Quercetti | Italy
Our Story
The Founder: Alessandro Quercetti
The history of the company is the story of its founder’s dream, turned into a unique reality on the international scene; for him it was a quick step from flying and model aircrafts enthusiast to become a pilot and then a successful entrepreneur. Born in Recanati, in the region of Marche, in 1920, he moves to Turin straight away. After taking part in World War II as a fighter jet pilot, at once he starts working, profitably, as a construction worker in a small factory producing tin mechanical toys: the Inco Giochi (Inco Toys). In a short space of time he takes over the company and becomes its owner. He looks after every single element of the business, including design, production, and sale. It’s 1949 and the first successes are starting to show.
The Quercetti Company is born
Initiative and creativity are uncontainable, so it necessary to give the project a new foundation. This takes shape with the birth of a new company: Hopla, Giocattoli Meccanici Brevettati (Hopla, Patented Mechanical Toys), which soon becomes Quercetti. It’s 1950. From here on, the development of the business is very fast paced, and the company has a long string of successes: Cavallo Galoppa and Sulky, the Chicco and Piretta dolls and then the Coloredo pegs.
The Coloredo pegs, which later become Fantacolor, immediately become popular worldwide, and they become an unmistakable icon of creative play for entire generations of children.
At the beginning (in 1953) the tacks were made of wood and coloured sealing wax, and the perforated tablet, in which the pegs are to be inserted, was made of cardboard. These quickly evolved in their functions and shapes thanks to the use of plastic— all the way to the version still in use today, which is ergonomically advanced and with the highest attention to detail.
The Company Today - The Value of Made in Italy
70 years after it was founded, the Quercetti family is still the head of the company, following in the same principles of honesty and sharing inherited by its founder Alessandro.
The story of the company is inevitably combined with that of the family and its partners. All these people are passionate about their job, and every day they strive to improve the quality and the procedures so to make the products more competitive and so that the production line can remain in Italy.
We are indeed one of the very few companies who can be proud of controlling the production chain directly. The entire production cycle, from the design of the toy to its delivery, is carried out in Italy, in the city of Turin. Its workers reside locally, and this creates an essential resource in the region.
Today we are a modern and aware company who follow the most stringent security and sustainability rules and regulations, and who can compete with the largest of our international contemporaries. We have 70 years of history and are still going strong.
