Founded by Lithuanian brothers Lou and Sol Kramer Life-Like was a manufacturer of extruded foam and coolers who in 1960 purchased the assets of the defunct 'Varney Scale Models'.

In 1970 the business started producing model trains and accessories under the name Life-Like and continued to do so until 2005 when the the parent company, known as Lifoam Industries, LLC, chose to concentrate on their core products and sold their model railroad operations.

Today the then purchaser (hobby distributor William K Walthers) still uses the Life-Like trademark for its line of value-priced starter train sets.