Our History

My name is Kris Damhorst and our company is currently owned by myself and my sister Megin Cassimatis. Our parents, Don and Carol Damhorst (pictured to the right), invented the original name stool in 1971 for us as children.

They observed how these personalized name stools taught us perception, problem solving and patience. They also provided a nice boost to the bathroom sink for washing hands and brushing teeth. It was great for my parents to see how these name stools gave us a great sense of accomplishment.

It wasn't long before friends started asking them to make our 1971 original personalized name stool for their children. A short while later, mom and dad started selling their personalized name stools and puzzles in St. Louis specialty shops.

In the early 1970's, Don and Carol began exhibiting their personalized name stools at Art & Craft fairs throughout the country, meeting other craftspeople and more importantly their customers.

In 1976 Don and Carol decided to go full time with their original personalized name stool idea. With no internet in those days the early years were very lean and the future looked very bleak until their personalized name stool was featured in a December 11, 1977 St. Louis Post Dispatch article appearing right before Christmas. This article probably prevented their new toy company from going under. It provided the publicity and awareness that they desperately needed to stay afloat. A copy of the 1977 article is included on this page.

In February of 1998, Don and Carol moved the business from our home to a larger shop in Hermann, Missouri, and in 2004 Megin and I took ownership of Damhorst Toys full time. Megin and I are so grateful to continue the tradition of making our original personalized name stool that was started in a basement workshop in 1971. We are also incredibly lucky to have a crew that not only works hard, but is dedicated to keeping and maintaining our high standard of quality and craftsmanship on each personalized name puzzle stool.

Unfortunately, our mother and father are no longer with us today, but their vision and creativity live on through the original name puzzle stools and gifts that we make each and every day

Today we still sell our personalized name stools direct. This is so we can keep in touch with you, our customer, in order to continue to improve our quality based on your feedback. We want to thank all of our wonderful customers we have gotten to know through the years for their support and loyalty.

Thank you!