Billy Bunter – larger than life !

I say you fellows do listen to a chap for a minute … So began many a tale of a hero of mine good old William George Bunter of Greyfriars School.

I stumbled upon Billy Bunter quite by chance when I accompanied my mother to the local library one balmy summers evening many, many years ago, when summers were summers and winters were winters and I was still in short trousers (only the other day then I hear some wag remark !). Actually I would have been about nine or ten years old, in those days you didn’t wear long trousers until you went to senior school and then only in the second form. As there were no ‘Just William’ books on the library shelves my eye was caught by the title ‘Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School‘ and as it happens having read that one book I just couldn’t wait to get back the following fortnight for yet another dose of Billy (sounds painful, can you get anything for it ? ).

Billy Bunter or William George Bunter to give him his full name was the invention of Charles Hamilton and written under his pen name of Frank Richards. The schoolboy character originally featured in stories set at Greyfriars School in the boys weekly story paper ‘The Magnet’. First published in 1908 The Magnet was to continue through to 1940 with Bunter appearing in almost all the publications with Frank Richards writing the majority, but not all of the stories, although his pen name was applied to them all. Sadly the Second World War saw an end to The Magnet due to paper shortages.

Billy Bunter may have disappeared forever had it not been for publisher Charles Skilton who commissioned Charles Hamilton to write a series of books around Bunters adventures and those of the ‘Famous Five’ (no not the Enid Blyton ones these were the original ones, Wharton, Cherry, Bull, Newton and Hurree Jamset Ram Singh or Inky to his friends) at a fictitious private school in Kent …… Greyfriars.

38 hardback books were written in total and although all were produced with various coloured boards one thing remained constant, they all came with the distinctive yellow background dust jacket. Initially published by Skilton and then later by Cassells the first novel, ‘Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School’ saw light of day in 1947 and began a series which continued for the rest of Hamiltons life and certainly gave me enjoyment throughout mine. I will limit this post from the perspective of those 38 novels as the subject of Hamilton, Bunter, Greyfriars et all is just too large as to do otherwise but is a subject I will no doubt return to.

But what is it that endears one to the Billy Bunter stories ? Certainly Bunter is a most unlikely hero, addressed by his form master Mr. Quelch in one episode Bunter is told, ‘You are lazy, idle, greedy, undutiful, slack in class and slack at games – in no respect whatever a credit to this school.’ He goes even further, ‘Your stupidity I can excuse – I can make allowance for that. But your idleness – your slackness – your incorrigible untruthfulness – these are faults you could amend, if you chose. You are a disgrace to your form, Bunter’. Bunters response as always just makes you smile or indeed laugh out loud, ‘Not me Sir ! perhapse you are mixing me up with some other fellow sir, perhaps your thinking of Wharton or Cherry … -or-or Nugent .. -or Toddy !’  … Priceless, for Bunter is unable to see his own faults and anyone who points them out is regarded as a Beast ! particularly his form master Quelch who Bunter insists is prejudice against him. Yet despite all his faults, and in Bunters case they are many, one simply cannot help but feel sympathy for the character Charles Hamilton has created, however turn the page and read on and inevitably you feel like booting him yourself !

Bunter seems to have two main aims in life, one is to avoid work of any description indeed he will often spend twice as long trying to avoid it as doing it in the first place ! Instead he prefers to laze in a comfy armchair in front of a blazing fire eating a chunk of toffee .. for that is Bunters other concern .. food. By any standards Bunter is big, no lets be honest Bunter is fat, and his thoughts are almost always centred on feeding the inner Bunter. Bunters greediness knows no bounds, sticky buns and cake he can demolish at a sitting but its perhaps jam that has the ability to draw him like a magnet. Despite never having any money himself, although he is always expecting his infamous Postal Order to arrive, Bunter is a master scrounger up and down the Remove of anything from the odd copper or two to a sixpenny piece and in some exceptional cases the odd half-a-crown, anything with which to buy some sticky sweetmeats from the tuck shop and if all else fails he is quite capable of helping himself to comestables from other boys study cupboards ! all without a though for the rightful owner, inevitably Bunter is found out whereupon its whops from Quelch – Swipe ! .. ‘Yarooooh’, Swipe ! .. ‘Oh !  Ooooh !’, Swipe, Swipe, SWIPE ! .. ‘ Yow – Ow – WHOOOOOOOP !’ or a booting from his fellow Removites – ‘I- I say, you fellows, Yow-wow, Beasts, Oh-lor’ !’ neither of which has any effect on him except in the short term.

Bunter has the ability to wander from the truth without knowing that he has, he can repeat the tale that often that in the end he believes that his untruth is in fact a reality. In his opinion Bunter is ‘the goods’, the only decent fellow at Greyfriars and all the others are Beasts ! that is until he needs their help in one of his outrageous schemes which are usually greeted on their inception with Bunter cachinating ‘He-he-he !’. Bunter may be simple but he is cunning, unfortunately for him his schemes always have a habit of coming unstuck but invariably have the habit of turning out all right by the last page.

