Tonka Toys Incorporated

Place: Grafton

Born: 1946

Death: 1991

Biography:

Tonka Corporation, originally known as Tonka Toys Incorporated, was an American brand and former manufacturer of toy trucks. The company was founded in 1946 in Grafton, Minnesota, United States, by Lynn Everett Baker, Avery Crounse, and Alvin Tesch. Tonka was known for making steel toy models of construction type trucks and machinery. The company's name, Tonka, is derived from the Dakota Sioux word 'Tanka', which means 'great' or 'large'. In 1991, Hasbro acquired Tonka Corporation, and in 2001, Maisto International, which makes die-cast vehicles, acquired the rights to use the Tonka name in a line of 1:64 scale, featuring mostly trucks.