The Mettoy Company plc., toy manufacturer: press cuttings and advertisements
- Archive department
- Museum of Childhood
- Date
- 1950 - 1970
- Reference code
- MOC/METT
- Creator
- The Mettoy Company plc
- Location
- In storage
- Immediate source of acquisition
- Purchased at auction, 1992
- Extent
- 3 volumes, 27 binders
- Scope and Content
- One series of press cuttings and advertisements (1950-1970)
- System of Arrangement
- This archive has been arranged into the following series: MOC/METT/1 - Advertisements and press cuttings The original order of this collection has been retained.
- Finding Aids
- This online catalogue is a complete description of the archive to file level. A typescript catalogue is available at the Museum of Childhood.
- Archival history
- The custodial history of this material subsequent to its accumulation by Mettoy until its arrival at auction is unknown.
- Languages
- English,Chinese,Danish,Dutch,Finnish,French,German,Greek, Modern (1453-),Hungarian,Icelandic,Italian,Japanese,Malay,Norwegian,Portuguese,Spanish,Swedish,Turkish
- Administrative and Biographical History
- The Mettoy Company plc. was first incorporated as a private company on 31 August 1932, as the Mettoy Company Limited, although it did not start trading until 1 February 1934. It was founded by Philipp Ullmann (1883 - 1971) and Arthur Katz (1908 - 1999), both of whom had previously worked in toy manufacturing. Ullmann was the sole proprietor of the well-known German manufacturer of mechanical pressed tin toys Tipp & Company in Nuremberg. Katz, whose mother was Ullmann's cousin, joined Tipp & Co. on leaving school. Following Hitler's rise to power in 1933, Ullmann, and then Katz, who were both Jewish, moved to Britain. Mettoy's first premises were in St Andrews Street, Northampton, where it manufactured toys using lithographed sheets of tin. In February 1936 Mettoy moved to larger premises in Stimpson Avenue and then to Harleston Road, Northampton, in 1937. Toy production ceased in 1941, when, to assist with Britain's war effort, the company instead produced munitions and military equipment at their Northampton premises and also at a factory acquired for the purpose in Fforestfach, Swansea, South Wales. Mettoy returned to toy manufacturing after the Second World War, expanding their range of products to include injection moulded toys in the late-1940’s and pressure die-cast toys in the early 1950s. Mettoy officially opened a new factory at Fforestfach on 2 April 1949, and this became the Company’s headquarters in 1952, accommodating all of Mettoy’s production and commercial sections. The Northampton premises were retained to house the tool-making, sample-making, design and development departments. Playcraft Toys Limited was incorporated as a toy-trading company on 12 February 1953, and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mettoy Co. Ltd. in May 1954, from which time it conducted the majority of Mettoy’s home sales to retail. Mettoy is best known for producing the Corgi range of die-cast model vehicles, launched in 1956, although its product range included ‘Wembley’ vinyl sports- and playballs, ‘Sunshine’ vinyl figures, Aurora plastic model kits, Playcraft Railways, Child Guidance Toys, Electric Highways, the Playcraft Wooden Toys range, and the Berg range of soft toys. Playcraft Toys Ltd. also took over the marketing, on an exclusive basis, of a number of products manufactured by other companies, including the Petitie range of children's typewriters. The Mettoy Co. Ltd. was floated on the London Stock Exchange on 5 June 1963. In 1964 it acquired a controlling interest in N&R Green, manufacturers of Warwick roller skates, and in 1966 formed Mettoy Playcraft (Sales) Limited, which took over the marketing functions of both Mettoy and Playcraft. This changed its name to Mettoy Playcraft Limited on 19 February 1970. Throughout the 1970’s, Mettoy continued to expand its premises, including the opening of a technical centre in Northampton in 1979 which brought together the Management, Marketing, Design, Development and Toolmaking departments. It became The Mettoy Company plc. on 11 September 1981, but had begun to suffer heavy financial losses. A number of premises were closed in the early 1980's and in March 1983 all operations were moved from Northampton to South Wales. Playcraft Ltd. and the subsidiary companies Wembley Playballs and Rosedale, were sold to the holding company Tamwade in 1983, and the official receivers were called in on 31 October 1983. The Corgi range persisted after 1983 with the formation, through a management buy-out, of The Corgi Toy Company Limited on 29 March 1984. It was to continue production in South Wales until it was bought by Mattel in 1989, and the Swansea factory and offices closed when production moved to Mattel’s headquarters in Leicester in 1991. On the 7 August 1995, Corgi Classics Limited was formed, following another management buyout of Corgi. This new company moved to premises in Leicester, and in 1996 expanded when it acquired Basset Lowke tooling and property. Corgi Classics Ltd. was itself taken over by Zindart Ltd, a Hong Kong-based die-casting company in October 1999, before this in turn was bought by Hornby in May 2008.
Contains the following records:
Citation
V&A Collections, Museum of Childhood, https://collections.vam.ac.uk/archive/ARC33950