Uncle Milton’s Ant Farm was Milton Levine’s version of a formicarium (a vivarium is an enclosure or container) designed to study ant colonies. For some, watching the behavior of ants might have been like watching a pet.
In 1956, Milton Levine, co-founder of Uncle Milton Toys, came up with the idea for an ant farm after attending a July 4th picnic in Southern California and seeing mounds of ants. Levine had his own version of a formicarium. He even registered the phrase, ant farm, for what he was making and registered it as a trademark.
The ant farm has been part of the bedrooms of children for decades. Yes, that’s right, their bedrooms. I remember having one in my youth, but I don’t recall having a big colony of ants. I also can’t imagine my mother letting me keep it in my bedroom.
After Levine served in World War II, he returned home and supposedly read how there were two ways to make money.
He read in Kiplinger’s Letter that there were several ways to make big money—two suggestions were ‘plastic toys or bobbie pins.’ (Source.)