TOYS FOR TOTS HISTORICAL MILESTONES

1947 Major Bill Hendricks founds the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program in Los Angeles, California. 5000 toys collected during a campaign before Christmas 1947.

1948 The United States Marine Corps adopts Toys for Tots, and expands it into a nationwide community action project as the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. Marines at each Reserve Center throughout the nation conduct toy collection and distribution campaigns in the communities surrounding the center.

Walt Disney designs the now famous Toys for Tots train logo and creates the first national Toys for Tots poster. These Christmas posters have become a recognized part of the annual program, and through the years have featured such notable characters as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Dennis the Menace, Bugs Bunny, and the Road Runner. Posters have also been designed by a member of the Association of Handicapped Artists and by Marine Corps Reserve artists.

1956 Oscar winning songwriters Sammy Fain and Paul Webster compose the Toys for Tots theme, which was later recorded by Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee and Vic Damone.

1959 Toys for Tots goes international. Although the program is designed to be a local program for local children of the United States, Toys for Tots went international on three occasions. The first followed the catastrophic typhoon that devastated the city of Nagoya, Japan in 1959. The other two occasions were to the Republic of Panama following the invasion in 1988, and to the Caribbean following Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

1980 From 1947 through Christmas 1979, Marines collected and distributed both new and used toys. Reservists refurbished used toys on drill weekends during October, November, and December. From Christmas 1980 onward, Marines have collected and distributed only new toys.

2006 The Tri-State Toys for Tots was awarded “Campaign of the Year!” The Tri-State Toys for Tots Campaign distributed 86,305 toys to 28,316 needy children.