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!

metal chewing gum advertising signage

Thought you might like these? Seven Small tin advertising signs that clipped onto advertising stands that stood next to the shop till. The signs are just a bit bigger than the original chewing gum packets and judging by the prices date from the mid to late seventies.

Those were the days when you could still buy a Bubbly for a penny, and before Bubalicious and Space Dust swept the nation!

Monkey Business

Three CHIMP CARDS Printed by GRAVO, in Holland.

1960s Babys changing mat

I couldnt resist purchasing this item back in North London, sometime in the Nineties. Its a vinyl changing mat for babys, from the 1960s. Theres an eeriness to the muted colours, that seem a far cry from the bright colours we associate with todays childrens toys and as if that wasnt enough, they even managed to mis register the printing. Fantastic!

Information Wheel charts

I was delighted to find this rather nice paper wheel chart just the other day. Made in 1989 by the Wheel Ease corporation in Canada. Its a reference guide for programming the Lotus 1.2.3. Computer.

Paper wheels charts are a way of relaying information in a concise and articulate form. There are many different types, but like the Lotus one here, there is a rotating inner wheel, which has a cut out window. Through the window specific information is retrieved.

The first one I remember, was the one the bookmakers William Hill brought out for a European Championship. Im sure I still have it somewhere.

Theres a stupendous book by Jessica Helfland, Reinventing the Wheel, that documents over a hundred information wheels. All beautifully photographed with a concise overview. Published by Princeton Architectural Press, its now available in paperback. Its well worth a look!












Above are two more larger format wheels that I found some time ago. They were given away with The Book of Knowledge in the 1960s. The Historical chart on the left, documents the reign of each British monarch, while the Geographical Wheel gives population, principal rivers, natural resources and mountains of 90 countries. Below is a detail of the cut out window.

Bertram Mills Circus programmes

A small collection of Circus programmes from 1949- 1963.