Saul Robbins

{{short description|American toy manufacturer}} {{Infobox person | name = Saul Robbins | image = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = February 16, 1922 | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2010|6|13|1922|2|16}} | death_place = Verona, New Jersey, U.S. | education = | alma_mater = Rutgers University | occupation = Toy manufacturer | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | known_for = Co-founder of Remco | boards = | spouse = Ruth Fern | children = 2 | parents = | relatives = Isaac Heller (cousin)<br /> Leonard Wilf (son-in-law) | website = }}

'''Saul Robbins''' (February 16, 1922 – June 13, 2010) was an American toy manufacturer, the co-founder of Remco, with his cousin Isaac Heller.

==Personal life== Saul Robbins was born on February 16, 1922,<ref name="familysearch.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JTKG-X3T|title=FamilySearch.org|website=FamilySearch |accessdate=16 December 2023}}</ref> in Brooklyn, New York.<ref name="nj.com">{{Cite news|title=Obituary: Saul Robbins |newspaper=The Star-Ledger|date=June 15, 2010 |url=http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/starledger/obituary.aspx?n=saul-robbins&pid=143585102 }}</ref> He earned a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University.<ref name="nj.com"/> Robbins served in the US Army in the Second World War.<ref name="nj.com"/>

==Career== In 1949, he co-founded the toy company Remco in Newark, New Jersey, with his cousin Isaac Heller.<ref name="nj.com"/><ref name="nj.com1">{{cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2013/12/made_in_jersey_remco_toys_-_re.html|title=Made in Jersey: Remco Toys - remote control toys were 'controlled' nearby in NJ|date=10 December 2013|access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> The name was a contraction of "REMote COntrol", and its first products were children's walkie-talkies.<ref name="nj.com1"/> Heller had been a U.S. Navy electronics technician, and they started by buying large amounts of military surplus and "transforming it into toys that could zoom, soar or otherwise move."<ref name="auto">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/business/isaac-heller-co-founder-of-remco-and-toymaker-to-a-generation-dies-at-88.html|title=Isaac Heller, Co-Founder of Remco and Toymaker to a Generation, Dies at 88|first=Margalit|last=Fox|newspaper=The New York Times|date=10 March 2015|access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref>

Until the 1960s, they only made toys for boys, and they were the first toy company to use television advertising.<ref name="nj.com1"/> Their toys included the Whirlybird helicopter, the Barracuda atomic submarine, the Johnny Reb cannon, the Dick Tracy wrist radio, the Screaming Mee Mee-e rifle and Mr. Kelly's Automatic Car Wash.<ref name="auto"/>

Robbins was president of the Toy Manufacturers Association of America, and of the YM-YWHA of Metrowest.<ref name="nj.com"/>

==Personal life== Robbins and his wife Ruth Fern had two children, Ralph Robbins and Dr Marcia Robbins-Wilf.<ref name="nj.com"/><ref>{{Cite news|title= Paid Notice: Deaths ROBBINS, SAUL |newspaper=The New York Times|date=16 June 2010 |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9807EED9153AF935A25755C0A9669D8B63.html }}</ref> His daughter Marcia Robbins-Wilf was married to Leonard Wilf.<ref name="nj.com"/>

Saul Robbins died at his home in Verona, New Jersey on June 13, 2010, aged 88.<ref name="nj.com"/><ref name="familysearch.org"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Saul}} Category:1922 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American company founders Category:Rutgers University alumni Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Verona, New Jersey Category:United States Army personnel of World War II