As Michael Kimmel, SUNY distinguished professor emeritus of sociology, details in his new book Playmakers: The Jewish Entrepreneurs Who Created the Toy Industry in America, the origins of America’s beloved toys trace back to a pivotal moment in 1902.
The People of the Book, it turns out, are also the people of Teddy Bears, Barbies, and Batman. Kimmel recounts how President Theodore Roosevelt’s decision to spare a 235-pound bear during a hunting trip—inspired by a tracker eager to present him with a trophy—became the catalyst for a cultural phenomenon.
Brooklyn candy store owners Rose (née Rachel) Michtom and Morris Michtom (né Moshe Michael Charmatz), who fled Russian oppression, crafted the first American Teddy Bear in their shop’s back room. The toy would go on to become the nation’s most cherished childhood companion.
Kimmel, Morris’s great-grandnephew, describes how Jewish immigrants transformed America through entrepreneurial resilience. When Morris Michtom invited local yeshiva students to help meet demand for the bears—“What Jewish boy at the time didn’t know a little tailoring?”—the foundation of a toy industry was laid.
The book highlights how these entrepreneurs, many escaping pogroms and persecution, created enduring legacies: The Hassenfeld brothers founded Hasbro; Don Levine invented G.I. Joe; Ruth Moskowicz and Elliot Handler launched Mattel (creating Barbie and Ken); Jack Pressman established the game of Chinese checkers.
In comics, Jewish creators revolutionized childhood imagination. Robert Kahn (Bob Kane) created Batman; Harry Lampert became the Flash; Mortimer Weisinger brought Green Arrow and Aquaman to life; Jacob Kurtzberg (Jack Kirby) designed Captain America; and Stanley Martin Lieber (Stan Lee) introduced Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four.
The story of Superman, sketched on a challah board by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster during a Sabbath meal in their Brooklyn home, was even criticized by Nazi propaganda as “an intellectually and physically circumcised chap.” Meanwhile, Margarete Waldstein and her husband, Hans Augusto Reyersbach, escaped Hitler’s regime to create Curious George.
Kimmel argues that Jewish entrepreneurs shaped American childhood through a cultural vision rooted in Jewish tradition—viewing children not as labor sources but “a garland of roses,” a source of emotional fulfillment rather than material contribution. This perspective fostered an enduring commitment to nurturing confident, wise adults.
Playmakers: The Jewish Entrepreneurs Who Created the Toy Industry in America
by Michael Kimmel
W.W. Norton & Company, 432 pages, $32.99