Apart from his circumference the other feature which made Bunter stand out in the crowd was his thick, round spectacles, which he wore as he was so amazingly short-sighted. These round spectacles gave him the appearance of an owl, hence the chaps often referred to him as the ‘fat owl of the remove’. His writing was appalling, often compared to that of a spider having dipped its legs in the ink pot and crawled across the page. As for his spelling, well lets leave that up to you to decide with a notice which Bunter posted on the wall of the Remove landing :

NOTISS

THE BUNTER PHUND

All my pals in the Remove are hearby rekwested to ralley rownd and help a chap out of a hoal.

THE WEAK’S GOOD KAUSE !

Every fellow willing to help a pal in a bad phix, please stepp into No.7 Studdy, and put something in the bocks on the table. Smorl contribootions thankfully receeved. Shell out your bobbs and tanners and half-crowns.

                                                       Sined,

                                                                                               W.G. Bunter.

P.S.       Kurrency noats will be welcome.

P.P.S.   Koppers not refewsed.

Bunter was rather pleased with that ‘notiss’….. Needless to say Quelch wasn’t !

 However beneath all this selfish exterior, when push comes to shove, Bunter does try his best to do the right thing, usually with hilarious results for all concerned. The one person Bunter does care for, apart from himself that is, is his mater, so when all is said and done the chap can’t be all that bad ! … CAN HE ?

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BILLY BUNTER BOOKS FOR SALE

If you are looking for any of the Billy Bunter series of books or any of the Billy Bunters Own series or indeed anything Billy Bunter related please let me know and I will see if we have it in stock.

Unless you stumbled upon this site by accident or have landed on planet Earth, perhaps again by accident, then I am sure there is no need for me to introduce Dinky Toys to you. Practially everyone in Gt.Britain and indeed around the world knows of them and what’s more the words ‘Dinky Toys’ tends to be used nowadays by many people when referring to a small diecast car regardless of the manufacturer. Indeed its not that long ago that I spent one Sunday morning driving many a mile in order to buy some, what I was assured were Dinky Toys, only to find that when I got there I was confronted by a dining table full of Lledo vehicles ! – You just have to laugh, well only till you get back to the car, then you can say what you actually feel between gritted teeth !! 

So we are all clear what a Dinky Toy is right, but how many of us have given a second thought as to how the model is actually produced. In these days when you can just about build your own Dinky model from start to finish, including the box, out of a selection of brand new parts all available on the internet I thought I might take time out to run through how the Dinky Toy was produced back in the good old days of the 1940’s-50’s at the Meccano Works, Binns Road, Liverpool.

It should be noted at this point that what follows is a laymans guide only and names and dates may have been changed to protect the innocent.

part 1. – the die is cast

A Dinky Toy is a diecast metal model which means that they are made by forcing molten metal into a mould or ‘die’  that gives the metal the required shape when it cools and solidifies.

Sounds simple but as we all know its not going to be that simple – to begin with the die itself must be made with the utmost accuracy in order to produce an item of exactly the right dimensions. Also the actual design of the die is imperitive, as an ex-draughtsman in an earlier life I feel I should add extra emphasis at this point and say that the design element is crucial to the sucess of the project !

Generally the die may be of two main sections which when fitted together leave enough of a space for the molten metal to fill. That is all well and good if the part to be cast is of a basic shape when the die can be seperated and the casting required removed but becomes another story when the part being produced is subject to recesses or undercuts. (look at any Dinky lorry for reference at this point where the cab and chassis form one casting). When this is the case our hero draughtsman comes to our aid and modifies the design such that one of its two sections will now have further parts within it which will slide out sideways so as to allow the casting to be ejected from the mould. (pause for a fanfare of trumpets for the drawing office !).

Having produced the metal die the two sections are mounted in a Die-Casting machine. One section is bolted to the fixed platen of the machine the other is mounted onto a moving platen. It is this moving platen which when located in its final position closes the two halves of the die and allows casting to take place when a plunger, operated by compressed air, forces molten metal from a cylinder into the die where it fills the space left between the two sections. The metal solidifies almost immediately chilled by the metal of the die itself which in turn is constantly cooled by water flowing through openings bored through it.

Each die-cast machine is linked to a cast iron ‘pot’ that holds the molten metal from which the Dinky Toys are cast. Each ‘pot’ is heated by pressure gas flames, blue like those of a bunsen burner – do they still have bunsen burners in the chemistry lab ? – probably not allowed under Health & Safety legislation these sad days – how many times would someone turn on the gas tap in the middle of a lesson before another boy would shout ‘Sir, Sir, Please Sir I can smell gas !’ whereupon another idiot would appear to konk out. In the end it was felt best all round to have the bunsen burners constantly alight to avoid repititions of ‘I can smell gas’. This soon was replaced by ‘Sir, Sir, Please Sir someones set my homework on fire !’ whereupon another idiot would drop the burning exercise book in the sink and turn on the water tap. How on earth I got the O-Level without the aid of a safety net I will never know. These gas flames keep the metal molten, the supply is renewed from time to time by placing another ingot of metal into the ‘pot’ which relaces the metal used as the casting process continues.

