Britains Buildings

[david_scrivener]

RE the Ready Brek offer, does our Cornish expert have any paperwork to confirm this?

I've just bought 3 of these buildings, so emailed him a few days ago with the same question. He has all 4 buildings, which he emailed me photos of a year ago, so I know exactly which buildings we're talking about. He hasn't replied yet, but I guess he soon will when he reads this. 

The 3 I've just bought came with some plastic Charbens animals & farmer (horrible things really, unlike the buildings which are excellent), and when I was a kid (circa 1960) my granny got some Charbens animals & people (I've still got them) from an offer with something. I've long forgotten what the product was, but putting 2 & 2 together now, it might have been part of the same promotion. Presumably there were several options depending on how much money & box tops you sent off.

[powerrabbit]

A little off topic but I remember those 'offers' and 'free gifts', most came in boxes of cereals like cornflakes, shredded wheat, rice crispies and others, I wonder if anyone can remember the submarine and the diver that you filled with baking powder and plopped in a tank of water, they would sink to the bottom and when the powder got wet it would fizz and the toy would rise to the surface. Who remembers the Robertsons Golly, save the paper ones from their jars of preseves and send them in for an enameled Golly brooch, the more you sent in the better the brooch, I seem to remember that you had to send in a specific number to obtain a specific brooch. Food for a seperate topic perhaps?

[david_scrivener]

A little off topic but I remember those 'offers' and 'free gifts', most came in boxes of cereals like cornflakes, shredded wheat, rice crispies and others, I wonder if anyone can remember the submarine and the diver that you filled with baking powder and plopped in a tank of water, they would sink to the bottom and when the powder got wet it would fizz and the toy would rise to the surface. Who remembers the Robertsons Golly, save the paper ones from their jars of preseves and send them in for an enameled Golly brooch, the more you sent in the better the brooch, I seem to remember that you had to send in a specific number to obtain a specific brooch. Food for a seperate topic perhaps?

There was another promotion which I had about 1960-61, and have also still got, Britains plastic zoo animals from Birds Eye fish fingers. They came with a leaflet with instructions to make cages, enclosures, etc. All very much in the Blue Peter style 

[valtra130]

Hi ,

yes ,i can confirm it was a ready brek farm ,i bought one set several years ago thinking it was a britains farmyard which had been taken apart but although very similar the sheds were not exactly the same , late last year however i found another complete set still in the original box it was sent in !! came complete with a bag of awful charbens animals and a wooden base board with a ready brek farm sign !!!!!!!!  still trying to find out who the maker is !

I love all the old buildings not only are they unusual and different they are also uncharted waters as nobody know much about them - happy hunting !!

[david_scrivener]

Hi ,

yes ,i can confirm it was a ready brek farm ,i bought one set several years ago thinking it was a britains farmyard which had been taken apart but although very similar the sheds were not exactly the same , late last year however i found another complete set still in the original box it was sent in !! came complete with a bag of awful charbens animals and a wooden base board with a ready brek farm sign !!!!!!!!  still trying to find out who the maker is !

I love all the old buildings not only are they unusual and different they are also uncharted waters as nobody know much about them - happy hunting !!

Clear evidence! Excellent! Can you confirm that it was just the 4 buildings. I'd like to see a pictue of the baseboard, & a list of the awful Charbens animals/people.

Charbens also supplied cowboys & indians (equally awful) for a promotion for Cow & Gate Creamed Rice Pudding, details & pictures of which are in the Plastic Warrior Charbens 'Special'.

Will we ever discover who made those buildings?? 

[super6]

Yes, pictures please as you have now whetted our appetites!

[david_scrivener]

I think I might be getting close to solving the mystery of these 1950s Britains, Ready Brek, & other unknown farm buildings. Not quite there yet, but 'an expert' has told me that Hugh Gardiner Of Hugar more or less closed his factory at Epsom in the late 1940s and moved down to Hove. However he continued selling toy buildings, farm scale & smaller scales for train layouts, which he had made up by several 'backyard outfits' in the area (so probably mostly near Brighton/Hove, but maybe others all over Sussex, Kent, Surrey & south London). Gardiner died in 1971, and was still doing deals, but obviously not manufacturing anything, up to sometime during the 1960s, possible as late as '67 or '68.

One possible (but still very much only 'possible') candidate for our unknown manufacturer was the 'Dudley Toy Co'. Dudley Road, Brighton (or Dudley Road, eastbourne?). Apparantly a carpentry workshop only the size of a double garage or so.

