Business View Magazine - November 2016

144 Business View Magazine - November 2016 The Toy Industry Association 100 years of service On Friday, June 9, 1916 in New York City’s Herald Square, Harry C. Ives of the Ives Manufacturing Cor- poration called to order a meeting of 46 American toy manufacturers. Their purpose: to establish a trade as- sociation exclusively for toymakers. According to hand-written minutes from that meeting, the object of the discussion was to “improve the toy industry in this country ... stimulate the use of toys by giving publicity to American-made toys ... encourage the custom of buying toys for [the] midsummer holiday to have two seasons in place of one ... and be well- equipped to protect [the] industry when the war is over.” There began the Toy Manufacturers of the U.S.A., which would later be renamed the Toy Industry Asso- ciation (TIA). Since that inaugural meeting, TIA has expanded and evolved to support the needs of a rapidly changing toy industry. From the impact of wars to the rise of the technology revolution, the Association has adapted its mission throughout the years to serve an ever-widen-