Good-Win Paint Your Own Walt Disney Figures in Pottery

Good-Win (Strome & Co Ltd) of London, England was a manufacturer of games and puzzles in the early to mid-twentieth century.  While I have been unable to find much information on this company, they appear to have primarily made dominoes, jigsaw puzzles, and a few other games as well.  The parent company of Strome & Co. does appear in the catalog for the British Industries Fair from 1947 as a maker of a variety of toys and games.

To date only one Disney series has been identified from Good-Win, a series of three Paint Your Own Figures sets featuring ceramic pieces manufactured by Weetman.  These date from 1952 or earlier based on the characters available:  Mickey & Donald, Tweedle Dee & the Mad Hatter, and Flower & Thumper.  It is possible that other items exist since the box for this item pictures additional Disney characters from Cinderella, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Pluto, and the Three Little Pigs.

All items by Good-Win carry their logo of a boy crossing the finish line of a track race with the words Good-Win Reg Trade Mark.

The Paint Your Own Walt Disney Figures in Pottery set for Alice appears to have been made at the time of the film’s release in the UK, 1951 or 1952 at the latest.  A hand-written price on the label of 6/3 equates to about $0.88 in 1951, and $14.14 in today’s dollars.

The set for Alice contains figures for the Mad hatter and Tweedle Dee, as identified by the label on the bottom of the box.  The contents consist of one each of the small white ware figures manufactured by Weetman, with a paint brush, tray, and four tubes of paint.  An instruction sheet is also included, with some advice on how to glaze the figures with some sort of varnish when you are happy with your results - varnish not included of course.

Luton Girls Choir Medley from Alice in Wonderland (with a friend)

As many of you know, I'm deep into the writing of the book, and part of that involves a LOT of scanning.  The past few weeks have been consumed with the scanning of seemingly endless records of various sizes, speeds, and countries.  Perhaps the most interesting re-discovery is this recording of the Luton Girls Choir singing a medley of songs from Alice, with I'm Late sung by "a friend," who has so far not been identified.  Give it a listen and if you know the singer let me know in the comments!

Mettoy Mad Hatter's Race Game

Here is a preview of the section on the Mettoy Mad Hatter's Race game from the forthcoming book.  Enjoy!

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Founded in 1933 by Jewish emigrants fleeing the Nazis, Mettoy (a contraction of METal TOY) made a metal, tin, and plastic toys over a span of fifty years.

Arthur Katz was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1908.  When his father died in 1920 he moved to Nuremberg with his mother since she was originally German.  After completing school he entered the toy business as an apprentice for a toy export company.  Once his apprenticeship was complete he began working for a tin toy company, Tipp & Co, which was owned by a cousin Philip Ullmann.

With the rise of the Nazis in 1933, he emigrated to England on his South African British passport.  Ullmann joined him shortly thereafter, and the two formed a new toy company, Mettoy, in a workshop owned by a model train maker, Basset-Lowke.  But within five years they has to switch from tin toys to war production as England entered World War II.  Interestingly their landlord Basset-Lowke had a vested interest in many Jewish-German suppliers for their business, and that company spent a large portion of their profits helping Jewish refugees escape Germany.  

The war and accompanying defense contracts were good to Mettoy, so much so that the company needed to expand into a larger manufacturing space, which was arranged by the British government.  The new factory was in Swansea, Wales in the town of Fforestfach.  When the war ended in 1945, toy production resumed.  By this time Mettoy had expanded into plastics given that rationing of metal was still in force, but by 1956 rationing had been lifted and they began making their most well known toy line of all:  Corgi die cast vehicles.  

Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s Mettoy continued to grow with Corgi sales increasing in their standard car line but especially so with their licensed cars for Batman, James Bond, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  However, the arrival of Mattel's Hot Wheels in the late 1960s, coupled with a devastating fire in at the factory in 1969, Mettoy's fortunes began to turn.  The 1970s and 1980s were a difficult time for Mettoy, and despite many efforts to turn the company around, including the creation of their very own personal computer product "The Dragon", the company went into receivership in 1983.  

The following years saw the company spin-off the Corgi brand, which eventually was purchased by Mattel.  The brand was sold several more times through the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, until it was purchased by Hornby in 2008 where the brand continues to be sold to this day.

The number of Disney toys made by Mettoy is not known to me, but I am aware of a few tin toys from the 1950s including a zoetrope called the Disneyland Moviedrome, a toy called the Disneyland Skating, and the Alice game below; as well as the plastic film viewer toy from the 1970s called the Walt Disney Movie Viewer.

