In the early 1970s, Joy Toys was competing in a changed market. The removal of tariffs meant that toys produced more cheaply in Asia were able to flood the market, and this led to the closure of a large proportion of what had previously been very successful Australian toy companies. This catalogue, produced in about […]

The Schreyer Toy Company, more commonly known as Schuco, flourished during the first half of the twentieth century. It was founded in 1912 by Heinrich Muller who, after an apprenticeship with Gebruder Bing (toymakers), began his toy company with Heinrich Schreyer. In 1913 Schreyer introduced it’s first range of soft toys, which were wheeled animals, […]

The Merrythought toy factory was opened in 1930 in Shropshire, England by two business partners in a spinning mill,  H.  Lawton and W. Holmes.  The mill produced mohair yarn and so the toy factory was established to produce toys from this yarn. Florence Attwood (from the Chad Valley factory) became the head designer until her […]

The Barton Waugh company produced a range of soft toys in Hurstville, Sydney, from the late 1940s till the late 1960s. Predominately a teddy bear company, it also made a small range of dogs and other plush toys. The Barton Waugh ‘Bruno’ was the most distinctive pattern. Created in many sizes, from 30cm to 182cm, […]