The operation of the die-casting machine is generally controlled by the use of two levers which are interlocked to prevent molten metal being forced through the nozzle when the dies are apart. When the first lever is operated the platen carrying the moving part of the die travels until it is in contact with the die on the fixed platen. At this point the interlock is operated automatically to permit movement of the second lever. This second lever actuates the plunger that forces metal into the mould, the plunger is then raised, the mould is opened and the finished casting is ejected. I say finished casting but it does have attached to it the ‘runner’, this is surplus metal from the opening through which the molten metal entered the die.

part 2. – in fine ‘fettle’

In part 1 we dealt with actually producing the Dinky toy casting  and left it with its ‘runner’ still attached along with a certain amount of excess metal along what corresponded to the joint lines of the mould and is termed the ‘flash’. The runner is easily broken off but the ‘flash’ cannot be removed in this way. The solution is to put the castings through what is termed the ‘Roto-Finishing Process’. In this the castings, along with a quantity of water and small pebbles, are placed in large six-sided steel barrels fitted with rubber linings. As the barels rotate so the pebbles rub on the castings and wear off the ‘flash’. Once the process is complete the water can be drained off through a small mesh filter leaving behind the pebbles and castings.

This mixed load of pebbles and castings is then emptied and transferred to the seperation plant. Here by means of a wire grid, too small to allow the castings through but large enough to let the pebbles fall through the seperation takes place. The grid is vibrated rapidly backwards and forwards so the pebbles and castings run along it. By the time the end of the grid is reached the seperation is complete and the castings move onto the next stage whilst the pebbles are returned to the Roto-Finishing barrels to do their job once again.

part 3. – a quick wash and blow dry

The castings at this stage are smooth and look ready for enamelling but before that can take place they need to undergo a process which will give them protection against corrosion and also lightly etch the surface to provide a key for painting. This process is termed Bonderising.

Once more the castings are loaded into six-sided barrels, smaller than those used in the Roto-Finishing process and this time made from stainless steel with perforated sides. These barrels along with their load are carried on an endless chain and are dipped successively into three tanks. The first tank contains the actual bonderising liquid whilst the second and third tanks contain cold and hot water respectively which wash the castings. From here the barrels pass through drying ovens before the castings are emptied onto a conveyor belt for delivery to the next phase in their production. 

part 4. – a nice paint job

After an inspection process the castings move through to the automatic spraying machines. Here a circular table has around its rim a series of equally spaced pillars carrying holders. The castings are placed on the holders whilst the table rotates in stages. These stages bring each casting in turn into the spraying position where spray guns apply a fine even coat of enamel. At this point the holder and the casting itself rotate rapidly to ensure every bit is covered.

As the castings move on with the rotation of the table they are lifted off and placed on trays which are in turn placed on racks for transport through the drying ovens where they reach a temperature of 200 deg.F which not only dries but hardens the coating of enamel.

part 5. – a little touch up

Looking almost there but the spraying machine has only applied the basic colour and many Dinky Toys require a second colour, in many cases is just a case of the radiator grille, headlights or front and rear bumpers, in others its a colour flash to a rear wing but this now requires the use of a hand spray gun. It also involves the use of model ‘masks’ which will allow the application of the second colour, say aluminium for headlights, being applied where it is needed without contaminating other parts of the model. These hand gun stations are located along a conveyor table fitted with miniature spraying booths and the masks used will vary according to the needs of the particular model. Baking follows again to harden the enamel and then the model is ready for final assembly.

part 6. – by jove thats it !

Each Dinky Toy requires its own special assembly methods the majority will however require wheels and axles. The wheels themselves are diecast which are sprayed the necessary colour. Tyres are placed on them and they are fitted on the axles which are produced in the machine shop and are retained by rivet-shaped heads formed on the ends of the axles by means of a specially shaped riveting tool.

Baseplates are in almost all instances steel pressings and the necessary preparation for its assembly began back in its die casting where the casting would be made with small projecting spigots that fit into corresponding holes in the baseplate. The body and the base are then fitted together with the spigots projecting through the holes all that is then required is to spread the ends of the spigots to fix the two in position. This is accomplished by using a spinning tool specially shaped to press down and open out the ends of the spigot. Baseplates normally carry the Dinky Toys name as well as the model name and number all of which is embossed on the steel pressing.

Your Dinky Toy is now complete, just one final inspection then its off to the packing bay to be placed in the familiar Dinky Toys box which we all know and love.

I would like to think that the above post will in some small way make you appreciate even more what goes into the making of a Dinky Toy. I have tried to keep it simple so that even I can understand the process, I have omitted a lot by taking just one period in the Dinky Toys timeline and limited it to the production process. Sadly although I think I mentioned them in passing I have to say with a heavy heart I did not include the beginning of it all – the drawing/design office and the production of a Dinky model on the drawing board. Did I say I was an ex-draughtsman ? but if I had began there I would probably have got no further. My thanks in the compilation of this tome go in no small part to information I have gleaned from numerous issues of  Meccano Magazine and also to my various mechanical engineering technology lecturers (I always knew my H.N.C would come in useful one day).

in addition : Wells Brimtoy Pocketoy Series

In response for more information on Brimtoy ‘Pocketoys’, with particular emphasis on the picture element, I have included this short post. So as not to repeat myself and become even more boring this post should be read along side my earlier Wells-Brimtoy one which included a ‘Pocketoy’ section.

Pocketoys were launched in 1952 and whilst the majority of the series was based around the Bedford trucks a variety of other vehicles were included.

