Hi! Thanks for another question.
Please take note that before providing a rating; please ask for
clarification if you will need further assistance in the answers I
have provided below.
I was able to find the following articles discussing about aspects of
childhood dreams or concepts that shaped a particular business.
------------------------
Build-A-Bear Workshop:
?Her idea: Create a place where children build and dress their own
bears or bunnies or other stuffed animals. She calls herself Chief
Executive Bear and her company is Build-A-Bear Workshop.?
?Former Payless chief hits pay dirt with Build-A-Bear?
http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20010803bears0803bnp1.asp
?Build-A-Bear Workshop®, a teddy bear-themed experience retail store
that combines the universal appeal of plush animals with an
interactive process that allows children from 3-103 to create their
own huggable companions. The first Build-A-Bear Workshop store opened
in Saint Louis Galleria in the fall of 1997 to a resounding success.
Guests of all ages are shopping at the innovative retail store that
promotes creativity and encourages family entertainment in a fun and
unique environment.?
?MAXINE CLARK?
http://www.buildabear.com/aboutUs/OurCompany/ourFounder.aspx
-------------------------
LEGO:
?They decided that a good name for their company would be LEGO, which
means ?play well? in Danish, and also, they discovered, happens to
mean ?put together? in Latin! ?
?In fact, it was Godtfred who perfected the special design that makes
every single LEGO brick fit together in any combination, over and over
again.?
"Bricks & Pieces: The LEGO Story"
http://www.canlearn.com/legohist.htm
?A Chronological History of the LEGO Company and LEGO Toys?
http://www.lugnet.com/pause/chronology.html
-------------------------
Leapfrog:
?At LeapFrog our vision is to inspire in children and families a
lifelong love of learning. That's why we're committed to developing
the highest quality educational toys??
Leapfrog
http://www.leapfroginvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=131670&p=irol-irhome
---------------------------
Disney:
?Walt became interested in drawing at an early age, selling his first
sketches to neighbors when he was only seven years old. At McKinley
High School in Chicago, Disney divided his attention between drawing
and photography, contributing both to the school paper. At night he
attended the Academy of Fine Arts.?
?In August 1923, Walt Disney left Kansas City for Hollywood with
nothing but a few drawing materials, $40 in his pocket, and a
completed animated and live-action film.?
?Walt Disney: A Biography?
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/index.html
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/waltbio_p2.html
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/waltbio_p3.html
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/waltbio_p4.html
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/waltbio_p5.html
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/waltbio_p6.html
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/waltbio_p7.html
-----------------------------
SUPERMAN Comics:
?Jerome Siegel was born in Cleveland, Ohio on October 17, 1914. An
avid reader with a great interest in science fiction & fantasy, he
published his own fanzine in 1929 called Cosmic Stories, a
"hectographic" booklet with stories written by himself. It is
recognized as the first sci-fi fanzine, and it was just a prelude to
future accomplishments. He published several other booklets over the
next few years.?
?Inspired in part by Philip Wylie's novel "Gladiator", and in part by
the Samson & Hercules legends, the redesigned "Superman" was put
together in comic strip form as early as 1932, and then as a comic
book in 1933.?
?Jerome Siegel Co-creator of Superman?
http://www.comic-art.com/bios-1/siegel01.htm
?Jerry Siegel?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Siegel
------------------------------
The Erector Set:
?Watching out the train window as some workmen positioned and riveted
the steel beams of an electrical power-line tower, Gilbert decided to
create a children's construction kit: not just a toy, but an
assemblage of metal beams with evenly spaced holes for bolts to pass
through, screws, bolts, pulleys, gears and eventually even engines.?
?Gilbert began selling the "Mysto Erector Structural Steel Builder" in
1913, backed by the first major American ad campaign for a toy. The
Erector set quickly became one of the most popular toys of all time:
living rooms across the country were transformed into miniature
metropoles, filled with skyscrapers, bridges and railways.?
?A.C. Gilbert?
http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/gilbert.html
------------------------------
Hershey?s Chocolates
?Milton was in the fourth grade when his Mennonite father, Henry
Hershey, found his son a position as an printer's apprentice in Gap,
Pennsylvania. Milton later became an apprentice to a candy-maker in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and candy-making became a passion which
Milton grew to love. In 1876, when Milton was only eighteen-years old,
he opened his own candy shop in Philadelphia.?
?In 1894, Milton started the Hershey Chocolate Company??
?The History of Hershey Chocolate - Milton Hershey?
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blchocolatehershey.htm
-----------------------------
Wendy?s Restaurant:
My colleague bobbie7-ga included Wendy?s and the story of Dave Thomas
in one of your answered questions. I am repeating it here since I feel
that this example is particularly suitable to this question as well.
?In his troubled childhood, there was one bright joy in his life. His
love of visiting family restaurants. He loved to sit and watch as
families interacted with each other, their happy laughter filling the
room.?
?Right then and there, at the age of eight, he knew what he was going
to do when he grew up. He was going to own his own business; opening a
family restaurant.?
?History behind Family Restaurant- 'Wendy's?
http://www.marriageromance.com/stories/11069339460.htm
-----------------------------
Steven Spielberg, Amblin Entertainment & Dreamworks:
?Born in Cincinnati on December 18, 1946, and raised in the suburbs of
Haddonfield New Jersey and Scottsdale Arizona, Spielberg always had a
love and fascination for the movie industry. As a pre-teen, he charged
admission to his home movies (which involved wrecks he staged with his
Lionel train set) while his sister sold popcorn. At the age of 12, his
first production was complete, including script and actors. Just one
year later at the age of 13, Spielberg won a prize for a 40-minute war
movie he titled Escape to Nowhere.?
