The Whitman Publishing Co began in 1915 as the result of the
acquistion of publisher Hammerung-Whitman Publishing Co by Western
Publishing Co. Mattel bought Western Publishing (the parent company
of Whitman Publishing) in 1982, then sold it off in 1984. Under new
ownership, it renamed itself "Golden Books Family Entertainment"
and tried to focus on children's books. It sold off the adult books
(Golden Guide) to St. Martin's Press in 1999, and later the H.E.
Harris coin company would buy Whitman Coin Products from St.
Martin's Press in 2003 and rename as Whitman Publishing. By 1997,
Western Publishing was absorbed into the name Golden Books
Publishing Company. Golden Books Family Entertainment was acquired
by Classic Media Inc. and Random House in a bankruptcy court
auction for $84.4 million on August 16, 2001.