Along side the Bedfords came what most people instantly recognise as one of the ‘Pocketoy’ series and that is one of the many double decker buses the majority of which were based on the good old London red Routemaster.

But the series did include a raft of other road vehicles including bulldozers, coaches, caravans etc. but as its the Bedford trucks which were the dominant factor its those that we see most often at fairs and for sale on the internet.

Pocketoys, as the name suggests, were made to a size which in theory would fit into your pocket (not rocket science !) and the majority were around 3.5″ in length (89mm) although some, like the articulated lorries, were much longer.

But Pocketoys were not only made to fit the pocket in terms of size they also fitted the pocket in terms of price. With prices starting from around the 2/6d mark (12.5p in todays dosh) they were relatively affordable by most, indeed I can remember many times as a young lad debating long and hard whether to blow my whole weeks pocket money on a Pocketoy or save half and spend the rest on sweets and pop !

The vehicles themselves regardless of size were either friction or clockwork driven and either of tinplate or a mixture of tinplate and plastic in construction. The model came in a simple card box with end/tuck-in flaps usually with a coloured line drawn illustration to the outer. Included would be a colour brochure detailing the models available in the series.

As for the number of  different models which made up the Pocketoy series ? well to be honest quite frankly I haven’t a clue. I believe in 1955 there were some 57 models featured in the Pocketoy sales brochure but when the later models were issued we are looking at models numbered 500+. Just whether that model number in fact relates to how many different models there were, somehow I doubt it very much, but I don’t have the catalogues to make a valued judgement.

Despite not knowing exactly how many models were available in the series it must be quite extensive for if we take for instance the removal van which Les had bought (see comments) you can see that there were three variants that I am aware of and thats just from the earlier issues !

So if anyone out there has any Pocketoy brochures or can shed any further light on this matter please get in touch I’ll be happy to hear from you and to Les and the others I hope this extra info/pics is useful.

THE WELLS BRIMTOY STORY … contd.

1932 And All That

In Part 1 we looked at the emergence of the companies which were eventually to come together to form the Wells-Brimtoy company which was to continue from 1932 through to the mid-1960’s.

It would appear that the works of Wells-Brimtoy came together under one roof at the ‘Progress Works’, Stirling Road, Walthamstow, E17, sometime after 1938 and continued in its by now established production of tin plate toys, in particular its ‘O’ gauge railway models.

The popularity of Wells-Brimtoy tinplate toys has never been in doubt but perhaps its the buses, trolleybuses and coaches which have the greatest appeal amongst the collectors of today.  It should be no surprise to find a history of model buses in the Brimtoy story when one looks at the geography of the area. Just around the corner from Stirling Road lies Blackhorse Lane, which from the early 1900’s was home to several omnibus companies. In 1908 the London General Omnibus Co. (LGOC) took-over the Vanguard Omnibus Co., who were already established on Blackhorse Lane. It was the LGOC who developed the ‘B-type’ omnibus which is regarded nowadays as being the first mass produced omnibus. In 1911 it went on to form Associated Equipment Co. Ltd. (A.E.C.) whos later collaboration with London Transport was to see the development of the RT and Routemaster buses. The buses and trolleybuses of Wells-Brimtoy were clearly meant to represent London Transport vehicles and indeed the double-deck bus was obviously based on the Routemaster.

Wells-Brimtoys popularity continued to grow along with its product lines and its sales and by 1949 it was employing around 700 workers. Interestingly enough although the two companies had come together under the one roof so to speak on much of their literature and packaging the two companies still had their seperate identities and continued to use both the ‘Wells ‘O’ London’ and the ‘Brimtoy’ trade marks. When Wells-Brimtoy went on to launch its ‘Pocketoy’ range the literature was clearly printed giving credit to three seperate companies of : A. Wells & Co. Ltd. / Brimtoy Ltd. / Wells-Brimtoy Distributors Ltd. Not only that but this new range of ‘Pocketoys’ was identified not as one might expect under the Wells-Brimtoy banner but instead under the Brimtoy brand. For it was the Brimtoy name that appeared on its boxed packaging together with the Brimtoy trade mark, as well as having the Brimtoy name emblazened on several of its bus advertising banners and was also featured on the sides of several lorry variants. Yet one can still see for instance the ‘Wells ‘O’ London’ trade mark on the side of the six-wheeled Brimtoy ‘Pocketoy’ bus ! Confused – I know I am, but perhapse the Brimtoy brand carried more clout than Wells ?

POCKETOY SERIES –       Wells-Brimtoy like many other toy producers after the war faced similar problems to those faced years earlier after WW1, not least amongst them was a severe shortage of raw materials, in this case tinplate, and when it was available the price was increasing at an alarming rate. W-Brimtoy needed to offset these shortages in raw materials whilst at the same time reducing its production costs and also meeting the massive demand at home for toys following the ending of the war. The result was the ‘Pocketoy’ series of vehicles which W-Brimtoy launched in 1952 which combined the latest plastic moulding methods along with traditional lithographed tinplate. The majority of the Pocketoy range was some 3.5″ in length but larger vehicles were produced and some continued to be produced entirely in tinplate. The majority of this series however did have one thing in common – the Bedford truck – which dominated the series throughout its production  with a range of colourful plastic cabs and chassis onto which was mounted an array of various tinplate ‘boxes’. Early Pocketoy lorries were based around the Bedford K type  which Bedford brought out in the late 30’s/early 40’s whilst the later Pocketoys used the Bedford RL model, more commonly known as the ‘Big Bedford’.

