Germany: In 1879 a baby boy was born with a club foot, his name was Richard Mahr.  His parents were poor and did all they could to try and correct Richard’s foot.  They knew Richard would have to find a profession in his adult life that did not include heavy labor.  It is this condition that guided Richard into the arts.  He would become a mold maker for a company that made Christmas ornaments.  Wanting more he went to Berlin and studied anatomy.

He returned home inspired and opened his own Christmas ornament company.  He also toiled with molding materials and invented a finer more elastic compound he called Marolin, which he used for molding figurines.  Marolin would become the name of his company and over the next 75 years Richard would have both great success and loss. His wife Minna would become his greatest inspiration and asset to him and the company.  Minna had multiple jobs at the company, most importantly getting product delivered and collecting the money.  They would have five children, only four would reach adulthood.

In time his four daughters and their husbands would work at Marolin.  Decade after decade the company grew as did the political problems in Germany.  Richard would keep Marolin solvent through World War 1 & 2, a pandemic, the great depression, a fire and the annexation of his homeland to the Communist State. Richard’s will was broken when the government took possession of Marolin, he passed soon after. When the Berlin wall fell, the surviving family  rallied to secure their heritage and gain control of the Marolin Company once more. The Marolin Company today is owned and managed by his great granddaughter, Evelyn Forkel.  It is this tenacity and hard work that keeps Marolin and Richard’s dream alive today.