One hundred years of one house in Chorlton part 86 ......... looking for the toys

The continuing story of the house Joe and Mary Ann Scott lived in for over 50 years and the families that have lived here since.*

Raphael, 1993

It is still the case that even after all our children have left, their toys still fill the house.

In the cellar we have mountains of Lego which once formed ships, castles, space rockets and pirate islands, now sadly reduced to their parts, kept in bin bags and waiting for something to happen.

And, along with these there are Beano and Dandy annuals, a selection of comics and shed loads of figures from footballers to the cast of Lord of the Rings.

Of course along the way we have lost many more, most thrown away or passed on, and two that were buried in the garden.

These last two were both of Superman bought in Greece on a holiday in the mid 90s for our Saul and when they finally broke it seemed fitting that they she be buried where two of the family pet cats also rest in peace..

But none of this vast collection of toys was older than 1984 when our eldest was born.

He was the first child in the house, which is quite remarkable given that the house was built in 1915.

All of which meant that if there had been toys in the place they were there as an accident.

Royal Mail van, 1914-1939

So I doubt that this elegant tin toy ever made into Joe and Mary Ann’s home.  It was made sometime in the inter war years Burnett Ltd.

The company was founded in 1914 by F. Burnett and E. Satchwell, and sold a range of tin plate toys, including an open top motor bus our Royal Mail van, plus fire engines, aircraft and locomotives.

In 1939 it ran into financial difficulties, and its tooling was acquired by Chad Valley.**

These were toys I grew up with although by the early 1950s they had been replaced by dye cast model cars and planes. That said my train set included a range of railway carriages and freight wagons which were still made out of tin plate.

At the same I yearned for something which looked more realistic but with the passage of time I have come to admire these tin toys.

Location; Chorlton

Picture;  Raphael, 1993 from the collection of Andrew Simpson and tin toy courtesy of David Harrop.

*The story of house, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20story%20of%20a%20house

**Tin Toys, http://www.traditional-tin-toys.co.uk/tin-toy-manufacturers.php

On birthdays, presents and comics

Now the thing about birthdays is the way they assume less importance with the passing years.

This of course maybe a very personal thing and I will be the first to admit that even given that there are fewer  years ahead of me than behind today does not have the same magic as it once did.

That said I am still a sucker for Christmas and in that great divide which pitches you either into the Christmas camp or the New Year one I am and remain a Christmas person.

But birthdays are a tad different.

My first 18 pretty much have been forgotten except for the one when I became six.  I remember the cake, and more importantly one of the presents which was a Regent petrol tanker made by Dinky.

And it remains with me because just a month later my twin sisters were born.

Of the rest they have faded, except for those that were marked by presents from my sons.

This one I think we will celebrate with the big meal given that our eldest has his birthday almost a week later and his partner celebrates hers in early November and as it falls in half term we may be able to gather everyone together.

But all of this is less about me than a reflection the toys that passed through the house over the last four decades and more.

My petrol tanker survived another half dozen years becoming more chipped, losing its tyres and eventually it ladders.

To buy the same today could cost me up to £300 a salutary lesson in keeping care of your toys.
In much the same way the Lego bought for the boys has long ago been consigned to bin liners in the cellar.

The pirate ship, the castle and loads of small cars, planes and helicopters is now a jumbled pile of coloured bricks, wheels and assorted figures.

In the same way the Hornby train set which father lavished hours of time creating during  my childhood was sold when we moved to Eltham.

A loss which I still regret, even given that I doubt there would have been anywhere for it at Well Hall Road or for that matter that at 14 I was over bothered.

Of course just two years later I was but by then there was no getting it back.

All of which makes me reflect on birthdays, both their promise for the year ahead and the presents from the year before.

At least with a bit of care and some financial out lay I have recovered some of the comics of my youth which as they say is another story.

Pictures; Eagle comics from the collection of Andrew Simpson