Greenberg Family and Coleco

In 1932, Maurice Greenberg, an immigrant from Russia, started the Connecticut Leather Company in downtown Hartford. The company specialized in supplies for shoemaking. Eventually the company expanded into leather craft kits which led to the company's interest in making toys.

In the 1950s, the Connecticut Leather Company embraced the new technology of vacuum-formed plastic and became known for such products as plastic wading pools, sleds, and play helmets. In 1961, the leather products division was sold and the company adopted the name Coleco. In 1971, Coleco became a publicly traded company on the NYSE.

Coleco expanded into another new technology during the 1970s, consumer electronics which included a line of popular hand-held video games. The success of those games led Coleco to develop the Adam computer in the early 1980s, an extremely unsuccessful venture.

Shortly after the Adam computer, Coleco obtained the rights to manufacture the Cabbage Patch Doll, a national craze for several years. During these decades, Coleco was continuously experimenting with other toy lines, as well, and purchasing smaller toy manufacturers.

Despite the outstanding success of the Cabbage Patch Dolls, the company had too much debt in an industry marked by sudden shifts of fortune. Coleco was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1989, and much of the company was taken over by Hasbro.

Leonard and Arnold, the sons of Maurice Greenberg who led the company during its "Coleco" years, became philanthropists in the greater Hartford community. Leonard established a Judaic studies program at his alma mater, Trinity College, while Arnold became active in establishing Judaic studies at the University of Hartford. Although Arnold remains active locally in a wide variety of charitable endeavors, Leonard purchased a housing development in Florida where he resides.