Gimme Candy Witch

Illustration of a green witch in a blue hat and robe, with orange text on a black background.  

Company founder Russ Berrie started his business with $500, he rented a garage in Palisades Park, New Jersey, and launched his own firm named after himself. Berrie intended to design, market, and distribute “impulse” gift items. From the start, Russ Berrie & Company produced a string of hit products that quickly found their way onto countertops, desks and dashboards across the country. Among the company’s earliest creations: Fuzzy Wuzzies (tiny fur ball-like critters bearing messages like “You’re My Best Friend” or “Wild Thing”), troll dolls (squat gnomes with plumes of brightly colored hair) and the Bupkis Family (a motley collection of endearingly ugly rubber figurines). The owner believed in the power of “transformational giving,” partnering with energetic, visionary leaders to change the world for the better. He took an entrepreneurial approach to philanthropy, using his keen interpersonal skills to identify people and causes in which to invest and working closely with partners to hone strategies and set expectations.  “There is nothing more important in life than helping a fellow human being.” — Russell Berrie (1933-2002)

“All Hallow’s Eve” or “Halloween” was celebrated dating back almost to the 8th century in Europe. In both older Christian religions and even to some pre-Christian religions, it is believed that the end of October and beginning of November is when the veil between the spirit world and human world is thinnest, and both good and bad spirits could cross over into the human realm. It was popular to dress up as evil or scary looking spirits in order to keep the supposedly incoming spirits away. Dressing up as a pointy-hatted witch became popular in the 19th century when popular culture became interested in magic and the occult, and took the image of a scary witch as a costume idea. The witch’s association with magic, the occult and the Salem Witch Trials earned them a household name as a popular scary costume idea for Halloween for years to come.