The Toys That Built America: Snack Sized

From its humble beginnings in an 1880s card shop, to singlehandedly resurrecting the video game industry, learn about how an iconic name in gaming came to be. Before creating one of the world's most famous video games starring two Italian plumbers, this icon once tried making soup, vacuum cleaners, and hotels. Get Ready Player One... this story is a game-changer.

When Mattel opened their doors as a picture frame company, they had no idea they'd become the empire behind the world's most popular toys. But Mattel didn't get to be number uno without a few wild cards and intergalactic battles.

Since its founding in 1923, Hasbro has grown from a modest textile and school supplies business into the biggest toy company in the world. Yet one of their most successful toys got started from old tin cans.

Three brothers from Massachusetts help turn an obscure form of entertainment into a billion-dollar global industry; one of their bestselling games becomes an Olympic sport, and another popular product is inspired by a caveman.

Milton Bradley goes from making lithographs in 1860 to making some of the most popular games of all-time. But their most iconic game wouldn't exist without the polio epidemic!