Tonka is an American brand and former manufacturer of toy trucks.[3] The company was founded in 1946 and operated as an independent manufacturer of popular steel toy construction type trucks and machinery, until its sale to Hasbro in 1991.
History
Tonka began as "Mound Metalcraft", a gardening tools company, in 1946 in Mound, Minnesota.[4][5] Lynn Everett Baker (1898–1964), Avery F. Crounse, and Alvin F. Tesch created the company in an old schoolhouse.[4] Their building's former occupant, the Streater Company, had made and patented several toys, including toy trucks.[6] E. C. Streater was not interested in the toy business so they approached Mound Metalcraft.