Mattel, Inc. is the largest toy company in the world. This company designs, manufactures, markets and distributes a large quantity of different toy products in over 150 countries around the world. From Frames to Mattel Toys (1945-49) The founders of Mattel, Inc were Elliot and Ruth Handler in 1945, where they lived in a rapidly changing post-war era. Handler began by designing lamps and soon began making furniture, which he sold in his garage. They expanded their product by producing gift items and trinkets, and this soon became a $2 million enterprise. To remain competitive, Elliot wanted to change direction by adopting a new business approach. Ruth Handler decided to reach out to her old friend, Harold "Matt" Matson, and together they founded Mattel Creations, with Elliot as the product designer. Mattel, the name, comes from mixing Matson's surname with Elliot's name. Matson soon became ill and had to leave the company. With the scraps left over from the production of frames, Elliot began to build his first dollhouse furniture. Some of their first toys were the "bird bank" and the "pretend makeup set" and these products helped the Handlers break even on expenses and costs. The first successful product in the toy industry was the Uke-A-Doodle, a miniature plastic ukulele, and the plastic piano with raised black keys soon followed. There were some lessons that the Handlers had learned in the toy industry in the time since its inception, namely that children's participation was very important for any quality toy and that children needed to be able to interact with a toy and wanting to play it for long periods of time. Furthermore, they had learned that a toy with lasting appeal was a basis for ... middle of paper ... decisions were made and the company was forced to pay $122 million to settle cases with lawsuits filed by shareholders they felt that information about the company's success was misleading. The difficult times took a positive turn when the company focused on successful toys such as Harry Potter, Spongebob Squarepants and Diva Starz. Mattel continued to sell Hot Wheels and Barbie, their all-time best sellers. Moving forward with the new generations, Mattel partnered with computer game and toy companies and continued to be a growing company, despite its few obstacles. Eckerd continues to manage the company and follows approaches aimed at improving the bottom line rather than the bottom line. Mattel continues to grow faster in international sales than its competitors. The company made history as the largest manufacturer, seller and distributor of toys in the world.