The Colorforms Years

Colorforms is not only the toy, it was also the company that made the toy. Harry Kislevitz invented the plastic forms that stuck to just about everything, but his company manufactured many other playthings. Toymaker Mel Birnkrant worked for Colorforms for 20 years beginning in 1964.

Later that day the phone rang.  I lifted the receiver to hear for the first time, the mesmerizing voice that would dominate my Destiny for the next 20 years. It was the voice of Harry Kislevitz, a Wizard of the highest order.  I immediately fell under his spell.

His voice alone was captivating, kind, exuberant, and resonating.  It was the voice of Santa Claus, calling, from just across the river in New Jersey, to offer me the possibility of making toys, happily ever after.

In the days and years that followed I spoke to Harry, hour after hour, nearly every day, and found him to be the most complex and amazing person I had ever known.

Birnkrant tells of toys you may remember, toys that were never mass produced, and toys that flopped (and are now collector's items). He also tells of the 15 years he worked on Colorforms Stick-ons, the company's flagship toy. Link -via Metafilter