The one known Alice toy, The Mad Hatter's Race, was likely released at the time of the original film's release in 1951 or perhaps 1952.  No historical pricing has been discovered.

This is one of the coolest toys ever made for Alice in Wonderland.  It is a game played on a tin race track, with the game piece being a windup toy of Alice on the Drink Me bottle from the Sea of Tears.  I have only ever seen one complete example with box - this one.  I've seen the tin board and the windup toy once or twice before.  Needless to say this is an exceptionally rare toy.

We Made Some Ink! Washingtonian Magazine July 2022

Being residents of the greater DMV (that's DC, Maryland, Virginia for those not in the know), the Washingtonian is our version of New York Magazine or Los Angeles Magazine, with features on local interest, published monthly.  And this month has a one-page feature on the Alice collection, only 6 years in the making!  Pictures below of the cover and our single page, and then an annotated page.

In the photo below, the numbered its are:

1. Regal Mad Hatter Teapot
2. Gund Queen of Hearts Vinylite Stuffed Toy
3. Regal White Rabbit Creamer
4. Zaccagnini (Italy) Cheshire Cat Figure
5. Disneyland White Rabbit Press/VIP Gift from 1984 Attraction Re-Opening
6. Neevel Doll Wardrobe Case
7. Lars (Italy) Bill the Lizard Stuffed Toy
8. 1970s Disneyland Child's Sunglasses
9. National Leather Mfg Co Schoolbag
10. Madame Alexander Doll
11. Larceram (France) Lamp
12. Chad Valley (England) Nursery Play-Toy Tin Stacking Blocks
13. Unknown Tweedledee/dum String Holder (likely unlicensed)
14. Enesco Head Vase
15. Sni-Dor (Canada) Record Player
16. Goebel (Germany) Dodo Smoker Ashtray
17. Unknown (England) Meal Time Dish Set
18. Hassenfeld Bros (Hasbro) Nurse Kit
19. Linemar Mad Hatter's Sky-View Taxi Tin Friction Toy
20. US Time Watch in Teacup Box

70th Anniversary of the World Premiere in London

 I would be very remiss indeed if I let today go by without a post, it's not everyday one turns 70 after all!  Today we have a copy of the UK Photoplay magazine from August 1951, with a cover of Esther Williams looking quite fetching.  But the real gold is inside.

A four-page full color illustrated article on the film.  And while the illustrations are just frames from the film, the design is amazing!

Telling the story via this series of stills as if they were taken directly from the 35mm film is quite charming indeed.

And this was apparently a popular article.  It is the two centerfold wraps of the magazine, and this issue is often found with these four page missing.  People had good taste!

Weatherby & Sons "Falcon Ware" - Walrus and Queen of Hearts

This is my first pass at the section on this manufacturer in my in-progress book.  As I (hopefully) unearth more information on this company and figures, this section will expand.  Or not.  Who knows?

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Falcon Ware by J.H. Weatherby and Sons (UK)

Falcon Ware was a company located in the English town of Stoke-on-Trent, home to Weetman and approximately all the other pottery companies in the UK.  This company had a long and storied history, dating all the way back to 1891 under the parent name of J.H Weatherby and Sons, Ltd., and closing permanently in April, 2000 after 109 years of continuous operation as a family run business.  Sadly the buildings themselves no longer exist.

Image courtesy thepotteries.org

Falcon Ware takes its name from the name of the pottery works itself, which was an existing, though disused, pottery works when purchased by Weatherby in 1891.  The majority of its output in the first half century were traditional table ware, but in the 1950s they began to make nursery items, and novelty animal figures.  Enter Walt Disney.

In 1958 Weatherby planned a series of at least seven figures based on Disney's Alice in Wonderland.  On February 2-6 of 1959 they exhibited at the Blackpool Gifts and Fancy Goods Fair at the Imperial Hotel.  By this the range had been reduced to six figures consisting of Alice, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Walrus, the Queen of Hearts, and the Cheshire Cat.  The figures and their appearance at Blackpool was advertised in at least one periodical in the UK (Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review, February 1959), and price sheets from Weatherby are known to exist.

Advert from Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review, February 1959

Sadly the deal seems to not have been completed or perhaps canceled, and most of the range never produced.  But, there does exist an archive photo from the Weatherby family that I have reproduced below.  I have been unable to contact either the author or the Weatherby family, and the publisher is no longer in business.