WELSOTOYS  – In much the same vein that Wells – Brimtoy ran their ‘Pocketoy’ series under the Brimtoy banner they then went on to launch another area of toys under the newly created ‘Welsotoys’ label rather than perhaps using just the Wells-Bimtoy name. ‘Welsotoys’ – which was sub-headed ‘Toys for Girls and Boys’ – was first used in 1955 and appeared on a multitude of toys including clockwork nursery rhyme figures, battery operated remote control cars, traditional tinplate vehicles and also on an increasing number of plastic toys and games made under license from various American companies. These toys featured many of the popular cartoon characters of the day including several Walt Disney favourites along with new television stars like Hanna-Barbera’s Fred Flintstone.

In compiling this history of Wells-Brimtoy, such that it is, I struggled somewhat  to find much information at all concerning the company throughout its lifetime and it was to get even worse when trying to find details of its demise ! Its not as though we are talking about an insignificant back street company so to find so little, indeed virtually nothing at all, about its closure seems incredible. What information I have come across is totally contradictory with at least two different dates for the companys closure with yet a third date given for an apparent take-over !

So I will publish what I have of ‘Part Two’ whilst I continue in my attempts to unravel the final years along with an invitation to anyone who may be able to offer any information on what happened to the company, or indeed add more ‘flesh to the bones’ to this story of Wells-Brimtoy to drop me a line, your comments would be greatly appreciated.

For further information and more pictures on the Pocketoy Series please see my seperate page … Wells Brimtoy – POCKETOY SERIES

THE WELLS – BRIMTOY STORY

 The Early Beginnings :

Although not the earliest of the British tinplate toy companies to anyone who collects tinplate models the name of Wells-Brimtoy is synonymous with quality models, well made and nicely lithographed.

However the story of Wells-Brimtoy is not so straight forward and one needs to look into its “family tree” to see how exactly it came about. Wells-Brimtoy was in fact the end result of the amalgamation of two or perhapse that should be three seperate London toy manufacturers – Brimtoy Ltd. (who had their roots firmly established in the earlier British Metal & Toy Manufacturers) and its take over by A.W.J. Wells in 1932.

So in order to look at the formation of Wells-Brimtoy we need to go back to the very beginning and start with the background and history of the British Metal & Toy Manufacturers (abbreviated in future to BMTM)

British Metal & Toy Manufacturers : 1914 – 1921

BMTM was registered in Sept.1914 with a substantial capital at the time of £35,000, making it one of the six largest such firms in Britain. In 1915 its offices were at given at Audrey House, Ely Place, Holburn, London E.C. whilst its works were listed at Clissold Park, Hackney, but in 1919 the company was at 153 Green Lanes, Stoke Newington, N16.

The outbreak of the First World War did much to shape the future of the British toy industry and set the pattern for the rest of the C20th. Anti-German feeling was understandably high following the formal declaration of hostilities and several toy companies at the time urged the general public to buy British toys made by British labour with British materials !

German toy imports, which stood at c£149,000 in 1914 were down to just c£1,000 by 1915 which left a major gap in the British market, a gap which was initially filled by the USA but more significantly by Japan. However both were thwarted by the severe restrictions on toy and game imports imposed in March 1916 by the Board of Trade.

With this legislation in place, together with other incentives and initiatives from the Board of Trade, the way was now clear for British companies to fill this void. One such company was the British Metal & Toy Manufacturers, which incorporated the letters from within its name to form the trademark – ‘BRIMTOY BRAND’, with the words ‘BRITISH MADE’ and a pictoral representation of Nelsons Column all within a roundal. Nothing could be more patriotic in those times !

Even so it was not that straight forward for although it had work for 100 toolmakers due to the higher wages offered in the expanding war industries it could only recruit a mere 12. The prospects of quick profits were not all they seemed and the overall picture was summed up by the BMTM – M.D. Sidney Stowe in 1917 when he commented that his company was having to face up to four major problems. Firstly; a shortage of working capital, caused in part by escalating labour costs. Secondly; a massive rise in the costs of raw materials (when available). Thidly; a serious shortage of skilled workers and finally, a total lack of exports.

These were however difficulties not just faced by BMTM, but by the toy industry as a whole, and unable to overcome several or all of these problems it was no surprise that many of the smaller companies at this time disappeared altogether.

When the guns fell silent in Nov.1918 the economic prospects for the British toy industry appeared relatively good. Within just three weeks of the Armistice ‘The Times’ reported that even shopkeepers were astonished by the amount of money that was changing hands for toys, due in the main to high demand and high raw material costs.

Everyon anticipated a rosy future with the world markets now opening up to British manufacturers, the demand from which would dwarf the home markets which had kept the industry going. The boom which followed was short lived and lasted just two years ! Consumer expenditure rose by 21% between 1918 – 19 and the removal of wartime controls in the spring of 1919 gave it further impetus. But productive capacity could not keep pace with demand and as a result prices rose faster than output, which in turn pushed up wages and thus costs. By the middle of 1921 Britain was in the grip of severe depression with c2,400,000 workers unemployed. This inevitably took its toll on the toy industry with hundreds of companies closing their doors. One such company, despite having a turnover of £75,000 in 1919 and 1920, was the British Metal & Toy Manufacturers which was liquidated in 1921.

