Fred Ertl

ERTL, Fred. (Germany--Dubuque, IA, Nov. 27, 1983). Manufacturer. Ertl came to Dubuque in 1923 and worked as a molder at the ADAMS COMPANY before starting a toy company with his wife in the basement of their Dubuque home before WORLD WAR II.

The company's first big order came from Deere and Company that ordered 100,000 toy tractors as a promotional item. Several expansions were made in the company before it was moved to Dyersville in 1959. By 1967, when the Ertl Company was sold to the Victor Comptometer Corporation of Chicago, the operation earned an annual revenue of $4.5 million.