If I get any more info (to borrow the line from The Terminator) I'll be back......

[britainstoys.nl]

What do you think of this building. It has a britains stamp, so is this one off the buildings with number 158F to 170F?

[david_scrivener]

What do you think of this building. It has a britains stamp, so is this one off the buildings with number 158F to 170F?

Well, that's a puzzler! 

It's not any of the known Britains farm buildings, and I'm pretty sure by the style its earlier than 158F to 170F, could even be before the better known 1939-40 range, 94F to 103F. So is there yet another short lived, hitherto unknown short lived range which never made it to the main catalogues? There are a few 'unknowns' in the F number sequence, such as 81F to 89F and 114F to 119F, which this might have been alloted. I have 2 almost, but not quite, identical cottages which are unmarked. I've been wondering for years who made them.Hugar? or someone else? 

Here is a list of the 158F to 170F: all roofs on the first few, 158F to 165F, are roughcast red, like that on Cowshed 501F

158F Chicken House & run on base 7 x 5 inches

159F Pigsty on base 7 x 5 inches

160F Double Pigsty with door for attendant, on base 9 x 7 inches

161F 'Farm House with walled paddock', on base 9 x 7 inches (cottage with garden would be more accurate description)

162F Stable and Paddock, on base 9 x 7 inches

163F  'Farm House with outbuilt stable', on base 12 x 8 inches (same cottage & stable as previous 2 items)

164F 'Farmhouse with adjoining outbuildings, on base 16 x 9 inches (cottage as 163F + stable & shed each side)

165F Farm House, chicken house, stable & shed on base 16 x 16 inches.

166F Thatched cottage, chicken house & stable/shed on base 20 x 14 inches

167F 'Complete Model Home Farm' on base 21 x 14 inches (cottage is same as onein photo from you at the top of this page, but with window on left, door on right)

168FThatched Cottage (exactly same as yours above), pigsty & double stable on base 16 x 12 inches

169F Thatched Barn (with hayloft) & outbuildings (open sheds for winter accom of cattle) in walled yard. A super item

170F Thatched farmhouse (this one & 166F have door & window at gable end), double stable, pigsty & pond with bridge over on base 18 x 20 inches.

(I have 2 different variations of this, presumably made by whoever it was (for Hugh Gardiner??) to sell independently of Britains.) 

[david_scrivener]

Regarding who made the post-war Britains buildings, I think I might have a lead, possibly 'The Dudley Toy Co., Dudley Road, Eastbourne, E. Sussex. Dudley Road is a street of mostly terraced houses, but this doesn't rule them out as I've been told it was garden shed operation, and Hugh Gardener of Hugar continued doing deals after he had semi retired to the south coast. Apparently he still owned his factory building at Epsom, but just used it as a warehouse.

Another interesting little fact turned up at the recent Vectis auction. The had two boxed 503F thatched cottages, BUT one of them had a box label '449F'! Which leads me to wonder if Hugh Gardener was trying to set up a deal for Britains to sell Dudley buildings in between the 158F - 170F (1959) and 500F - 505F (June 1960 - end 1962) batches. And were any of the other similar style buildings, some in this thread, also in this batch? 449F seems an odd number, so perhaps there was at least 10, say (440 or 441) to (449 or 450)?

I've discovered there is an Eastbourne local history group, and have sent them an email in the hope they'll be willing and able to do a little searching about the Dudley Toy Co.. Otherwise, anyone here live near Eastbourne willing to check out the old Kelly's Directorys in Eastbourne Library? It's a bloody long trek for me from Shepton Mallet.     

[Tractorman810]

David, you should be able to borrow that book from your library in shepton if you wanted,evenb from another countys service. as long as you have all the details they can order it over for you, there may sometimes be a small charge mind, well according to the wife's who's in charge of cornwall library's , as they do it quite often

[david_scrivener]

If it was just one Kelly's Directory I would, but they came out +/- annually, so what's really needed is to start with the 1960 edition, and work backwards and forwards to discover how long The Dudley Toy Co. existed. Who knows how many issues I'd need to check? And I might find something which leads me on to something else unexpected, such as a particular local newspaper.

For those who don't know, Kelly's Directories were the equivalent then of local Thompson Directories and/or Yellow Pages today, but were very detailed, street by street. Towns were smaller then, and no internet of course, so they could afford to be thorough, as they had no competition and everyone relied on them.

BTW, I did buy one lot as a telephone bidder at the Vectis auction - as much as I could afford.