Brimtoy Ltd. : 1923 – 1932

With the demise of many toy manufacturers including the BMTM in 1921 there were, it has to be said, many others who opened up to take advantage of the upturn in trade which took place after 1923. One such company which was founded in 1923 was Brimtoy Ltd., who included amongst its directors many from the now defunct BMTM and which continued, as before, in the production of tinplate toys. Their address was given as 133 Highbury Quadrant, Islington, London N5.

Brimtoy was a listed exhibitor (Stand C39) at the British Industries Fair held at the White City, London in 1929 where they were given as : A manufacturer of metal toys both mechanical and non-mechanical, advertising & constructional toys, money boxes and strong toys.

Brimtoy was acquired by A. Wells in 1932, at the time it employed some 300 workers.

A.W.J. Wells : 1919 – 1932

Wells was a metal toy company founded by Alfred Wells, a toolmaker, in 1919 launched with a capital of just £50. Because of his background Wells was able to make his own tooling and initially also did his own selling, so successfull was he that his company was destined to become a major force in the interwar years.

Wells operated from the ‘Progress Works’, 90 Somers Road, Walthamstow, in North London and their well known Wells ‘O’ London trademark first made is appearance in 1924.

Like Brimtoy, Wells also exhibited at the British Industries Fair in 1929 (stand D23), where they were listed as : A manufacturer of mechanical and non-mechanical tinplate toys.

Wells, at this time emloying some 200 workers, went on to acquire Brimtoy Ltd. in 1932 and thus form the new company of Wells-Brimtoy which will be dealt with in ‘Part 2’.

Play Worn !

Read through any listing for die-cast toys on an internet auction site or indeed browse any toy auction catalogue or perhaps it may even be whilst visiting a toy fair but at some point you will inevitably come across the term ‘play-worn’ applied to the condition of a model which does not fall into the category of mint or near mint.

So what exactly is meant by the term ‘play-worn’ ? … I’ve tried various dictionaries and drawn a blank and similarly I’ve tried to ‘google’ it without too much success … but from my experience ‘play-worn’ can often be a term used to cover a multitude of sins and can literally mean anything from minor rubbing of the model to one suffering from major paint loss,  depending of course on who exactly is using the term !

Lets face it toys, by definition, are made to be played with and I can still remember as though it were yesterday calling round at my mates house to play with his Dinky toys. Peter was an only child, which may go some way to explain why he didn’t have the odd one or two Dinkys, he had virtually a whole collection !

So Peter and myself, together with the whole of the 7th Armoured Division, would head off into the expanse of his somewhat large back garden where for the next hour or so our time was spent in meticulously preparing the battle ground. Like Beachmasters and Generals of W.W.II we set about digging out slit trenches and fox-holes amongst the flower beds for our brigades of plastic soldiers .. gun emplacements were prepared in between certain selected shrubs whose lower leaves formed the perfect camouflage conopy for the numerous artillery pieces .. rough roadways were constructed over which supplies could be brought by several columns of support vehicles, 5-10-15 ton trucks and a large compound to the rear hidden away behind some rockery stones where jeeps and ambulances formed up in what was designated the Company H.Q.

Over a glass of Tizer and a packet of Smiths crisps (they were the ones with the little blue salt bag – if you don’t know what I’m talking about, ask your dad) we sat back and admired our mornings handywork. But all too soon the peace was shattered by the first shots in a skirmish which gave little clue to the carnage which was to unfold.

Initially we would try to pick off the odd soldier using our air guns. I had a cheap ‘Black-Gat’ which cost something like 17/- (=85p), Peter naturally had a ‘Diana’ which cost double the price plus a bit. Unfortunately we were no snipers and unlikely to hit the proverbial ‘barn-door’ let alone the minute head of a Lone Star infantryman !

Inevitably it wasn’t long before we would become bored with this aspect of the skirmish and call up the heavy artillery .. launching a barrage of small to medium sized lumps of earth and stones at the enemy emplacements .. and so Peter’s Dinkys became ‘play-worn’ as the barrage began to take its toll.

The gun barrels of the tanks, armoured cars and artillery pieces became chipped and a little bent when taking a direct hit. Similarly the tin tilts of the 10 and 15 ton trucks suffered a small ding whenever a brick found its mark.

After half an hour of this relentless pounding accompanied by our superb and various sound effects a cease fire was called to accept a provisional surrender and asses the damage. Congratulations all around as we surveyed what remained of the 7th, although there was always one or two pockets of resistance left .. failure to accept our terms meant it was time to call up Bomber Command for a final ariel bombardment .. where we would walk over the battlefiel dropping  ever larger lumps of muck with pin-point accuracy on an unsuspecting enemy .. result .. even more bending and chipping of metal and paintwork ….  Now that’s what you call Play-Worn !

Tinplate Toys .. A History of Tin Toys

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The one area of yesterdays toys that I never get tired of delving into is that of tinplate toys. There again it is such a vast area for the collector, both serious and not quite so, to choose from …. cars, trucks, planes, boats, clockwork, friction-drive, buildings, animals, by decade  etc, etc ….

