So glad you asked—this is one of our favorite questions! We love having a chance to share the many reasons that Milton & Goose is unlike other toy companies. So as the saying goes, why is Milton & Goose different? Let us count the ways…
- Made in USA
Believe it or not, this is actually a big one! So many toys are made overseas these days, which makes everything from quality, safety, and ethical labor practices harder to control and therefore guarantee. Because manufacturing overseas has become so commonplace, we actually have to work twice as hard to make sure our products are made here in the States.
When our founder, Shari Raymond, started Milton & Goose in 2017, so many people advised her to take her designs overseas and manufacture elsewhere, because cost would be much lower. But ultimately, that wasn’t the company Shari wanted to build. She wanted more oversight to ensure quality remained high, tighter control over product safety, and more assurances that labor standards were fair and ethical. It was her dream to eventually bring more jobs to her home state of Connecticut, so when Milton & Goose opened up our own manufacturing facility in the Nutmeg State in 2021, it was a natural next step for our company.
- Quality Materials
You’d think we’re nuts if you knew how much time we spent testing hinges and hardware, picking out wood, and debating over content. And we are nuts! We’re fanatics about the materials we choose to include in our pieces. It’s simply not worth our time to spend hours carefully cutting, sanding, assembling, painting, (and more sanding, assembling, etc.) each piece we create when the underlying materials are junk. So we make sure to choose quality materials that will hold up, and our Essential Play Kitchen is no exception. You’ll find gorgeous North American maple, sturdy furniture-grade Baltic-birch plywood, custom hinges made just a few towns over from our facility, and durable non-toxic paints on each play kitchen set.
- Sturdy Construction
Another surprising fact about toys is that despite their enthusiastic fans, toys are typically not all that durable. In fact, it’s not uncommon for toys to break within months, even minutes(!), of kids busting them out of their packaging. This is not the company we set out to build. Milton & Goose toys aren’t designed for flashy delights that fall apart just as quickly. We pride ourselves on our durable products, made with quality materials. It’s our sincere hope that these pieces stay out of the landfills, whether that means they’re saved for the next generation, passed along to a friend, sold in a local marketplace, or eventually, recycled at the end of their lifecycle.
- Minimalist Features
It turns out that there is nothing quite like a child’s imagination. They don’t need us to spell out every feature, cover their toys in blinking lights and loud sounds, or make every detail as realistic as possible. Ultimately, we’re here to support their play, not take all the fun out of using their imagination. To that end, we intentionally designed our Essential Play Kitchen to spark imagination, without squashing it. Oven knobs with a small indicator line, an oven door that pulls down, and a gracious farmhouse sink all mimic real-world life, while leaving plenty of room for little ones to fill in the blanks to suit their world.
- Stylish Design
And last, but certainly not least, is our stylish design! We didn’t want to just make durable, quality children’s items… we wanted them to look good, too! After all, the whole point is that we shouldn’t have to sacrifice good style for incredible quality. Aesthetics play a huge role in our process. Our Essential Play Kitchen set is designed to fit in pretty much anywhere, whether it’s a dedicated play space, a corner nook under the stairs or smack in the middle of your thoughtfully curated living room.
So, when folks ask us what makes a Milton & Goose play kitchen set different, it’s not just one thing… it’s all the many things that make the full package so incredible.
