22 NOVEMBER 4, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Famous doctor’s bag toy can be
traced back to Woodhaven native
PRESENTED BY THE WOODHAVEN
CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
If you ever played with a toy doctor’s
bag when you were young,
you can thank a Woodhaven
native for it. Lynn Pressman Raymond
was born Lynn Rambach in
Woodhaven, Queens, in 1912.
As she grew older, her family
moved to Brooklyn, where she was
a standout at Erasmus Hall High
School in Flatbush. As a young
woman, she began her career in
sales and marketing by rising
through the ranks of various stores
(including Abraham & Straus) as a
publicist.
Eventually, her talents caught the
attention of James McCreery & Co.,
a fashionable department store on
Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, where
she soon found herself in charge of
publicity.
But her true calling was the
acquisition of toys and games and
she found herself
drawn to positive
and educational
products. She
also found herself
drawn to Jack
Pressman, who
owned a toy and
game company and
earned the nickname
“The Marble
King” because of
how many marbles
he purchased to
supply all the Chinese Checkers
games that he sold.
In 1942, they married and as vice
president of Pressman Toys, Lynn
Pressman developed a toy that made
a fortune and still sells in stores to
this day. She developed the children’s
toy doctor bag as a way to
ease the fear that children felt when
visiting the doctor.
It came with toy versions of doctor’s
tools (stethoscope, thermometer
and a syringe) and a small bottle
of candy pills. The doctor’s bag was
a runaway success, leading to variations
such as a nurse bag and even
versions for Ken and Barbie.
Her husband’s health made it necessary
for Lynn Pressman to take
an even more active role running
Pressman Toys and upon his passing
in 1959, she assumed control.
She was, at the time, one of the very
few women executives running a
large company.
This led to issues getting credit,
even from the bank her husband
had done business with for years,
but she eventually secured credit
and overcame all obstacles to
become one of the more powerful
women executives in the United
States.
She was a pioneer in licensing
the rights to popular television
and movie characters for use in
creating toys, creating games based
on Disney characters along with
Superman and the Lone Ranger.
She was also known for licensing
athletes and creating games
using their likenesses on the
packaging.
When she took over Pressman
Toys, she made one major change to
the company policy that undoubtedly
impacted the bottom line. Lynn
Pressman stated that her company
would no longer manufacture, market
or sell any toy guns or rifles to
children.
Keep in mind
that this was the
early 1960s and
toy guns and rifles
were big sellers,
but from that moment
on, her company
followed this
principle.
Lynn Pressman,
an outspoken
opponent of the
war in Vietnam,
worked together
with peace organizations in the late
‘60s to encourage other companies
to refrain from making “toys that
symbolize destruction.”
Through her relationship with
UNICEF, she developed a line of
Pen Pal Dolls, based on Walt Disney’s
Small World attraction at the
World’s Fair. Each doll came with
a pen and paper and information
about the doll’s country.
Later in life, she enjoyed a second
career and a bit of enjoyable
notoriety through her son, Edward
Pressman, a noted film producer. In
fact, Lynn Pressman is listed in the
credits as a co-producer in of one of
her son’s early films, the cult classic
“Phantom of the Paradise,” directed
by Brian De Palma.
Edward Pressman has put together
a long impressive list of
producing credits including “Conan
the Barbarian,” “The Crow,” “American
Psycho” and the Oscar-winning
“Wall Street.” And Lynn Pressman
served as an extra in several of her
son’s films.
Lynn Pressman remained active
until her passing in 2002 at the
age of 97, appearing as a model in
an ad for Juicy Couture at the age
of 94. Today, the Pressman Toy
Corporation is still going strong
(it celebrates its 100th birthday in
three years) and their product listing
are full of fun and educational
games and toys (and not a gun or a
rifle in sight).
So the next time you see a children’s
doctor bag, think of the woman
who was born in Woodhaven, a
pioneer in many ways, who led a
remarkable life.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or
old photographs of “Our Neighborhood:
The Way It Was” that you
would like to share with our readers,
please write to the Old Timer, c/o
Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd.,
Bayside, NY 11361, or send an email
to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com.
Any print photographs mailed to
us will be carefully returned to you
upon request.
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
Lynn Pressman (r.) remained active until her passing in 2002 at the age
of 97, appearing as a model in an ad for Juicy Couture at the age of 94.
Courtesy of Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society
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