Tuesday 3 November 2020

A mystery solved .


I was musing the origins of the hollow cast mounted figure I renovated and whilst searching through my shoe box of old figures I found the above figure which is the same as my damaged one . It's a Johillco Scots Grey  - the horse is exactly the same but with the original riders head .. John Hill & Co. was started in 1898 by a former employee of Britains . Unlike Britains the figures were sold individually and aimed at the 'pocket money' market whilst Britains sold their figures in boxed sets . They generally had a simpler paint job and were sold in variety stores like Woolworth . So these two figures are probably over a 100 years old and still fighting tabletop battles .



 

16 comments:

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    1. I wonder how many modern figures will still be in use in another 100 years

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  2. Great figures and lovely to see them still in action

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  3. I knew there were Johilco soldiers, but I've never seen any. However, when I was a little kid I sometimes used to go to stay with my posh aunt in the Wirral, and I used to get to play with a big box of old toys - all pre-war - which had been handed down through the generations. There were loads of Johilco farm animals and workers - there was a milkmaid with a yoke for the buckets, and a farmer with a dog and a pipe (I think I may have married his daughter 20 years later) and there were corn stooks and rather unconvincing flat hedges. Interesting to see the ancestry of the company.

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    1. I was given some metal farm yard figures as a very small boy which had been an older cousins - sadly I don't remember what happened to them .

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  4. Good work there Tony - you were wondering about the origins of the piece. Be good to see the Mounted Officer in the Garden Setting. Regards. KEV.

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    1. The next outdoor photo shoot is dependent on the weather and absence of the dog , but will be doing some in the future .

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  5. There will only be one winner between them two - the one with the old head on his shoulders.

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  6. There we are!

    Johilco was still going in the early 60's so they may only be 60 or 70 yrs old!

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    1. I was going in the 60's - that makes me feel old ! : )

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  7. It’s nice to put a bit of real history behind your toys Tony...

    Jame Opie has written a number of excellent books on William Britains but I have found this book By Andrew Rose to be most useful...

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collectors-all-colour-guide-Toy-Soldiers/dp/1855010232

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks it looks an interesting book , will order it I think from Amazon .

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