?Steven Spielberg Biography?
http://www.filmmakers.com/artists/spielberg/biography/
------------------------------
The Barbie Doll:
?Handler sensed that it was just as important for girls to imagine
what they themselves might grow up to become as it was for them to
focus on what caring for children might be like.?
?Handler decided to create a three-dimensional adult female doll, one
lifelike enough to serve as an inspiration for her daughter's dreams
of her future.?
?RUTH HANDLER?
http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/handler.html
Search terms used:
History biography of ?childhood dreams? business build-a-bear lego
leapfrog ?Walt Disney? ?Jerry Siegel? Superman ?Steven Spielberg?
?Ruth Handler? ?Erector Set? ?Dave Thomas? Wendy?s
I hope these links would help you in your research. Before rating this
answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a question or if
you would need further information.
Thanks for visiting us.
Regards,
Easterangel-ga
Google Answers Researcher |
Clarification of Answer by
easterangel-ga
on
10 May 2005 00:01 PDT
Hi again!
I am just going to repeat some of the posts in categories without the
quotes. I will be also adding some more businesses in the list.
Wonder & Innocence:
Disney Company
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/index.html
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/waltbio_p2.html
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/waltbio_p3.html
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/waltbio_p4.html
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/waltbio_p5.html
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/waltbio_p6.html
http://disney.go.com/vault/read/walt/waltbio_p7.html
Build-A-Bear
http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20010803bears0803bnp1.asp
http://www.buildabear.com/aboutUs/OurCompany/ourFounder.aspx
Steven Spielberg, Amblin Entertainment & Dreamworks
http://www.filmmakers.com/artists/spielberg/biography/
------------
Ingenuity
LEGO
http://www.canlearn.com/legohist.htm
http://www.lugnet.com/pause/chronology.html
Leapfrog
http://www.leapfroginvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=131670&p=irol-irhome
The Erector Set
http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/gilbert.html
Toys?R?Us
?Toys "R" Us traces its roots to 1948 when founder Charles Lazarus
opened a baby furniture store in Washington, D.C. Lazarus quickly
realized the incredible potential of filling his customers' orders for
baby toys and toys for older children. In 1957, the Toys "R" Us name
made its debut when Lazarus introduced a "supermarket environment, " a
revolutionary concept featuring specialty retailing and off-price
positioning.?
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=120622&p=irol-history
BigIdea Productions
?Big Idea was founded in a spare bedroom by computer animator and
storyteller Phil Vischer in July of 1993. With one computer, little
capital and no connections, Phil set out with the goal of creating
values-based family media products.?
?Working with two young art school grads and friends volunteering on
weekends, Phil completed the first half-hour episode of VeggieTales,
Where's God When I'm S-Scared? before Christmas, 1993. It was the
nation's first entirely computer animated video.?
http://www.bigidea.com/company/ourstory.htm
Baseball Cards
?The Trade Cards distributed by Peck and Snyder are generally regarded
as the first baseball cards. They were the first 'mass produced'
advertising cards with a baseball theme. Peck and Snyder was a
manufacturer of baseball equipment, and their cards featured prominent
teams of the day. They are the size and style of a Carte de Viste with
a paper team photograph pasted to a cardboard mount. The backs can be
found with advertisement for Peck and Snyder, other companies or are
blank.?
http://www.cycleback.com/1800s/trade.htm
------------
Courage:
Superman Comic Books
http://www.comic-art.com/bios-1/siegel01.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Siegel
Wendy's Restaurant
http://www.marriageromance.com/stories/11069339460.htm
Barbie Doll
http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/handler.html
Nickelodeon
" When Nickelodeon first launched on April Fools Day, 1979, our goal
was to give kids a place on television just for them. We began as the
kids' programming block of the Qube Network and we were available to
just 600,000 subscribers in Columbus, Ohio. "
http://www.nick.com/all_nick/everything_nick/history_home.jhtml
Sesame Street
"The original format of the show called for the humans to be shown in
plots on the street, intermixed with the segments of animation, live
action shorts and Muppets. These segments were created to be like
commercials: quick, catchy and memorable. This format would make the
learning seem fun, and were the stepping stones in creating the now
common edutainment-based program."
"To make sure that this revolutionary new format was going to work,
CTW aired the program for test groups. The test watchers were
entranced when the ad-like segments, especially those with the jovial
puppets, but were then seriously uninterested by the street scenes. It
was a quick and easy choice for the producers to add Muppets to the
street scenes, although psychologists had warned against this mixing
of fantasy and reality elements."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesame_Street
ALEX G. SPANOS (San Diego Chargers Owner)
?In his early years, Alex Spanos worked night and day, seven days a
week in his father's bakery. His growing family was struggling to make
ends meet on $40 a week. In 1951, at the age of 27, the time came for
Spanos to make the toughest business decision of his life - to stay in
the family business or strike out on his own.?
?The success of the A.G. Spanos Companies has allowed him to pursue
many dreams, including owning a National Football League team.?
http://www.chargers.com/team/fo_bio_alex_spanos.cfm
I hope these additional companies will be of help.
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