Sign in
Frank Caplan
Photo: The Children's Museum of Indianapolis archives photo on museum website ., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons11

Frank Caplan

American businessman

Frank Caplan (June 10, 1911 – September 28, 1988) was a youth worker, educator, folk toy collector, and pioneer in developing and manufacturing educational toys for children. He co-founded Creative Playthings in 1945 with his wife Theresa, and worked with artists, architects, and designers, such as Isamu Noguchi, Louis Kahn, Henry Moore, Robert Winston, and the Swiss toymaker, Antonio Vitali, to create innovative educational play objects and playground designs for children.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Frank Caplan (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jun 10, 1911, died Sep 28, 1988.1

About

By the 1950s, Creative Playthings had gained international recognition and expanded to become one of the most important manufacturers and suppliers of materials for early childhood education. In 1975, Frank Caplan founded The Princeton Center for Infancy and Early Childhood. He researched and co-authored a national bestselling series on early childhood development with Theresa Caplan, which included, The First Twelve Months of Life (1977), The Second Twelve Months of Life (1978), and The Early Childhood Years: The 2 to 6 Year Old (1983). Together they also co-authored The Power of Play (1973). He was one of the first male nursery school teachers in the U.S. and together with Theresa Caplan collected over 50,000 American and international folk toys, folk art, and contemporary playthings, which in 1984 the couple donated to The Children's Museum of Indianapolis for a permanent gallery on folk, fantasy, and play.

From Wikipedia’s article on Frank Caplan, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedTeachers College3
  • Date not recordedCity College of New York3
  • Date not recordedColumbia University3
  • Date not recordedDeWitt Clinton High School3

Frank Caplan was born in Kingston upon Hull, England, on June 10, 1911, to Russian Jewish parents. In 1914, his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Harlem, New York. He graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1927 and began attending City College of New York at night. After graduating in 1931 with a bachelor's degree in sociology and history, he took a job as the director of the Block Recreation Project, working with street gangs to create club centers for leadership training. His interest in toys began when working as one of the first male nursery school teachers in the U.S. under Caroline Pratt, founder and director of City and Country School in Greenwich Village, New York City. Later, he worked at the Jewish Center in Far Rockaway, Long Island (along with his future wife, Theresa Caplan, and artist, Mark Rothko), where he made puppets and simple playthings for children. In 1934, he set up a cooperative farm-camp for city children.

On May 30, 1934, Frank Caplan married Theresa Caplan (b. Kupferberg, June 6, 1913 – April 13, 2010). In 1936, he received his master's degree in the Philosophy of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and began work as Senior Project Supervisor of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Youth Service Division of the New York City Board of Education, a novel experiment to develop education programs for 16- to 25-year-olds living in economically distressed areas of New York City.

From Wikipedia’s article on Frank Caplan (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: businessperson.5

Personal life

  • BornJun 10, 1911, Kingston upon Hull6
  • DiedSep 28, 1988, Princeton7
  • CitizenshipUnited States8
  • SpouseTheresa Caplan9

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11