A. Eddy Goldfarb (born Adolph Goldfarb; September 5, 1921) is an American toy inventor. The creator of over 800 toys, he is best known for inventing Yakity Yak Talking Teeth,

Battling Tops ''Battling Tops'' is a children's game invented by Eddy Goldfarb and first manufactured by Ideal in 1968. In the game, players launch spinning tops into an arena with the aim to have the final standing spinning top. The game has similarities to '' ...

, KerPlunk, Stompers, and Vac-U-Form. He is the subject of the award winning short film '' Eddy's World''.

Early life

Adolph Eddy Goldfarb was born in 1921 in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, the son of Jewish immigrants from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. He was one of 3 children: Bernard was five years older and Bunny (Bernice) was two years younger. Even as a young child, he was interested in how things work. He recalls that when he was around five years old, his father Louis brought home a radio and when it didn't play, he gave it to Goldfarb to take apart to see how it worked. He remembers that it was one of the best toys he ever had. Louis worked as a tailor in a garment factory and sold goods on a pushcart on Maxwell Street to make extra money. Louis died in 1933 at the young age of 44 and Goldfarb's life changed dramatically. He was 12 years old, and along with his brother and mother Rose, they worked to support the family. He worked delivering newspapers and groceries. But one of his best jobs was working as a soda jerk for Schuster's Drug Store. And it was there that his friends stopped calling him Adolph (in reaction to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

’s rise to power) and started calling him Eddy. And he became known as Eddy from that point forward. Goldfarb excelled in math and science in high school, and was interested in studying physics, but he knew college would have to wait until he could afford the tuition. A big turning point in Goldfarb's life was

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, Eddy enlisted in the Navy and enrolled in a special program to learn about

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

. The Navy sent him to the University of Houston where he studied electrical engineering and then to a secret lab at

Naval Station Treasure Island Naval Station Treasure Island is a former United States Navy facility that operated on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay from 1942 to 1997. History During World War II, Treasure Island became part of the Treasure Island Naval Base, and serve ...

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

to specialize in radar. As a radar technician, Goldfarb volunteered for submarine duty and was assigned to the submarine the USS ''Batfish''. It was still under construction and he was on the first crew to take it out to sea. He was allowed to bring only one sea bag aboard, and he filled it with clothing, books and a spool of magnet wire which he used to build tiny motors. While at sea, he invented a specialized radar antenna. He also had a sketchbook filled with drawings of his inventions. and he decided that if he wanted to be an independent inventor, he needed to specialize in one industry, and he chose toys. After the war, Goldfarb returned to Chicago where he met Anita, who he proposed to the day after he met her at a dance, and they were married nine months later. Anita agreed to support him for two years while he pursued his dream to become an independent inventor.

Career as an inventor

His first item he sold was the wild idea of the Yakity Yak Talking Teeth, a simple gag item, which became a cultural icon. He hooked up with promoter Marvin Glass and they brought the Yakity Yak teeth to novelty king Irving Fishlove. And Goldfarb kept inventing, working day and night, coming up with new ideas, and making the models himself. In 1949, Goldfarb had 3 toys at the Toy Association's Toy Fair in New York, the toy industry's annual showcase—Yakity Yak Talking Teeth (Fishlove), Busy Biddy Chicken (Topic Toys) and Merry-Go-Sip (Topic Toys). All three toys were really big hits and Goldfarb's career was launched. Goldfarb always wanted to live in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and in 1952, Goldfarb, Anita and their 2-year-old daughter Lyn moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Marvin was angry at him for moving and refused to send Goldfarb any of the royalties owed to him. While California represented a new start, Goldfarb and Anita had a tough time financially. They moved into a modest home in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

and Goldfarb set up a model shop in their one car garage. Times were so difficult that when their daughter Fran was born in 1953, Goldfarb didn't have enough money to pay the hospital bill. He tells the story of how he went to the home of Lew Glaser of Revell Toys that night with a new toy idea and walked out with a check. By the time their son Martin was born in 1957, Goldfarb's business had grown. He soon outgrew his shop in the garage, and at the height of his success, Goldfarb owned 3 buildings and employed 39 people - model makers, industrial designers, engineers, sculptors and support staff. Goldfarb designed a wide range of toys, games, novelties and hobby kits for boys and girls of all ages. He invented more than 800 toys and holds close to 300 patents. Some of his most successful toys were: Yakity Yak Talking Teeth,

, Vac-u-form, Arcade Basketball, KerPlunk, Hydro Strike, Giant Bubble Gun, Baby Beans, Stompers, Shark Attack, Numbers Up, Quiz Wiz, Poppin Hoppies, Beware the Spider!, Chutes Away, Marblehead, and Snakes Alive!. He sold toys to most of the toy companies in the U.S. and then branched out to Europe and Asia. He had a particularly close working relationship with two of his designers, his associate Del Everitt on Stompers and Rene Soriano on KerPlunk. In 1998, Goldfarb formed a new partnership with his son Martin (the inventor of Shark Attack). And to this day, Eddy & Martin Goldfarb and Associates are continuing to invent toys and games. In 2003, Goldfarb was inducted in the

Toy Industry Hall of Fame The Toy Industry Hall of Fame recognizes the contributions of toy-makers around the world. It is maintained by the Toy Industry Foundation, an arm of the US Toy Industry Association. See also * National Toy Hall of Fame * List of toys and chi ...

