Tag: Kenner

Kenner Products was a toy company founded in 1947 by three brothers, Albert, Phillip, and Joseph L. Steiner, in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, and was named after the street where the original corporate offices were located, which is just north of Cincinnati’s Union Terminal.
Kenner introduced its popular Girder and Panel building sets construction toy in 1957, the Give-a-Show projector in 1959, the Easy-Bake Oven in 1963, the Spirograph drawing toy in 1966, and the Starting Lineup sports action figure collectible line in 1988. It was a pioneer in the use of television as a medium for advertising toys across the United States, beginning in 1958.
In the early 1960s, Kenner introduced its corporate mascot, The Kenner Gooney Bird, which would be used in both its company logo (“It’s Kenner! It’s fun!”) and TV ads, in both animated form and puppetry. (One commercial was produced by Muppets creator Jim Henson.) The Bird was phased out by 1974.
The company was purchased by General Mills in…