Because it is such a large topic to cover in one go it is an area which I will be returning to time and time again under various headings. For the purpose of this particular post I will attempt to give a simplified overview of the subject and save a more in depth look at the various catagories for another day.

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A BRIEF HISTORY of  TIN TOYS

Tinplate (thin sheets of steel plated with tin) was used in the manufacture of toys from the mid to late 1800’s. Previous to this the majority of toys were made from wood, some were simplistic often crude in their manufacture, some, like this 19th century example of a steam paddle boat from the USA were a delight with its printed paper overlay and deck fittings, but not intended to be the plaything of your average child in the late 1800’s.

Prior to WW1 the early tin toys were often painstakingly hand painted – the advent of chromolithography was to change all that. Although this technology had been around since the late 1800’s it wasn’t until the early 1900’s that it was commonly applied to tin toys. The technique allowed multi-coloured illustrations to be printed on to flat sheets of tinplate which could then be stamped out and put together by means of bendable tabs to form the finished toy.

By the early part of the 20th century Germany was the leading producer of tin toys in the world a position which it maintained right up to the outbreak of WW11. The bulk of its production was designed and destined  for export to meet an ever increasing demand for reliablity and quality at realistic prices, clockwork motors were incorporated into the models to add movement and even greater sense of realism to the toy.

Most of these early German companies the likes of BING (1863), FLEISCHMAN (1887), LEHMANN (1881), GUNTHERMANN (1880) and MARKLIN (1859) were to produce an array of classic toys, highly sought after by todays collectors, but which were certainly equalled and even surpassed by the later German manufacturers such as ARNOLD (1906), TIPP (1912) and SCHUCO (1912) to name but three.

With mass production came mass appeal and it wasn’t long before the German dominance of the market came under threat by the appearance of other manufacturers in both Europe and the USA. CHAD VALLEY and LINES BROS. were two of the early British companies to make their mark as the British public shunned German goods, including toys, following the First World War. The Americans had always had a history of tin toy manufacturing dating back to the mid 1800’s with the likes of the PHILADELPHIA TIN TOY MANF., FALLOWS, BERGMANN, IVES and BUCKMAN this reputable list was added to by the likes of UNIQUE ART, STRAUSS, CHEIN, WOLVERINE and MARX.

The outbreak of WW11 saw great changes to all aspects of life from which the toy market was not immune. Production was given over to munitions as men, women, machines and materials did their bit for the war effort. So much so that when peace eventually returned toy makers everywhere had a great deal of lost ground to make up. However German dominance was at an end and companies in the UK like METTOY and BRIMTOY were producing a large range of high quality tinplate toys.

But this new dawn also saw the emergence of a new market leader in the shape of Japan. Japan had been a major producer of tin toys for as long as the Europeans but it was not until the late 1940’s and ’50’s and even into the early 1960’s that production reached its height with the introduction of many new novelties. Not just wind-up and friction drive motors but Japanese tin plate toys were also incorporating battery power not simply to drive the toy but also to provide lights and sounds.

The Japanese through an extensive number of reputable tin toy companies, MARUSAN, MASUDAYA, NOMURA, YONEZAWA and BANDAI … the list goes on …  now began to flood the market with many appealingly designed tinplate toys aimed specifically at the massive U.S. market.

But the market never stands still and despite this relative boom in the post war era, tin toy manufacturing was facing its biggest threat yet …….. the plastic revolution.

For more information on tinplate toys please see my further listings under specific manufacturers.

Dan Dare – Pilot of the Future .. Toys Part 2

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In part one we had a brief introduction to the man himself followed by a look at just a few of the many toys that carried his name. We carry on here with a follow up identifying yet more Dan Dare toys.

< Dan Dare Radio Station

Electronic space control radio station – an officially licensed product by J & L Randall Ltd. Complete with twin blue plastic aerials, revolving searchlight, space telebuzzer (morse code tapper), message pad & two way wakie-talkie. Made in England by Merit. Boxed 35cm x 35cm x 10cm. Relatively easy to find item but much harder to find in complete condition.

Dan Dare Planet Gun >

Plastic in its construction, officially licensed product by J & L Randall. Gun came in various colours with 3 shockproof plastic spinning missiles ( note shockproof but not childproof ). Made in England by Merit. Boxed 17.5cm x 27.5cm x 5cm. Relatively easy to find, harder to find with all missiles complete and undamaged.

< Dan Dare Jet Plane -Anastasia

An officially licesed ‘Presso’ book by Wallis Rigby. Basically a large card model making kit of Dan Dare’s jet plane, no scissors required as the model was pre-cut ready to be pressed out. Finished model is some 46cm. Relatively hard to find in its intact state.

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Dan Dare Rocket Gun >

Officially licensed product by J & L Randall. Grey or copper coloured spring loaded plastic gun complete with 2 red plastic safety rockets. Rockets fitted with rubber end caps which when removed reveals a secret message chamber. Hard to find boxed and complete, rare in copper colour.

< Dan Dare Super-Sonic Ray Gun

Battery operated multi-coloured plastic ray gun. Can operate as a torch with switchable 3 coloured – red, white or green lens. Intermitant light (morse code) signalling and high frequency resonator (buzzer), all trigger operated. Gun measures some 22cm. Made in England by Merit. Hard to find complete and boxed.