, and in 2010, received the TAGIE (Toy and Game Innovation) Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Toy and Game Group. He was the first American to receive the I.D.I.O.T. (International Designer and Inventor of Toys) at the UK Toy Inventors’ Dinner at the London Toy Fair in 1993. In addition to Goldfarb's career inventing toys, he worked with Hank Saperstein to design and manufacture toy premiums for Kelloggs Cereal, and they worked with

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

to create an Elvis plastic figurine (which was never released). As part of their collaboration, Anita answered Elvis's fan mail. Goldfarb also designed spy devices and gadgets for the TV show '' The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.''. In 1985, he was one of first toy inventors to venture into video games ( EPYX Barbie and

Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American brand of scale model cars introduced by American toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1997, when Mattel bought Tyco Toys, then owner of Matchbox. Many automobile manufacturers have ...

) but chose not to continue, focusing instead on his passion-designing toys.

Personal life

Goldfarb married Anita Stern in 1947 and they were married for 66 years until her death in 2013. He is now in a relationship with Greta Honigsfeld who also lives in the retirement community. He celebrated his

100th birthday A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Because life expectancies worldwide are below 100 years, the term is invariably associated with longevity. In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living cent ...

in September 2021. Eddy has 3 children: Lyn b. 1947, Fran b. 1951, and Martin, b. 1957. He has two grandchildren. Eddy's sister Bernice Schneider is now 96 years old and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Inventions

The following is a list of toys, games, and other inventions created by Goldfarb: *

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...

Web Spinning Action Game (

Ideal Toy Company Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular dolls included Betsy ...

) *Baby Beans (

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

) *

(Ideal Toy Company) *Black Hole in Space (

Schaper Toys Schaper Toys, or W.H. Schaper Mfg. Co., Inc. as it was originally known, was a game and toy company founded in 1949 by William Herbert Schaper in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. "Herb" Schaper published a variety of games but was best known for having ...

) *Bright Starters Schoolhouse (

Kenner Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American toy company founded in 1946. Throughout its history, the Kenner brand produced several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures like the original series of ' ...

) * Brunswick

Air Hockey Air hockey is a ''Pong''-like tabletop sport where two opposing players try to score goals against each other on a low-friction table using two hand-held discs ("mallets") and a lightweight plastic puck. The air hockey table has raised edges ...

(Aurora) *Bubble Gun (CAP Toys) *Busy Biddy Chicken (Topic Toys) *Dipsy Diver (Schaper Toys) *Electronic Arcade Basketball (CAP Toys) *Electronic Learning Machine (

Coleco Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game console ...

) *

EPYX Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher active in the late 1970s and 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before rena ...

Barbie (1984 video game) ''Barbie'' is video game for the Commodore 64 published by Epyx in 1984. It allows players to participate in the life of the famous fashion doll of the same name. Gameplay Players must talk to their boyfriend Ken (using a real voice audio ...

(Mattel) *

Hot Wheels (video game) (Mattel) *Farbs (Mattel) – invented with Del Everitt *Hydro Strike ( Pressman) * KerPlunk (Ideal Toy Company) – invented with Rene Soriano *Koo Koo Clock (Schaper Toys) *

Lego Creator Lego Creator is a Lego theme for generic models. Creator sets have few specialized bricks to create buildings, creatures, vehicles, and robots. Some sets featured instructions for three different possible builds from the bricks included and mos ...

: The Race to Build It Board Game (Warren Industries) *Marblehead (Ideal Toy Company) *Milky the Cow (Kenner) – invented with Elonne Dantzer *Melody Madness (

GAF GAF may refer to: Military * General of the Air Force, US * Ghana Armed Forces * Guardia alla Frontiera, Italy Other uses * Gaf, a Perso-Arabic letter * Gaf (Mandaeism), a demon of the Mandaean underworld * GAF Materials Corporation, an Amer ...

View-Master View-Master is the trademark name of a line of special-format stereoscopes and corresponding View-Master "reels", which are thin cardboard disks containing seven stereoscopy, Stereoscopic 3-D pairs of small transparent color photographs on film.M ...

) *Merry Go Sip (Topic Toys) *My First Builder (Warren Industries) *Music Box Kit (Craft Master) *Numbers Up (

Milton Bradley Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased by Hasbro in 1984, and ...

) *Penguin Slide Toy (ABC Toys) *Phantom 4 Hover Craft (Schaper Toys) *Poppin Hoppies (Ideal Toy Company) *Professor Nod (

Gabriel Toys CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

) *Puff 'n Toot (Schaper Toys) *Quiz Wiz (Coleco) *

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

Quick Shooter Hat (Ideal Toy Company) *Shark Attack (Milton Bradley) – invented by Martin Goldfarb *Slip Disc (Milton Bradley) *Snakes Alive (Ideal Toy Company) *Spiral Designer (

Ravensburger Ravensburger AG is a German game and toy company, publishing house and market leader in the European jigsaw puzzle market. History The company was founded by Otto Robert Maier in Ravensburg, a town in Upper Swabia in southern Germany. He bega ...

) *Star Trek (

Mego Corporation The Mego Corporation was an American toy company that in its original iteration was first founded in 1954. Originally known as a purveyor of dime store toys, in 1971 the company shifted direction and became famous for producing licensed dolls (i ...

) * Stompers (Schaper Toys) – invented with Del Everitt * Vac-U-Form (Mattel) * Yakity-Yak Talking Teeth (H. Fishlove & Co.)

Awards and honors

* 2003 –

* 2010 – TAGIE (Toy and Game Innovation) Lifetime Achievement Award * I.D.I.O.T. (International Designer and Inventor of Toys)

References

Sources

* *

External links

''Eddy's World'' documentary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldfarb, Eddy 1921 births Living people American centenarians Men centenarians Toy inventors Toy designers 20th-century American inventors United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy sailors Jewish American inventors Jewish American artists Businesspeople from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Romanian-Jewish descent 21st-century American Jews