Backstory…In 1926, Herman Fisher ran the Churchville, NY location of All-Fair Toys & Games – a well-renowned manufacturer of wood pull toys and board games (called the “Box Company” by the locals). In the late 1920’s, after an unsuccessful attempt to purchase All-Fair, Herm moved to East Aurora, NY at the encouragement of Elbert Hubbard II, where Herm could relish the Roycroft Arts & Crafts community. Also moving to East Aurora from All-Fair were Russell and Stella Frew. On September 9, 1930, Herm, the Frew’s, Irving Price (Mayor of East Aurora) and Helen Schelle (of East Aurora) joined forces to create the Fisher-Price Toy Company. All-Fair’s slogan was “our work is child’s play” which Herm brought with him as the future slogan for Fisher-Price.

Herm Fisher asked Jesse Brice (All-Fair’s Supervisor and Toy Designer) to move to East Aurora and join his team at the newly minted Fisher-Price Toy Company. Jesse’s career at Fisher-Price spanned from 1930 to the late 1940’s where he held the title of Superintendent of Factory Production. His responsibilities and talents included product drafting, toy design, tooling/modeling, engineering and manufacturing. While at Fisher-Price, Jesse had extensive involvement with the development of the original Snoopy Sniffer pull toy, as well as many other classic Fisher- Price toys of historic value. On the side, Jesse continued to explore toy design on his own as a hobby. He worked during and after the Depression, helping to support his extended family.

In 1947, Jesse resigned from Fisher-Price, worked for Beck’s Beer and subsequently explored the purchase of a hotel in his hometown area of Bergen, NY. In 1949, he re-entered the toy industry and started “Brice Toy & Novelty, Inc.”. The company was located in Colden, NY (where raw lumber was brought in, milled and crafted into finished toys on-site) and later moved to 196 Pennsylvania Avenue in East Aurora. The line was presented at NYC Toy Fair and advertised/sold nationally. The lines: 1951 (10 skus), 1952 (12 skus), 1953 (18 skus).

“Brice Toy & Novelty, Inc.” was believed to be the only toy company in the U.S. at that time with legal rights to the Warner Brothers license for wood pull toys—a fact contributing to the company’s success and ultimate rarity of these unique products. His toy line consisted of various generic and licensed cartoon characters including Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and many others.

In September 1953, Jesse ended his career in toys with the sale of “Brice Toy & Novelty, Inc.” to Albert Wallenwein (Brice Toy’s Treasurer and son of the builder of the locally famous Wallenwein’s Tavern). Albert continued to produce the Brice toy line under the name “East Aurora Toy Corporation” (which dissolved shortly thereafter). It is said that Herm Fisher bought up all of their tools and materials to prevent the resurrection of another rival in the East Aurora corporate hometown of Fisher-Price Toys.