2010/167/162

Britains Ltd. (Manufacturer)

This is one of a large collection of model toys played with by the donor, her daughter and her grandchildren. Many of the toys were made by Britains Ltd. in the 1950s–1970s. This is a model of a garden roller with a green frame, yellow handles, and two rotating brown rollers. It is made of cast metal.

MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Museum of English Rural Life) – ‘Description: Large collection of toy farm items, many made by ‘Britains Ltd’. Cottage and some outbuildings are home made. Buildings that are home made date to 1940s. Toys made by manufacturers date to between 1950s & 1970s. // Associated information: Collected by donor from 1949 (or possibly earlier) onwards. In 1949 the donor was 10 years old. She finished playing with the set when she was about 14 years old. The farm and cottage were set up in her bedroom. Cottage and some outbuildings [dairy sheds and stables] were made in the late 1940s by donor’s father, who passed away in 1953. Donor’s birthday treat was to go to Henley, to the toy shop in the High Street to buy more ‘Britains’ toys. She also bought some from a shop in Reading called ‘Hills’ (in Broad Street). The set was subsequently played with by her daughter and by her grandchildren, hence the later pieces added in the 1970s when her daughter played with them and the modifications to the buildings, which are even more recent [presumably made when the donor’s grandchildren had use of it].’, MERL miscellaneous note, Greta Bertram, 2 August 2012 – Britains Ltd. was founded in 1893 by William Britain Junior, and initially traded under the name W. Britain, then William Britain & Sons, before becoming Britains Ltd. in 1907. Production was originally based in London. The company was known for its lead and die-cast soldiers, but later manufactured a wide range of other model toys, including military and agricultural vehicles. Production of lead toy soldiers ceased in 1966 but in 1973 Britains Ltd. introduced a new range of alloy die-cast models. The company also produced plastic models from the 1950s under the brand name Herald (after acquiring Herald Miniatures of Manchester), and plastic figures with metal bases from 1976 under the brand name Deetail. The production of the former was moved to Hong Kong in 1966 and the latter were originally manufactured in England and then in China. Britains Ltd. was taken over by Dobson Park Industries in 1984 and the company was renamed Britains Petite Ltd. It was subsequently taken over by a succession of American companies and by 2005 production was moved to China., Letter, Philippa Hughes (the donor) to Ollie Douglas, 10 March 2012 – 'The enclosed photo [dated September 1948] shows me at the age of 9 or 10 playing with the farm in my bedroom. You can see the dairy in the foreground and the cottage with garden, and the pond, plus various pig stys, hen coops etc. The bedroom had green cork flooring, and I was allowed to paint a stream, & farm tracks etc on it! I spent many hours playing with it going through the seasons of the farming year! I am still fascinated with the models, and am very tempted to buy some more!'

1950 - 1979

Toy, Model, Roller, garden