There was a serious shortage of Christmas toys in the late fall of 1944. Because of World War II, then an overwhelming part of American life, metal for toy making was non-existent. Also, the war has eliminated the sources for so many of the toys previously sold in the nation:

Japan and Germany.

However, one enterprising Albert Lea man found a way to help solve the Christmas toy shortage. His name was Mandell P. &uot;Christy&uot; Christensen.

Part of his solution was to use wood as the basic material for making toys. Another action taken by Christensen was to get financial backing and expert advice from a then-brand-new Albert Lea organization named Jobs Incorporated.

This organization was formed by the Albert Lea Chamber of Commerce in 1944 to encourage the expansion of local firms, help other firms to locate or relocate in the city, and to provide expanded employment opportunities after the war was over. And Jobs Inc., which was soon to gain national attention and fame for its local development achievements, had its very first successful project with its involvement with Christensen’s toy making.

Charles E. Myers, president of Jobs Inc. and area manager of Interstate Power Co., told Christensen, &uot;Why not make toys and other articles out of the scrap wood from the Rilco and Super Structures factories?&uot; (Both firms were then making laminated rafters and other wood-based products.)

With the support of Myers and Jobs Inc., Christensen and a partner, Alfred Johnson, organized the Albert Lea Manufacturing Co. In October 1944, they purchased a former cabinet shop at 711 W. Water St. and prepared to make wooden toys.

In the short time before Christmas in 1944 the new firm had 13 employees who cut, assembled and painted a multitude of wooden toys. Within three months Albert Lea Mfg. Co. produced 5,500 toy tractors, 600 to 700 doll swings, over 300 hobby horses, 700 bird houses, and 200 bird feeding stations, according to a

Feb. 11, 1945, Minneapolis Tribune article.

John F. Corrigan, president of the Albert Lea Chamber of Commerce and owner of the city’s Ben Franklin store, gave the new firm an order for 500 of the wooden toy tractors – their first sale.

Another local store, the F. W. Woolworth Co., became a prime place for the display and sales of what became known as &uot;Christy’s Action Toys.&uot; In fact, this chain of &uot;five and dime&uot; stores sold the Albert Lea made products all over the nation for a few years.

Mandell’s son, David, said, &uot;Woolworth was a big customer, especially for the bird houses. We made thousands of them.&uot;

One of the most unusual wooden products made by the Albert Lea Mfg. Co. in the mid-1940s was the Peg-A-Disc Solitaire Puzzle. A Tribune article in the Feb. 9, 1945, issue explained, &uot;It is said that very smart people can work this puzzle in 15 minutes – but just ordinary people will labor for an hour or two before they can complete the job. Those who want to kill some time can truly do so while trying to work this puzzle.&uot;

Up to 1950, production of some of the wooden toys was phased out. The main product using the scrap wood was bird houses. And by this time newer metal toys from other firms were coming onto the market. Meanwhile, the Albert Lea Mfg. Co. was diversifying into other wood products such as ventilator louvres at the West Water Street plant.

During the years Albert Lea Mfg. Co. was using the scrap lumber from other firms, their own leftovers from toy making were being put to good use. The sawdust was used for insulation, and burned with other wood scraps in a

stove to provide heat for the factory.

By the early 1950s the short era of wooden toy making in Albert Lea ended. Christensen’s firm gradually shifted from a woodworking firm to steel fabrication and became a supplier of dimension metals and steel tubing for area machine shops and manufacturers. And by 1955 the name of Albert Lea Manufacturing Co. was being phased out and replaced with that of Alea Steel.

In 1972, Mandell’s son, David, who inherited his father’s nickname of &uot;Christy,&uot; took over the firm which had been an important part of his life.

Mandell Christensen died on Sept. 3, 1997. The firm he started as a World War II era wooden toy maker was sold to Duane and Mary Jo Vanderploeg on May 1, 1998. The name has been changed to Albert Lea Steel Service Center Inc., and is now located at 1126 S. Broadway Ave.

David &uot;Christy&uot; Christensen, who has so many memories of playing with the wooden toys made by his father’s firm, is now retired and lives with his wife, Judy, in Albert Lea.