Alice Norman, pictured, was Manager of the Robbinsdale Bakery, located at 4142 West Broadway. The bakery was owned by the Schaper family. William H. Schaper’s primary business was manufacturing small commercial popcorn machines.
In 1948, Schaper whittled a bug-like fishing lure, and realized it had good potential to become a toy. After he refined the idea, he created the game of Cootie around his creation.
He first sold the game at the bakery, and “the rest is history.” In 1949, he molded it in plastic and formed the W. H. Schaper Mfg. Co. Inc.
Schaper offered Dayton’s, a local department store, several Cootie sets on consignment and the game proved a hit, selling 5,592 by the end of 1950. By 1952, Schaper’s company sold 1.2 million Cootie games, and thereafter, a million games a year.
My parents were on the bus and he was sitting near them, telling them about the game he was creating, which of course, was Cootie. They shared it with me a time or two as I grew up.