1/2 inch body of the GI Joe action figure. From the 21 movable parts to the battle scar on GI Joe's cheek, GI Joe could be configured to resemble the active duty soldier, sailor, marine, or pilot. Each Joe came wearing a GI Joe military uniform with a hat, dog tag, and boots. GI Joe even had patches and chevrons for added realism.
To the delight of Hasbro, the introduction of GI Joe to the public was a smashing success. They continued on to add accessories and uniforms...keeping interest alive since there was always something new you HAD to have. The first
African-American GI Joe action soldier was brought out in 1965. The first talking GI Joe debuted in 1967...then the Adventurer in
1969. GI Joe with the lifelike hair and beard were brought out in 1970. Always staying on top of the market and supplying kids with new GI Joe items and varieties to GI Joe brought Hasbro great success. They took a small idea of an action figure for boys....and ran with it. Anything is possible, and they made it happen...pretty neat.
