Girard

Girard Model Works, Inc. history

Girard, Pennsylvania, 1919-1922.

Other names: Girard Mfg. Co. 1922-1935; The Toy Works, 1935-1975(Spinning tops, skates, banks, trains, military toys). Founded by Frank E. Wood.

In the late 1920s, Girard toys made Louis Marx a commission agent and for several years produced toys under the Marx label, along with its own line of steel autos, trucks, and trains, which were produced at Girard Motor Works.

Marx and Girard toys are for all intents indistinguishable (a few of the Girard toys bore the slogan "Making Childhood's Hour Happier"). Girard declared bankruptcy in 1934, although toy production continued until 1975. Quaker Oats had bought out Marx's interest in Girard when they bought Marx's American and English toy division 1972.