Toys - Tonka

Tonka Toys. Even the name sounds tough. And make no mistake about it. Tonka toys were tough, especially back in the good old days when toys were made to last, or as they would say in their TV commercials, "They're made Tonka tough". Yes, every tough kid had to have his Tonka truck. So when did this all start? How long has Tonka been cranking out these tough trucks?

Tonka started in 1947. The first trucks were made by a company called Mound Metalcraft. The company was located in Mound, Minnesota in a very small warehouse. No, this wasn't what you would call a big business when it began. The company itself actually specialized in manufacturing garden tools, which had to be tough. Taking that some technology and approach, they began making some of the toughest trucks ever put together.

In their first year alone, Mound Metalcraft manufactured over 37,000 of these tough trucks. This in spite of the fact that they only had two designs. The two designs were a steam shovel and a crane. Oh and in case you're wondering, the word Tonka means "great" in Sioux.

After World War II Tonka trucks became very popular with post war families. The demand for these trucks was so great that it far outweighed production. A year of the company's inventory would be sold out in just a few months.

The whole premise of the Tonka company and one that they refused to ever compromise on, was that their toys should be durable and give your child as much play time as possible out of them. They felt that there was no reason their toys shouldn't last for many years. And they did.

In the almost 60 years since the first Tonka toys were made, over 250 million of them have been sold. To this day, their vehicles are made to withstand just about anything you can throw at them. What began as just two trucks has grown into a whole line of trucks and playsets.

Over the years there have been some milestones in the Tonka legacy. It took over 17 years since their first truck, but in 1964 the most popular truck that they ever made, the Mighty Dump, came into existence. No truck of theirs ever sold more units. Between 1965 and 1972 was what was called the "Mighty Age". This is when the Tonka Mighty Series grew tremendously, giving us titles like the Mighty Clam, Crane, Shovel, Scraper, Car Carrier, Bulldozer, Wrecker, Hydraulic Dump, Roller, Bottom Dump, Mixer, Loadmaster and Grader. These were some of the most popular trucks ever.

Between 1973 and 1982 Tonka added more vehicle categories. This period of time gave us the Rescue Vehicle, Car Carrier, Forklift, Earth Mover, Adventure Buggy and, believe it or not, the Mighty Winnebago.

Over the next 25 years Tonka continued to produce quality products and new additions such as Chuck My Talking Truck, the first talking Tonka Toy.

Tonka promises to come out with trucks that are even tougher than the ones made almost 60 years ago.

That is going to be a tough act to follow.

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Leadership From Below

"I know up on top you are seeing great sights but down at the bottom we too should have rights"- Dr. Suess.

This past week a silly video and an altercation out in the horse's paddock, caused me to realize that not all leadership has to come from the top. Let's start with the silly video. It began with a guy dancing by himself on a lawn in a public park. After a while another guy joined him and then another and before long there were hundreds of people up dancing. The point of the video was to illustrate the importance of the second dancer in starting a "movement" but what struck me was the role of the first dancer. He inspired everyone to get up and dance and then he completely disappeared into the crowd. For that one brief period of time, in that particular instance he was a leader.

Now let's head out to my paddock. John, who is the number two horse out in my boys' herd came in the other day limping with a giant hoof-print on his back leg. Everyone was quite surprised because John seems to be a very dominant aggressive horse who often sends the rest of the herd scattering in all directions. There is one horse, however who does not back down to John - Snowman, my old grey gelding. Snowman will in fact turn his butt to John and drive him out of the herd across the paddock, kicking at him with his back feet. During these encounters Snowman, who is at all other times a non-entity in the herd, quite definitely demonstrates equine leadership (remember in horse world leadership is achieved by controlling the other horse's movements)

These two stories hold an important lesson for me personally. As owner of two companies and the human herd leader of 22 horses I will admit that I like to be in charge. Like Suzy and Nubee my two herd leaders I am confident of my leadership abilities and I believe in myself as a leader. However, there can be a huge downside to this mindset. When you are so used to being the guy who makes all the decisions, when you start to think that you are always right, you simply forget to listen. You don't acknowledge that there are others who are just as capable of leading as you are in many situations. They may not want to be leader all the time but they can still contribute significantly and positively to your organization. As the leader I have to learn to balance my own vision and enthusiasm with respect and recognition of the ideas, knowledge and capabilities of others. My husband puts it much more bluntly; I need to stop rolling over everyone like a Mack truck.

I admire Suzy and Nubee. They don't micro-manage their herds. There are many levels of leadership in those herds and they both seem content to let everyone else play out their various leadership roles. Maybe I should go and live out in the herd until that concept becomes ingrained in my head.

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