Image courtesy of Susan Jean Verbeek, The Falcon Ware Story, (Pottery Publications, 1996)

Fortunately at least two of these figures appear to have been sold in some fashion.  Multiple examples of the Walrus and the Queen of Hearts have been seen over the years, and they are presented here.  Unmarked as they are, for years I suspected these might be Disney, but more likely knock-offs.  It wasn't until I discovered the Verbeek book that I realized their true history.

The Walrus

This was the first Weatherby Falcon Ware figure I acquired.  While I had no idea what it was, and it was not sold as Disney, it just looked right.  The design and style of him just screams Disney, and bears more than a passing resemblance to the Weetman figure.  Not surprising given that the two factories were less than four miles apart.

Scarcity:  🔎🔎🔎🔎

Value: 💲💲💲

The Queen of Hearts

This figure of the Queen of Hearts is what led to my discovery of the history of the Weatherby Falcon Ware.  The auction listing actually referenced the Verbeek book in the description, and I was able to get a copy of the book even before the auction closed.  The look of this figure marks it as clearly Disney.  I am not aware of any other incarnation of the Queen that has the same color scheme and design as in the Disney version.  All this figure is missing is the black stripes in the front of her dress!

Scarcity:  🔎🔎🔎🔎🔎

Value: 💲💲💲

Everybody's Weekly from July 21st, 1951

This comes in courtesy of my friend Charlie Lovett, Carrollian extraordinaire.  A British publication from the original release, Everybody's, dated July 21, 1951, a mere 5 days before the world premiere in London, priced at 4d (4 pence in 1951 is about 65 cents today).  Let's take a look, shall we?

Everybody's was a weekly tabloid-sized news magazine or paper that was published under various names from 1913-1959.  By the time this particular issue was released, it was being published as simply Everybody's.  Typical tabloid fare for the time, with lots of current events and celebrity stories, original fiction, sports, and of course movies.  That's where we come in.

This particular issue contains a three-page illustrated article on the soon-to-be released Disney's Alice in Wonderland.  As was common at the time in the UK, the movie is referred to as "Alice in Disneyland,"  presumably because of the issue taken with the Disney-fication of such a classic English story.  But I digress.  The article is constructed in much the same way as all of these glorified press releases of the day were constructed, as a series of standard stills from the film with captions describing the action, with some small commentary by the author.  This publication, as with many others from the UK at the time, have this strange black, white, and orange color scheme.  I'm sure there must be a reason for it, but I do not know it.

This article is not only not critical of the Disney adaptation, but practically doesn't mention it all.  The majority of piece expounds on the idiosyncrasies of Lewis Carroll, and hardly mentions the film except to say that the author thinks Carroll would have approved.  A grand total of 4 sentences of the 19 total are devoted to 'the film', one of which isn't really a sentence (this author is the king of the run-on sentence and sentence fragment).  One wonders if the author, Jonathan Routh, even saw it.

Finally! An image of an English Quad!

I can't tell you how many years I've been waiting and wanting to find an image of what a 1951 English Quad looks like. I can now happily share this image with you although the poster is not mine :-( Enjoy!  And help me find one !!

Alice and Cinderella Book by Collins of England

Whereas yesterday's Dean book is one of the prettiest Alice books, today's Collins Alice/Cinderella is perhaps one of the ... less attractive books.

First of all, why the combo book?  Was Collins short of funds and needed to combine two stories in a single book?  Secondly, who in the hell is the artist on this?  Alice looks like a cross between the big-eyed kids and a Tijuana black velvet painting - no offense to Margaret Keane.

The cover is nice, and that's about all I can say for it.  Surprisingly this book was reprinted in at least two other countries:  Italy and Brazil.

Alice in Wonderland Book by Dean of England

Possibly one of the prettiest books to come out of England during the original release (that didn't use Studio art) is the Dean book.

Released in 1951 it uses art that appears to be taken directly from frames of the film, with the exception of the cover and end papers.  It is difficult to find in good condition due mostly to the spine - which has a tendency to come off entirely.

In 2006 Disney released a reprint of this book in conjunction with the 55th anniversary of the film.  It looks just like the original, but with a few small differences.

1. The reprint comes with a dust jacket
2. The dust jacket has a big gold sticker on it that states this is a reprint from the 1951 original
3. The word Dean has been removed from the grass in the lower right corner of the cover.  
4. The lettering on the spine is totally different; the original has Alice in Wonderland vertically printed with the Dean horizontal at the base
5. The back cover has a UPC code - a sure indication that it is not from 1951 ;-)

Don't be fooled..

