The sight made Mr. Levine remember how much he had liked watching and collecting ants as a boy on his uncle’s farm. Those thoughts gave him the idea for the Uncle Milton Ant Farm.
BOB DOUGHTY: Milton Levine and E. J. Cossman developed a narrow, green plastic container. The top looked like a farm, showing a farmhouse, a barn, a bridge and a windmill. Under those images was a divider that separated the ants’ underground and above-ground areas. Under that was the sand where people could watch the ants digging passageways.
There was a problem before the product could be sold, however. Where would the company get enough ants? The company placed a newspaper advertisement asking for what they called ant-pickers. The pickers recovered a fine supply of ants from the desert.
FAITH LAPIDUS: The businessmen sold the first finished Uncle Milton Ant Farms through the mail. Buyers also received their ants by mail. But the ants arrived separately from the farm. The insects arrived in a vial, as they do today. A stopper device on the tube-like container held food for the ants as they traveled to their new homes.
Later, ground volcanic material replaced the sand, and stores also sold the Ant Farms.
Mr. Cossman and Mr. Levine placed newspaper ads urging people to watch the ants dig tunnels and build bridges. People paid one dollar and ninety-eight cents for the first products.
BOB DOUGHTY: The first Uncle Milton Ant Farms were an immediate success. They were sold in nineteen fifty-six. Two years later, two million of the educational toys had sold.
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2013-11-25
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