Varnished wooden posting box with detachable lid, wooden tray and twelve coloured geometric shapes manufactured and sold by Paul and Marjorie Abbatt Ltd., England, 1960's.

Varnished wooden posting box in the shape of a cube, with detachable lid and tray that sits inside it, and twelve coloured geometric shapes, three each of a blue cube, yellow cylinder, red sphere and blue disc. There are numerous scribbles made in blue and black pencil, crayon and pen on a number of the pieces.

Detailed description of parts:
Plywood, cube-shaped five-sided box. The sides are cut to form rabbet joints at their edges and are glued together and a base is attached with metal nails. The exterior sides are varnished, the inside and base is untreated.

Square plywood lid with a smaller square glued on underside to form lip, with four geometric-shaped holes cut into it. These are in the form of a larger and smaller circle, a square with rounded corners and a rectangle with rounded corners. A tapered, cylindical knob, painted red with rounded top, is attached in the centre of the lid using a single metal nail. The top of the lid is varnished, the underside is left untreated.

Untreated wooden tray, the sides of which have been box-jointed and glued together, the base then nailed on.

Three turned wooden spheres with a flattened base, stained red. Three wooden cubes, stained blue-green. Three wooden cylinders, stained yellow. Three wooden discs, stained blue.

Given by Mary and Patrick Attenborough

This posting box was manufactured and sold by Paul and Marjorie Abbatt Ltd. The design, which persisted until the 1970's with only very minor changes, was first produced in the early 1930's, and was one of the first toys in the Abbatts' range. This particular example was bought from the Abbatts' toy shop at 94 Wimpole Street, London, by the donors for their children in the mid 1960's.

Historical significance: This design demonstrates the strength and simplicity and importance of good design common to the Abbatts' toys.

This wooden posting box, with detachable lid and twelve geometric shapes, was manufactured by Paul and Marjorie Abbatt Ltd. It was bought from the Abbatts' toyshop in Wimpole Street, London in the mid-1960's by the donors for their children. Its design emphasises both durability and simplicity, and is typical of the well-designed quality wooden toys that the Abbatts became known for producing and selling. This particluar design was first made in the 1930's, and was one of the first products in the Abbatts' range. The design persisted, with only very minor changes, until the 1970's.

B.196:1 to 15-2009