The three brothers behind Hasbro: from selling clothes to building the Monopoly empire

In 1926, in Providence, chimneys smoked day and night: the docks teemed with activity, textile mills set the pace of life in the working-class neighborhoods, and the scent of cotton and paper permeated the streets. It was in the business registry of this Rhode Island city that a new company was registered on January 8th: Hassenfeld Brothers. Behind it were Herman, Hillel, and Henry Hassenfeld, three Jewish brothers of Polish origin. Like many other Jewish families from Eastern Europe, the Hassenfelds had arrived in the United States seeking work, stability, and the chance to start over. Providence seemed to offer them just that. Their first business was modest. They bought and resold fabric scraps, a product with a low profit margin but high demand. Over the years, the business grew, and the brothers got to know suppliers and explored new sales channels. This led them to a conclusion: the key wasn't just marketing, but manufacturing. They got to work and, within a few months, they were already producing pencil cases and all kinds of school supplies. It seems strange, but that's the seed of the Hasbro toy empire, one of the world's leading brands in the sector. With names like Monopoly, Mr. Potato Head, Risk, Nerf, Play-Doh, Transformers, and My Little Pony in its catalog, in 2024 it generated nearly $4.2 billion in revenue worldwide and directly employed more than 6,000 people. But how did the three brothers go from selling pencil cases to becoming a toy giant?

From Pencil Cases to Toys

Starting to manufacture their own products allowed the brothers to control costs, quality, and production times. School pencil cases were the first step toward their own catalog, which soon expanded to include pencils and colored pencils. During the 1930s and 40s, the company consolidated its position and made another wise decision: to embrace plastic, a new, lightweight, inexpensive, and moldable material that opened up new possibilities. By 1942, Hassenfeld Brothers already had a doctor's kit and tubs of modeling clay in their catalog. The turning point came in 1952 when they acquired the rights to Mr. Potato Head, a plastic potato head with interchangeable parts that became the first toy advertised on television. In the early 1960s, founder Henry Hassenfeld died, and the reins passed to the second generation of the family, with Anthony Merrill Hassenfeld at the helm. One of the most important decisions the company made was in 1968: Hassenfeld Brothers officially changed its name to the shorter, more marketable Hasbro.

Digitization and electronics

From that moment on, Hasbro entered a phase of accelerated expansion. In 1964, it had created the concept ofaction figure And the catalog diversified with an increasingly refined combination of its own toys and major licenses. In the following decades, they consolidated this strategy with the acquisition of key brands such as Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, and Kenner, which incorporated iconic board games like Monopoly, Risk, and Cluedo. They also added successful franchises like Transformers and My Little Pony, closely linked to television series and, later, to film.

With the turn of the millennium, Hasbro ceased to be just a toy company and became an entertainment and intellectual property company. The entry into the world of role-playing and card games, the investment in audiovisual content, and, more recently, the shift towards digital gaming and licensing marked the company's course. In 2003, Alan G. Hassenfeld, grandson of one of the founders and the last family member to lead the company, stepped down. It was the end of an era: Hasbro definitively transitioned from a family business to a multinational corporation run by professional executives. Since then, power has been concentrated in large international investment funds such as The Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and Capital Research Global Investors. Their only rival is the other giant in the sector, Mattel, the brand behind Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels cars, Uno cards, and Fisher-Price early childhood toys. Hasbro closed 2024 with $5.38 billion in revenue.