Lot 4371: 4 of the 1960-62 buildings, 500F Garage, 2 x 503F Thatched Barn, 504F Thatched Farm House.

The two barns are slightly different paint versions, so I think one is actuallly a 503F, and the other is earlier, possibly very briefly sold by Britains (440F to 448F?) or sold directly to toy retailers by Dudley Toy Co/Hugh Gardener/whoever? circa 1958-59? 

[super6]

Pictures please David..................................worth a thousand words apparently 

Some nice items in Model Farmer magazine 

You weren't, by any chance, the winning bidder of the farm yard/buildings, on a base, on eBay a few weeks ago?

[Lady Ferguson]

Pictures please David..................................worth a thousand words apparently 

Some nice items in Model Farmer magazine 

You weren't, by any chance, the winning bidder of the farm yard/buildings, on a base, on eBay a few weeks ago?

I think I know who won that... one of my customer's was telling me all about it yesterday

[super6]

I think I know who won that... one of my customer's was telling me all about it yesterday

I can't remember now, but was there a manufacturer mentioned?

[Lady Ferguson]

I can't remember now, but was there a manufacturer mentioned?

I don't think there was, as I just tried to find the listing, but can't remember how it was described. I'm speaking to the guy who bought it later, so I'll ask him for more details.

[david_scrivener]

Not me who bought it, in fact I don't remember seeing a really good one recently, and I'm constantly looking. If you can find the listing and put up a photo, there is a faint chance I might have an idea of manufacturer, but most of my own collection are 'unknowns'.

You'll have to wait for photos as I only have an old fashioned film camera, and it will be 3 weeks before I get the lots I bought at the auction anyway. They say they are way behind on packing and posting as they've had several auctions in quick succession. Also, will someone please tell me how to, if I can, post my own photos here. On most internet forums only photos on public sites like facebook can be posted (something to do with URLs apparently). As only a few members here seem to be interested in these old buildings, I'm happy to send as many photos as you want as attachments to private emails, as I did to Peter (Valtra) some time ago. It is also a lot easier for me (a technophobe) to receive photos that way, as I can print them individually for my ever expanding files (the old fashioned sort, y'know, on paper in lever arch folders) on any toy building I see.   

Accurate info on who made what in old farm and zoo buildings is very hard to come by, as Mandy should now be aware after her visit. Most of the, ahem, 'companies' who made them were, like 'Dudley Toy Co', garden shed operations, and they don't seem to have produced illustrated catalogues (only Hugar did, pre-war, if you can find any  ), and I imagine even any simple price lists have long since been trashed. The old 'Toys & Games' trade magazine had adverts, but I've yet to find any of those either, and only know about a few in Marion Osborne's books (dolls house expert). There was a company called Peacock in London who seem to have made a lot of good ones, but I've no idea of their complete range. And who made 'The Willow Series'?

It would be very nice if there was eventually a reference book on old UK made farm, zoo, etc., toy buildings, perhaps including western forts, ranches and western town buildings, although I think toy castles need a book of their own, and Allen Hickling would be the man for that. For these other buildings, such a book would need a group of collectors to get together as (AFAIK) no single person knows enough to do it. 

[super6]

This is the one I am referring to

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SMART-WOODEN-BROOK-FARM-HOUSE-BUILDINGS-BRITAINS-SIZE-/220801824226?pt=UK_ToysGames_DiecastVehicles_DiecastVehicles_JN&hash=item3368d075e2

[david_scrivener]

Oh, that one! Yes I did see it, and can say with certainty it was made by Binbak (Binns & Baker Ltd) Bradford, Yorkshire.

I was half thinking of bidding on it, but the price crept up a bit & condition not exactly 1st class.

Jack Binns & Bill Baker met when both apprentices with a sign writing firm in the 1930s. The war interrupeted their careers, they were both in the army, so they agreed to set up the wooden toy company in 1946. Jack was the skilled carpenter, and Bill was the artistic painter. They started with garages for Dinky toy cars, and gradually added a range of farms, western forts and castles for boys, and dolls houses and shops (for those miniature packets and tins of foods, soap powders, etc, which some of you may remember seeing) for girls. Plus at least two riding schools, which I guess appealed to both boys (as an add on to their farm) and girls (who are often mad about horses).

Bill decided to leave the business in 1972, with Jack continuing on his own on a smaller scale until he died in 1987. His widow continued with her loyal staff for four more years until other family commitments forced her to close it down in 1991.

