Milton Martin Levine (November 3, 1913 – January 16, 2011) was an American entrepreneur who was the co-founder of Uncle Milton Toys.

Biography

He was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Pennsylvania, on November 3, 1913, to Harry and Mary Levine. As a young boy, Levine collected ants in a jar at his uncle's farm in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. During

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 ...

, he served in the

European Theatre The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the ...

where his engineer unit built bridges in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. While in France, he met his future wife Mauricette Schneider, a citizen of the country, and they married in 1945. With his wife, he fathered one son and two daughters, all of whom he eventually put through college with the proceeds from his business. After the war he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law E. Joseph Cossman and entered the then-new world of

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

and the toy industry that was predicted as a growth industry. The duo made arrangements with

Nosco Plastics Nosco Plastics, Inc. (commonly called NOSCO, the mark used on its molded products) was the plastics molding division of National Organ Supply Company created in 1934 to make plastic parts for electric organs and was located at 1701 Gaskell Avenue, E ...

, a division of National Organ Supply, that also manufactured the plastic prizes in

Cracker Jack Cracker Jack is an American brand of snack food that consists of molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn, and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of trivial value inside. The Cracker Jack name and slogan, "The More You Eat The ...

to make flat

toy soldiers A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier. The term applies to depictions of uniformed military personnel from all eras, and includes knights, cowboys, American Indians, pirates, samurai, and other subjects that involve c ...

for mail order that they advertised originally as "100 Toy Soldiers for $1" (later $1.25) that was advertised in nearly every

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

of the time. Levine and Cossman also successfully mass marketed the potato gun, toy

shrunken heads A shrunken head is a severed and specially prepared human head that is used for trophy, ritual, or trade purposes. Headhunting has occurred in many regions of the world, but the practice of headshrinking has only been documented in the northwest ...

to hang from car rear view mirrors and

balloon animals Balloon modelling or balloon twisting is the shaping of special modelling balloons into almost any given shape, often a balloon animal. People who create balloon animals and other twisted balloon decoration sculptures are called Twisters, Ballo ...

.Walsh, Tim ''Timeless Toys: Classic Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them'' Andrews McMeel Publishing, pp.124–127 In 1956 while at a

Fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

picnic at his sister's pool, he spotted a mound of ants. This inspired him to found Uncle Milton's Toys, which is best known for its Uncle Milton's

Ant Farm A formicarium or ant farm is a vivarium which is designed primarily for the study of ant colonies and how ants behave. Those who study ant behavior are known as myrmecologists. History The formicarium was invented by Charles Janet, a French ...

. After recalling his collection of ants as a kid, he said, "We should make an antarium." The original ant farms were sold for $1.29 and were contained in a six by nine-inch ant farm. Business boomed after advertisements on after school programs prompted thousands of shipments a week. Levine thought of the name of the company by saying "Someone said that if I've got all these ants, then I must be the uncle." After the child bought the ant farm, they had to mail a request for a shipment of 25 ants, which arrived in a vial a few weeks later. The ants contained in the farm are the species ''

Pogonomyrmex californicus ''Pogonomyrmex californicus'', or California harvester ant, is a species of ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae. It is native to North America, where it occurs in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is best known as the ant that i ...

'', an ant native to the southwestern US. At the time of his death, over 20 million units were sold, with a growth rate of 30,000 a month. He once said about the success of his business in 1991: "Most novelties, if they last one season, it’s a lot. If they last two seasons, it’s a phenomenon. To last 35 years is unheard of." Levine died of

natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...

on January 16, 2011, in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...

, at the age of 97. He is interred at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California.

Books

*''Uncle Milton's Ant Facts and Fantasies '' (1970) *''How I Made $1,000,000 in Mail Order-and You Can Too!'' (1993)

In popular culture

* Season 1, episode 6 of the cartoon

Milo Murphy's Law ''Milo Murphy's Law'' is an American animated television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series premiered on October 3, 2016 on Disney XD. It revolves around the title character, Milo ...

had Milton Levine featured through a coffee stain that resembled him, referencing

perceptions of religious imagery in natural phenomena People have been found to perceive images with spiritual or religious themes or import, sometimes called iconoplasms or simulacra, in the shapes of natural phenomena. The images perceived, whether iconic or aniconic, may be the faces of religious ...

References

External links

National Public Radio interview with Steven Levine, his son
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levine, Milton 1913 births 2011 deaths Businesspeople from Pittsburgh People from Thousand Oaks, California 20th-century American businesspeople