Hey, I Made Some (Virtual) Ink!

Today at the Walt Disney's Robin Hood blog there is a beautiful photo of Joan Rice as she attended the Alice in Wonderland premiere in London.  Joan played the part of Maid Marion, and as the film had just started production was certainly available for the Alice premiere.  And, the blogmaster gave me a very nice shout out.  Right back at ya Clement Glen!

For those who have not be exposed to the live action Robin Hood, it is a very nice film, and holds a special place in Disney history as it was the first film shot in England, using Disney's money that was 'stuck' in the UK from the war years.  The Robin Hood blog is a treasure trove for fans of that film, and even for those who may be new to it.  It is in my opinion one of the best Disney film blogs out there.  Run, don't walk, to check it out right now.

English Birthday Card by Valentine's - Alice

Last in the series (that I am aware of) is this of Alice, with the bluebird of happiness apparently.

Again interior sentiment not really saying much, and certainly not themed to the Alice-ness of the card.

Nanny must have gotten a deal on these cards, and only known one heartfelt phrase for her presumed young charges - this time the recipient is Bobbie.  Twins perhaps?  Who can say, but I'm very glad to have them.

English Birthday Card by Valentine's - Dinah

Now here's something you don't see everyday, a birthday card with Dinah.

And it is even our friend Figaro as Dinah as we've discussed many times in the past.

Interior sentiment is similar to the others.  And this card was given by Nanny to John, she must really have liked him as she gave him seven kisses!

English Birthday Card by Valentine's - White Rabbit

Since I have several of these Valentine's birthday cards, seems the right time to do them all.  The second card in the series features the White Rabbit.

The greeting is 'A gay "Note" for your birthday', odd that they didn't succumb to the 'belated' temptation that seemingly every other greeting card company did.  Refreshing, but odd.

Interior message is again lengthy and not particularly themed to the rest of the card, except for the repetition of the 'gay' sentiment.  For those of you under the age of 30, gay is an old fashioned way of saying lighthearted, carefree, fun, merry etc.  Think Flintstones theme song.  Oh, and the Flintstones is an old cartoon about a stone age family - again for the under 30 crowd.  Hmm...maybe ever for the under 40 crowd.  Damn I'm getting old...

I Went to the DFC Disney Show and All I Got was this Birthday Card - King of Hearts Birthday Card by Valentine's of Great Britain

The DFC show was a rousing success!  Thanks to everyone who dropped by to say hi!  My only score at the show was this English birthday card by Valentine's Greeting Cards, featuring the King of Hearts.

My quest for this card has spanned almost an entire year.  I first became aware of it after last year's D23 show - which I did not attend.  A friend sent me a camera phone shot of it, but it didn't come through until after the show was over.

Yikes!  Never seen this before!  I must have it!  Then followed a series of inquiries by several individuals trying to track down both the vendors and the card.  I did finally discover the identity of the vendor, and I met them at the Dayton show.  But alas, was told the card had sold :-(  Then at the DFC show this summer, one of the individuals who had tried to track it down told me that the card was still available and that there had been some sort of miscommunication!  Hooray!  And it now happily resides with its brethren in the Tulgey Wood.

The interior sports a fairly lengthy verse about living life well...with no reference to the King or Alice whatsoever.  But I will hand it to Joan, a nice obscure card to her friend Gavan is never wrong in my book.

Walt Disney and Family at the Alice in Wonderland World Premiere

In celebration of the 63rd anniversary of Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland, we have here a press photo of Walt and his family at the World Premiere in London.

The snipe reads as follows

I recognize Walt, Lily, Sharon and Diane, and perhaps Roy, but I don't know who that little girl is in the foreground.

Welcom Jigsaw Puzzle Blue Box Series from England - #12 The Mad Hatter's Tea Party

And finally the last in the Blue Box series, #12 The Mad Hatter's Tea Party.  At least they used different art for this version, I'm sick of that other art.

The color on this particular puzzle is quite vivid, I just love all the paper lanterns and the bright pink and red tones throughout.

I've had two of these puzzles over the years, and this particular one took me a long time to find with a not too terribly distressed box.  Below you see what is a typical state for all Welcom puzzle boxes.

Welcom Jigsaw Puzzle Blue Box Series from England - #11 The White Rabbit's House

Third in the Blue Box series is #11 The White Rabbit's House.

Again with the slightly unusual art, clearly by the same artist.  But on the up  side, Bill!  This time carrying a broom (?) instead of a ladder.  Or perhaps it is a chimney sweep.