English family game counters

 

Another unknown conundrum Im looking for help with. This small set of seven tokens turned up last month at a favourite charity shop. I think they must be from a game and are used as counters. They dont appear to have much age to them, but they do have some charm. It looks as if they represent four generations of one family; Great grandparents, grandparents, mother and father, and one son. They only measure 35mm and have no markings, as far as I can see.

 Hopefully some bright spark will be able to help. I look forward to hearing from you.......

The wonderful world of Galt

Apologies for the lack of posts recently, but while we were away, we did pick up some gems. Including another lovely set of dominoes from Galt.















I do wish there was more written about all their stunning products from the sixties. Ken Garland one of the designers for Galt has some information, but I do wish there was more!

Galt Alphabet Plaques

Another great game from Galt. Beautifully printed on ply, each card can be arranged in pairs or groups, and eventually form one long frieze.





















Belows a detail from a couple of my favourites.

Dick Bruna Appleworld trainset

Last week we popped in to Newent to see the grave of Joe Meek, the pioneering 60s pop producer and songwriter. No trip, is ever complete without the obligatory charity shop trawl. So of course we found one.

In one, a small train set caught my eye. The track and train werent particularly nice, but the figures seemed familiar. The set was by a British company, called Playcraft, while the characters were all stamped Mercis '77.










On closer inspection I noticed a small label on the base of the Appletown station building ,that stated the building was based on an original Mettoy design adapted using illustrations by Dick Bruna.

Now like a lot of people my age I was brought up on Dick Brunas simple picture books, and can still remember coming home from primary school, full of pride, clutching my own versions of Brunas monkey and astronaut.

Sadly the Playcraft figures dont quite have the charm of Brunas original drawings, but none the less, a lovely find!

E J ARNOLD Picture Dominoes KG 681

These lovely picture dominoes are made by E J Arnold, of Leeds. They look like they're screen printed on a laminated plywood, and each domino measures 95 x 190mm, so not something you could play on a table! I think they were only available to schools.










The whole set consists of 36 pieces and have the sort of quality you associate with Galt Toys. Sadly theres no credit to an illustrator, but it does give the catalogue number of KG 681.
Above is a close up of a couple of my favourites.

Its my party!

Six delightful, childrens' party hats made from compressed cardboard. I was shocked by the waves of Nostalgia, I felt, when these turned up over the Summer. I do believe I use to wear these things! A few still have the original elastic cord attached. Stamped Made in England, they date from late 60s.

From Left to Right, the hats are; (Top row) Cowboy, Robin Hood, Fireman,
(Bottom Row) Jockey hat, Top Hat, and (Im guessing here) A French Postal Worker?

Cadburys chocolate box lid

Got really lucky at the car boot last weekend, when a couple were clearing out there loft.

There was a stack of stunning chocolate packaging from the sixties. This was the best of the lot! It seems odd today, that the actual chocolates dont feature on the pack, just a fantastic Wild West board game. And what about the colour palette?

Wooden GALT transport puzzle

I think I promised more by Galt, a while back. So here you go.

Galt made loads of beautifully designed toys, that won many a Design Council award. This very tasteful wooden puzzle is worthy of a mention! On removing the vehicle from the scene, you can see the interior, inside. Plain, simple and also very charming!

Remember Remember Kenneth Townsend

On recently posting "Marble Fun" up here, I was amazed to find out we had more by Kenneth Townsend. Here for todays post is Remember, Remember. A great game of pairs by Galt Toys.
It appears Galt released this game in two guises. Im not sure which was released first, the one here or Snap, which can be viewed over at kenneth townsend















Above are are a few close ups of the cards and the reverse!

Marble Fun with Kenneth Townsend

I have long treasured this fantastic game by Merit with its bold graphic illustrations. It may well be wishful thinking but I think I had this game as a child. The idea was, to shoot marbles down the wooden ramp aiming for the holes, under each animal. If the marble goes in the hole you score those points. Simple, beautiful and hours of fun.

As with most of the posts on here, I try and do a little bit of research before listing to see whats been posted before. Amazingly I found out the illustrator was Kenneth Townsend, who was born in 1931. Kenneth lived in Hastings and worked for Galt toys (more of which another time), Hornsea Pottery and Chance Glass, amongst others.

You must pop across to The humorous world of Kenneth Townsend where you can see even more of Kenneths work. Its an absolute delight!

Roll up! Roll Up!

Trawling through a box load of old photographs, I found this old picture. It feels a bit like catching up with an old friend!

On a trip to Southport in the late Eighties I came across this wonderful fairground stall. If my memory serves me correct you pulled the players foot back and he shot a two pence piece, over a void. The idea of the game was to land the penny onto a revolving island in the middle. If your coin landed on the designated target, you won a prize.

I love the players haircut and the simplicity of the kit. I could never work out if he was centre forward or centre half. Either way, I bet he could tell a story or two. The games has echoes of baby-foot, and should you like table football, you'll probably enjoy Nicola Shwartzs book table head over at pocko books.

It was sad to read that the fairground at Southport has since been demolished. I do hope this old fella' found a good home, somewhere!

HOUSE SOLITAIRE

The prolonged arctic weather has meant I havent got to the computer as much as Id have liked this week. Today for your perusal another lovely find, this time from a charity shop in Wales.

HOUSE SOLITAIRE is an Arnold Arnold Toy made by Summit Games Ltd, Leeds. The beautifully designed card game looks to date from the mid Sixties and is reminiscent of classic toys by Galt. Sadly there are no credits for the illustrator, or designer but the illustrations remind me of one of my favourite childrens book artists, Roger Duvoisin,

The idea of the game is to take two cards and match the roof with the lower half of the house. Once you completed the set you can turn the cards over and see the children who live there in corresponding costume.

They dont make games like this anymore!