ERTL, Fred Jr.

Fred Ertl Jr.

ERTL, Fred Jr. (Dubuque, IA, June 6, 1930--Scottsdale, AZ, August 23, 2017 ). Ertl followed his father Frederick ERTL into the manufacture of toys. According to Cathy Hubbard, Fred, Jr's daughter, he helped his father sell replicas out of his father's car. (1) All five brothers were initially involved in the company which was located in the family's basement. The company moved from Dubuque to Dyersville in 1959 and developed a multi-million dollar enterprise with manufacturing facilities in Mexico; China; and Dyersville, Iowa.

In 1962 the company changed its production. Previously a maker of products for farm equipment manufacturers that used toys for promotions, the Ertl Company entered the open toy market. When purchased by the Victor Comptometer Corporation of Chicago in 1967, the operation earned an annual revenue of $4.5 million.

Ertl served on the board of the Toy Manufacturers of America from 1968 until 1975, serving as president from 1970 to 1971. He was instrumental in creating the first Toy Safety Standards, many of which, later went into effect as legal safety measures. The toy industry was the first industry which was self-regulated regarding safety issues following Fred’s lead . In 1976 he was President of the Hobby Industry of America. He had served on the board from 1973 to 1975 and was the first inductee into the Hobby Manufacturers Association Legends of Industry in 2008. He was inducted into the Toy Manufacturers of America Hall of Fame in February of 2000 and the National Farm Toy Hall of Fame in 2005. (2)

Ertl was instrumental in the development of the National Farm Toy Museum and sat on the board from 1982 until his death. He also served on the Iowa Manufacturers Association Board of Directors from 1967 to 1968. He helped the shipping industry create zones for shipping. (3)

Ertl was also a pioneer in licensing, as a long-term licensee of John Deere, Case IH, Allis- Chalmers and other agricultural and construction companies. He broadened his reach with Universal Studio and other major movie companies with licenses for properties like Dukes of Hazzard, Smokey and the Bandit, Batman, Star Trek, Star Wars, Thomas the Tank and Gremlins. The Ertl company was also an early licensee of NASCAR racing. He had been a dirt track racer until parents put a stop to that after bankers told them they would no longer finance the business if he was going to put himself at risk by driving a stock car. Through the sport he drove an actual NASCAR race car on the track and made friends with the heads of NASCAR including Bill France and Richard Petty. (4)

In earlier years, Fred was proud of the fact that he had regularly employed young juveniles who had spent time being rehabilitated in a youth facility in Eldora, Iowa. He kept track of the young men, many who went on to lead successful and happy lives. He kept on this tradition by creating scholarship programs for high school graduates. In Arizona, he and his wife Nancy, supported Sunshine Acres, a nonprofit organization in Mesa, Az., by each taking an underprivileged child Christmas shopping for a day at their own expense. He enhanced that effort by giving motivational talks to young children in the area in the hopes he could convince them that, if he and his family could succeed in their capacity, anyone of them could also. (5)

The company became a subsidiary of Walter Kidde and Company of Clifford, New Jersey, in 1977. In 1987 Hanson Trust PLC, a British conglomerate purchased Kidde and Company. Ertl, still involved in the company as president and CEO, retired in 1992. (6)

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Source:

1. Jacobson, Ben. "Dyersville Farm Toy Pioneer Dies at 87," Telegraph Herald, August 27, 2017, p. 13A

2. Obituary. Online: https://www.egelhofsiegertcasper.com/memorials/Ertl-Fred/3085534/obituary.php

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Jacobson