A few old friends: Charbens, JoHill and Barrett & sons

In the early 1950's, each time my Mother made the long weekly walk into town and back, she would bring me a new metal animal. (No plastics at that time!) Slowly, I built up a farm and a zoo.

They had some hard usage and were easily broken, but a few have survived almost six decades and are still with me.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Rhino and Hippo, still in their original paint.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Battered Wolf and Tigress, which have been repaired and repainted many times.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Broken-antlered Stag and Panda. In the games I played, this Panda was always the evil criminal mastermind.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
I named the Bactrian Camel "Perfume of the South", thinking it sounded right for the sort of camel which travelled the Silk Road from China. My father, who knew what real camels smelt like, laughed rudely whenever I mentioned it.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
I very much wanted a full set of Cherilea spacemen figures, but only managed to get two of the small, multi-legged space monsters. They live in the farmyard with the hens. Here they are surprising a Timpo Water Buffalo.


The Wolf, Rhino, Hippo and Stag are made by Charbens.
The Tigress and evil Panda are made by Jo Hill.
The Bactrian Camel is made by Barrett and Sons.

Lesley
castlerigg

They are so lovely! And I love the story behind them too - you must have been very excited when your mother came home to see what new addition she'd brought!

I love the figueres and I love what you tell, - and I am SO happy that you share with us.
No matter how fine and beautyful and rare figures we buy now as adults, nothing compares to the ones with all the memories from childhood, - or perhaps this is beacuse we did not get SO much stuff them ?
When I hold my old plastic Elefant from Reisler, I do not see the broken trunk or the missing tail, I see the houses and trees we built for them, the lawn where we played and the house where we lived also

Yes, Harriet, I was excited! It could literally be anything from a tiny chick to an elephant!

Susanne, it feels so odd to be old! Willy was talking this week about flocked metal animals .... I remember the first ones sold in my area (it was 1957 and they were Timpo models) and how the children in my year at school decided that flocking was OK for lions and deer, but looked silly on hippos, rhinos and elephants.

Then someone was talking on the same bit of the Forum about "old" Britains figures .... and I was thinking :- "Just a minute! These are made of plastic, so they can't be old!" .

I am very lucky to have seen so many beautiful model animals made in my lifetime; and so many are still being made!

Lesley
castlerigg

Thank you for these good old pics

I have myself a "Perfume of the south", I will try to smell it this morning .

About perfume, old things, good days and memories, smelling some 1950's Clairet I played with in the 1960's is still my absolute "Proust's madeleine".

I love them all!

They are great. Thanks for sharing a part of your childhood with us. I'm glad you still have them.

These are fantastic, vintage toys at there very best.
Loved, played with and cared for. It's a bloody shame kids do not take care of there toys better now a days, I seriously doubt besides in collector hands will many of the figures made now survive into vintage or antique considerations.

Your assortment there is wonderful even in an artistic way!

I don't think anyone will be offended when i say your sharings are always the best, and these are.... warm days in tree houses, and rainy mornings in forts under the sofa.

You're right, that Panda is obviously quite devious!

Mastiffcat wrote:

I don't think anyone will be offended when i say your sharings are always the best, and these are....

You are SO right

Wow! This very old topic has swum to the surface again!

Thank you, friends, for your kind comments!


Lesley.

Castlerigg.

castlerigg wrote:

Wow! This very old topic has swum to the surface again!

Yes ! I LOVE it when somebody find these wonderful old topics again

So lovely figures and beautiful stories and feelings behind them! Thank You for sharing Lesley
I love the name You gave to this camel

Great stuff again!
I do have the same panda, but only the flocked version, battered to, but still ok...

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The water buffalo is my favourite

I'm also glad someone brought this topic back. I love all figures, the pictures and mainly the stories behind themn.
I love your topics Sue and Lesley!

This is a fantastic post. Thank you so much for this Lesley! The stories behind the figures are really lovely. I especially liked this part...

castlerigg wrote:

In the games I played, this Panda was always the evil criminal mastermind

It reminded me so much of how it felt to play as a child and how much of it is imagined. It's a wonderful feeling.

Thank you!

Oh, my, Willy, your Panda (in his Winter coat!) looks as evil as ours!!

Lesley
castlerigg