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Dan Dare                                               Construction Game >

A Dan Dare Construction Game produced in the 1950’s by Chad Valley Toys. Licensed by Eagle Comic by permission Hulton Press.

To be continued ………

For more Dan Dare merchandise please see my original Dan Dare Pilot of the Future post and also Dan Dare toys part 3 & part 4.

Dan Dare Toys … Part 1

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Having mentioned my Dan Dare Radio Station earlier I thought that might be as good a place as any to start with my look at some of the older toys around. DanDare, probably the original British science fiction comic hero was the creation of illustrator Frank Hampson and appeared in the boys Eagle comic in the 1950’s.

Dan Dare was the chief pilot of the Interplanet Space Fleet and typical of the heroes of that era was bound by a sense of honour, never lied and would rather die than break his word …. in other words an all round good egg ! Together with Digby his stout (in more senses than one) batman they constantly battled with The Mekon in his attempt to conquer the Earth.

Dan Dare not only starred in the Eagle but could be heard Mon. – Fri. 7.15 -7.30pm on Radio Luxembourg for 5 years from 1951 sponsored by Horlicks. Indeed I can just about remember sat listening on the settee, mug of Horlicks in one hand and a malted milk biscuit in the other before ‘Saceships Away’ and zooming upstairs to bed. What simple lives we led then ! … I still do the same today but there’s no Dan Dare and I don’t do zoom anymore !! Although Dan Dare continues in his various guises right up to today it is from those early days that his toys are most sought after.

A selection of Dan Dare related toys

So now we have the background to the Dan Dare story lets look at some of the toys in more detail.

But first, just an observation – a small point but worthy of note that Dan Dare merchandise, in particular items by Randall/Merit came in boxes with superb colour graphics. Graphics which took you from planet Earth to the far reaches of deep space in an instant, graphics which, in my opinion, were only matched later by Airfix !

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< Dan Dare Two Way Walkie-Talkie Set

Officially licensed product from J & L Randall. 2 way walkie-talkie set comprised : 2 plastic red and black hand units with green, yellow and blue press buttons, retractable aerial and length of connecting wire with end connectors. Made in England by Merit. A hard to find item complete and boxed.

Dan Dare ‘S.S. Eagle’ Spaceship >

Officially licensed product this red, yellow and blue printed tinplate spaceship with plastic canopy had a friction drive motor. Made in Gt. Britain by Mettoy. Relatively hard to find model especially complete and boxed.

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< Dan Dare Jig-Saw Puzzle

A fully licensed product by the ‘Eagle’ comic this particular 150 piece Jig-saw was produced under the ‘Peter Pan’ games label and entitled ‘Dan Dare repels the Venutians’.

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Dan Dare Field Glasses >

Dan Dare field glasses made in England in the 1950’s. Black plastic, Dan Dare embossed to both external lens casings, complete with lanyard. Licensed by the Eagle Comic, 25cm. x 15cm.

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< Dan Dare Telescope

Dan Dare Visionmaster telescope manufactured in England by Selcol. Black plastic with Dan Dare printed lens cap, 3x magnification, extends to 12″. Fully licensed product by the Eagle Comic.

End of Part 1

For further images of Dan Dare toys please see my other Dan Dare posts.

Welcome to rodgersantiques !

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A lighthearted look at the toys, games and the companies that were common place when I was just a young whippersnapper running around in short trousers !

The doors are open to my first ever blog – I hope you enjoy your visit and trust you will come back again. I intend to fill this site with articles about antiques in general but with an emphasis on my main area of interest which is in old toys and games. Unfortunately I am at that age now where the old toys and games of today were actually new for me when I was a lad !

Days Gone !

I can still remember when Christmas didn’t begin until December and my brother and I would be sat on a Sunday night at supper time asking mum and dad to let us look through the ‘catalogue’ yet again in an attempt to decide what present we each wanted Santa to bring us. In those days we could each pick just one main toy for Christmas, the rest of our presents consisted of oranges and nuts and either a tin of toffees (Bluebird) or, in my case, a (Barratts) liquorice ‘smokers outfit’  ! And the main present .. well I can remember my Dan Dare Radio Station .. and a bright red three wheeled bike (my brother later cut my front brakes, actually they were the only brakes, and sent me flying off our back yard steps. Not a big drop, 4 feet or so, but at the time it seemed like the Grand Canyon ….. I can still here myself screaming on the way down !

Boys Toys

I feel at this point that I have to qualify the phrase ‘old toys and games’ by admitting that I tend not to go in for the Barbies and Sindys of this world. Its not that I don’t like girls toys – I quite like a good dolls house and a well loved teddy bear still makes me smile – its just dolls do nothing for me. Yes I know we boys had Action Man and G.I. Joe and the like but I’m sorry, whether its a doll dressed in girls clothes or a soldiers jungle outfit, its still a doll !

So bring on the Dinky and Corgi Toys, the Meccano and Bayko Building Sets, Hornby and Tri-ang Toys and other much loved names of days gone and lets play !!

Your comments will be welcomed on anything within the site or anything you would like me to consider for inclusion in the future.