Disco Bear

Small plastic novelty bear throwing some great shapes, why?

More fisher Price animals

A while back I posted a Fisher Price Circus monkey, last week some more turned up, and this time the monkey has a tail!

Never seen a stranger puzzle?

Last July I posted a "Say No to Strangers" badge. But look what I was given for my birthday, last week! The 30 piece puzzle is made by Waddingtons, and looks as if, it was given away by Lothian & Borders Police Force, in an attempt to educate young children.

Lines brothers Roll along plastic animals

A small collection of plastic animals on wheels. Not one has a makers mark, but on a visit to the rather wonderful Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood last year I thought I spotted the toys above. Apparently the animals were only prototypes and created by Fred Pearl, for Lines Brothers. Pearl is more famous for producing models for Star Wars.

How tolerant are you?

I picked this Tolerance calculator up last month at the local car boot. It was given away with Practical Electronics in April 1967. I was going to leave it behind, but the people on the stall had some interesting things and we got chatting. The items had belonged to a gentleman, who had worked as an engineer, at the BBC, in its early days. An intriguing image was built up of this chap, who had sadly passed away. Some of the items had been left to a museum, while other items, including this calculator were left to fend for themselves.

I have no idea what you do with a Tolerance calculator, but I dont think Id score very highly!

The notion of getting irritated by bad driving, dawdling tourists and screaming children, reminded me of the film below by Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz, Markets of Britain.



Most amusing!

Avon "Wild Country" aftershave Pipe

A splendid, but somewhat bizarre find in the 10p box, at our favorite charity shop, last week.
This beige aftershave pipe from Avon, must date from the Seventies. Its hard to believe that someone must have sat down at some point, and come up with this peculiar idea. I imagine it was created for the man who has everything!

The tobacco end of the pipe doubles as the aftershave bottle. You can see the bottle, separately on the left. An unusual item, that's for sure!

* Postscript: Well, it appears the pipe is not so unusual after all! There were a number of pipe designs by Avon, as well as all sorts of outlandish designs including a power drill! Below are a few more highlights.

Galt fabric building blocks

Six fabulous, 1960s fabric blocks from Galt, that turned up last month on a Sunday trawl. I never thought you could still find such gems. It makes all the blank days worthwhile.

I was in London with my mother, recently, and she was surprised how I still remembered with affection our trips to The Galt shop in Carnaby Street. It was always a magical experience. Perhaps, the toy I remember best is "The Old Woman who lived in a shoe", more of which, another time.





















Above are a couple more close ups of some of the cubes. Ive posted a number of lovely Galt finds on here before, but despite Ken Garlands website, Im still waiting for a more definitive history on the toy manafacturer.

Serpo, vinyl sticker. Rue Chaudrier, La Rochelle

The pick of todays finds was this delighful vinyl sticker, for Serpo, a French photographic store in La Rochelle. Fixed to the side of a crumbling old Polaroid camera bag, it now has a new home!

1970's Ribbon spools

Wooden russian sledge couple

Another holiday souvenir saved from car boot oblivion. This time from Moscow!

So many people go abroad, and want to bring something back as a memento, but overtime memories of the holiday fade and the objects loose their meaning. Sadder still, people die and family and friends have no knowledge of the objects significance.

This delightful couple are dated on the bottom, 1972. Theres a whole load more written on the base, but sadly I cant read russian or decipher cyrillic ! However on the off chance, theres some clever soul out there who can, Ive posted the label below!