This is a summary of an article by Allen Hickling - the toy castle expert.

As they were in business for such a long time, their more popular items come up for sale on Ebay & elsewhere fairly frequently, but as they are so nice they seem to attract a fair bit of interest from collectors. However, some of their items hardly ever appear, and are very rare indeed. There are a few (not farms) I know about from Allen, which I'm looking for. 

I have:, 1 farm, 1 riding school, 1 castle, 1 western fort which I know are Binbak, & 1 zoo which I think is theirs (unfortunately with all the railings/bars missing). As their products generally didn't come apart for storage, they take up a lot of space, so although I like them, I'm having to be a bit cautious about how many I buy. I still haven't worked out where to keep the riding school.  \

[powerrabbit]

I have a selection of farm buildings, several that I have not been able to identify. The first one is Triang, it has the decal still on it.

This 'farmyard' one on a base I don't know.

This pigs  house I'm also not certain about. I can add a couple more pictures of this one.

I'll post up some more later.

[david_scrivener]

I recognised the Tri-ang barn. They did 2 farm building sets, and your barn is the one which came with 'Farm No.1 (Cat.7757)', the smaller set. They also made a ranch set for cowboys. The farms were made 1954-58, the ranch just 1954-56. I have the other three buildings in this small farm set, a bungalow, a cow shed and a hen-house, just missing the fencing. I'd sell them if you like, as I'm stacked out, and need to specialise a bit, and just buy buildings in my favourite series/manufacturers. PM me if you're interested.

Nice farmyard, & I've no idea who made it.

The pigsty is Elastolin (Germany), probably circa 1960, after they stopped making their really nice old style ones, and before they made plastic versions, which are actually rather nice, as they based their plastic buildings on the older style. I have just one of these plastic buildings, by chance the plastic version of this pig sty. I think Mandy took a photo of it, but as I haven't seen the article yet, I dont know if was in the published article. She took loads of photos.

[powerrabbit]

Here's another pigsty, another unknown to me but looks very similar to the later Britains plastic one minus  the pen door and sty door, Notice that opposite the sty 'entrance' those short verticle lines are slits in the wood.

This one, same maker as the pigsty, is a stable with a 'linhay' or cart shed.

This next one is a lot earlier, probably by the same maker? Notice the similarity with the previous picture, again with an ajoining cart linhay but tis one's a blacksmiths shop.

I have a couple more but will have to take and upload pictures of them later.

[powerrabbit]

Here's the last one. Not sure what type of farm building it's supposed to represent but it's old, quite rustic and well nailed together.

[Lady Ferguson]

This is a great topic guys. Thanks Tim for posting up pictures. Here's a few I've just acquired:

I've looked through the photos I took at David's because I'm sure he similar buildings to this, but I can't remember who it's by   (the corrugated roof is very similar to Tim's sty \ )

Infact despite the excellent buildings 'tutorial' from David, I can't remember any of the manufacturers of these  

[david_scrivener]

You can't remember because I didn't say, because I don't know who made them.   

I have 14 buildings with corrugated cardboard covered roofs, and others with different roofs which look as though they were made by the same company because of similar designs and/or paint styles.

'I Naylem' blacksmiths could be a Peacock & Co product, who may have also made Mandy's cottage - similar thatched roof, which I think is coconut fibre. Peacock & Co started in 1853, iniially making maps & jigsaw puzzles. Their range gradually increased, the farm buildings being added about 1927-29. The company was taken over by Chad Valley in 1934. I don't know when they stopped making farm buildings.

The last building powerrabbit is not sure what it's supposed to be, I'd say a cottage with a garden. They were toys! Don't expect accuracy.

Stable+open cart shed type buildings, sometimes with an upper hayloft or human living accomodation (for the groom?) is a common early design in UK made farm buildings. This is because they copied a basic design of previous (i.e. before 1914) imported German stables, the two main companies being Moritz Gottschalk & Christian Hacker. Google 'Gottschalk stable' to see some. These were in larger, dollshouse, scale, and came with wooden or composition people and animals. 

Britains and their competitors didn't make farm figures until after 1918, when no one wanted to be reminded of war for a while, so weren't buying toy soldiers. The UK made buildings to go with them, by Peacock, Hugar and whoever else, obviously wouldn't have been made before then. Britains launched their first farm figures in 1922, & I imagine JoHillCo started their farm range about the same time, which is also about the time other competitors in farm (& later zoo) toys appeared, Taylor & Barrett, Pixyland and Kew.