Spear & Sons

March 6, 2011

J.W. Spear & Sons

from a German press release for a 1997 exhibition at the Nuremberg Toy Museum; translated by Geert Bekkering and edited by Bruce Whitehill

“Spear” is one of the important names in the games history of the industrialized era. Jacob Wolf Spear founded the company in 1879 in Furth, Germany. In 1899 the company moved to Nuremberg and steadily evolved into one of the most important companies for games in the world. It produced quality products for decades: social/parlor games, strategy games, dexterity games, occupational games, card games, children’s books, boxed magic sets, outdoor games and much more.

From the start of the company, England was the most important export country for Spear. In 1932 the family set up a factory in Enfield, near London, for the production of its English games. From 1933 onwards, more and more family members had to emigrate to England because of the Nazi discrimination against Jewish tradesmen and manufacturers. In November, 1938, the Nuremberg factory was “aryanized,” that is, forcefully removed from its owners and turned over to a non-Jewish resident, Hanns Porst, the owner of a Nuremberg photo mail business. Hermann Spear, the dispossessed director of the Nuremberg factory, was jailed many times by the national socialists. During this period, the factory produced barbarous war games like “Bombing England,” still using the brand name “Spear Spiel.” In July, 1943, Hermann Spear was murdered in Auschwitz. In 1948, under the new restitution laws, the Spear family got its property back. As the factory complex was almost completely ruined by allied bomb raids, it had to be rebuilt.

A decisive point in the company history was the start of the production of Scrabble in 1954. The immense success of Scrabble made it possible for Spear to resume its pre-war position for “Spier-Spiele” in Nuremberg as well as for “Spear’s Games” in England. The years of dual production facilities ended with the closure of the Nuremberg factory in 1984. The English company, a limited liability company since 1966, was independent up to 1994, when Mattel took over. One year later the Enfield factory was closed.

After 115 years of successful work, only the brand name Spear is left–the Spear family business is gone. Francis Spear, the longstanding managing director of the company, commissioned by the Spear’s Games Archive Trust, unlocked the company archives in June, 1996, opening them to the public….

For more information, visit the Spear’s Games Archive website.