Louis Marx (shown at right; 1896-1982) founded Louis Marx & Company with his brother in 1919 in New York city. He was at one time married to Barbara Moffett, half-sister to the famous stripper Lili St. Cyr.

The company's goal was to produce mostly inexpensive toys, like cowboys & indians figure sets, larger action figures, box sets of soldiers in their forts, mechanical toys, dolls, dollhouses, tin items like cars & trucks, & many more fun toys for kids.

The logo for the toys portrayed "MAR TOYS," inside a circle, with a large "X" scored through it, leading many to believe the name of the company was actually "Mar Toys." That's a good fact to know if you are shopping flea markets or garage sales . . .

The company had its ups and downs (actually making big profits in the Great Depression but failing to take advantage of the TV advertising boom the way other toy companies did) and was eventually sold by Marx for $54 million in 1972. Vintage Marx toys by the toy truckload!