Warren Paper Products Company was founded in 1921 by the late Donald M. Warren, as a manufacturer of setup paper boxes for the producers of candy, apparel, jewelry, and other items.

As a result of increasing demand in the early 1930's, and the war-caused shortage of metal toys during World War II, the company began producing dollhouses made of paperboard, colorful picture puzzles, paper forts, gas stations and miniature replicas of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race Stadium. Antique toy collectors would recognize the name Built-Rite, a popular line introduced during this period. With increased sales, expansion soon became necessary, and the Company relocated to an old remodeled wagon wheel factory on the East Side of Lafayette in 1938. Warren is still located in this building at 3200 South Street.

During the 1940's and '50's, Warren Paper Products began manufacturing play environments for children consisting of paper towns, bridges, and trees and marketed them to major toy train manufacturers. In addition to these other products, the demand for the company's doll houses continued to increase. Many built as replicas of actual homes were marketed though Life Magazine and Time/Life, Inc. as a selling tool for the magazine's house plans.

Though the 1960's and 1970's, Warren Paper Products primarily supplied low-end promotional games and puzzles; products similar to Milton Bradley and Western Publishing, but lower priced. The majority of Warren's business stemmed from ten key accounts. With the beginning of the 1980's, the product line and image began to change. Warren began to grow rapidly. It was in 1984 that the name of the company was formally changed to Warren Company to symbolize the positive changes in product offerings.

It was during Warren's growth period that the concept of character licensing became an integral part of the toy industry. Warren entered the business of licensing and began competing with much larger companies for licensed rights in the categories of games, puzzles, and activities.

Because of the size and strength of most competitors, it became requisite to significantly differentiate Warren's products from others. The key was product superiority and innovative design. Products became recognized for their high quality in terms of physical components, design, artistic execution, and creative content.

Warren Company was purchased in 1986 by Random House Publishing of New York. It continued to be a growing business by producing a major line of puzzles, ranging in scope from chipboard puzzles in boxed and inlaid formats; to boxed wooden puzzles for preschoolers; to deluxe 1,000 piece adult puzzles offering a wide variety of subjects. Additional products included card games and staple games such as checkerboards, children's educational products such as word association games and United States puzzle maps.

In 1990 Rose Art Industries of Orange, New Jersey purchased Warren along with American Publishing Company which was moved to the Warren location in Lafayette, Indiana.

Warren continues to develop new and exciting puzzles and games through Rose Art and American Publishing brand names such as the Smithsonian line, Kodacolor puzzles, TV Mystery and Movie puzzles and games and the hottest license of 1990, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The addition of the Presto Magix products and the Premium Quality Classic Games to the Warren line in 1991 has made for a broad and strong product mix.

Warren sells to most major United States chains and wholesalers with distribution being very broad and decidedly mass market. Major accounts include such names as K Mart, Toy's "R" Us, Target, Wal-Mart, and Kaybee Toys.

Each year the Company is an active participant in the American International Toy Fair in New York City. The fair provides the opportunity to introduce new products to a large number of buyers in one concentrated area. The fair is housed in three buildings in the heart of the city's toy manufacturing district on Fifth Avenue. Every major toy manufacturer in the United States participates. Wholesalers, distributors, discount and department store buyers are able to scrutinize the products, determine their marketability, and in many cases, make on-the-spot purchases during the ten-day event.