Corky Steiner Kenner history collection

Collection — Box: 1-2

Identifier: 115.4174

Staff Only

The Corky Steiner Kenner history collection includes advertisements, instruction manuals, ledgers, financial reports, business letters, journal articles, photographs, DVDs, and other documentation relating to Kenner toys during the 1950s and 1960s. A sizeable portion of this collection is advertisements. The bulk of the materials are dated between 1956 and 1960. Joseph L. Steiner compiled these scrapbooks and portfolios while at Kenner. Corky Steiner, son of Joseph L. Steiner, also added Kenner history DVDs (created in 2015) to the collection.

The Corky Steiner Kenner History Collection is arranged into four series. The materials are housed in two archival document boxes.

Dates

1947-1960, 2015
Majority of material found in 1956-1960

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is open for research use by staff of The Strong and by users of its library and archives. Though the donor has not transferred intellectual property rights (including, but not limited to any copyright, trademark, and associated rights therein) to The Strong, he has given permission for The Strong to make copies in all media for museum, educational, and research purposes.

Extent

0.75 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Additional Description

Abstract

The Corky Steiner Kenner history collection is a compilation of advertisements, instruction manuals, ledgers, financial reports, business letters, journal articles, photographs, DVDs, and other documentation relating to Kenner Products during the 1950s and 1960s.

Historical Note

Kenner Products was an American toy company founded in 1947 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by brothers Albert, Philip, and Joseph L. Steiner. (The “Kenner” name came from the street where the original corporate offices were located.) Kenner famously produced the Easy-Bake Oven, Baby Alive, Spirograph, Sit ‘n’ Spin, Blythe, Stretch Armstrong, and numerous licensed action figures—including the original line of Star Wars action figures and play sets during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

System of Arrangement

Series I: Product-specific advertisements, c. 1956-1960

Series II: Scrapbooks, 1949-1959

Series III: Financial papers, 1956-c. 1960

Series IV: Audiovisual media, 2015

Custodial History

The Corky Steiner Kenner history collection was donated to The Strong in October 2015 as a gift from Corky Steiner. The papers were accessioned by The Strong under Object ID 115.4174. The materials were received from Corky Steiner, son of Kenner co-founder and Easy-Bake Oven co-creator Joseph L. Steiner, in one box, along with a donation of Kenner trade catalogs and sell sheets.

Related Materials

Several Kenner toys, including the Easy-Bake Oven Star Wars action figures, have been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. The Strong holds more than 2,000 Kenner-produced toys in its collections. The Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play houses dozens of Kenner Products trade catalogs in the library stacks.

Processed by

Robert Ramos, January-February 2016

Subjects

Record Groups

- List 02. Archival Collections Related to Artifacts of Play

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title: Finding Aid to the Corky Steiner Kenner history collection, 1947-1960, 2015
Status: completed
Author: Robert Ramos
Date: 9 February 2016
Description rules: dacs