Floral Garden, made by Britains in England in the 1960s

Garden construction toy consisting of many separate and interchangeable parts. With the toy, detailed gardens can be made using lawn elements and printed card crazy paved paths. These can be comined with flower beds, seed beds, a greenhouse, shed and pond. The plants can be inserted into holes in the beds, and into other elements such as a cold frame. Many of the plants have interchangeable flower heads, allowing for a range of colours and shapes. With the set are a number of garden tools such as a hoe, lawnmower and lawn roller. There is also a figure representing a male gardener in a yellow shirt, German Shepherd and Collie dogs, and two cats. There is white garden furnirture and a pergola.

Given by Susan North

As remembered by the donor Susan North (Curator of 17th & 18th Century Fashion, V&A) -
'We lived in Britain for three years in the 1960s, from September 1963 to July 1966. My father served in the Canadian Army and he had a posting in London during this time. We lived in Kenley – south of Croydon. I was seven years old when we arrived in 1963. I can’t quite remember first encountering the floral garden sets – it must have been in the Purley toy shop. My brother was very keen on all the Britains miniature soldiers and I was enchanted with the floral garden. I had never seen anything like it – I don’t think Britains distributed in North America. My parents must have bought me the first pieces – probably one or two of the flower beds. I saved my pocket money to buy various sets and it was always high on my Christmas list. Eventually the Britains ‘lawns’ proved inadequate for all the flower beds, so my father found a large piece of plywood and painted it green for me to set everything up on it (alas, it didn’t fit in a shoe box and so didn’t survive).

I spent countless hours arranging and rearranging the rock garden, the frog pond, the garden shed and the rose trellis. Half the fun was putting it all together, ’planting’ the flowers, putting all the rosebuds on the bushes. When directed to tidy up and put it away, I always complied as it meant experiencing the fun of getting it all set up again. Remarkably, it’s almost all complete (might have lost a tulip or hyacinth blossom along the way), but not because of any influence from my parents. I was quite particular about keeping it all together and hated the thought of anything being missing (a curator in the making!).

There was no question of leaving it behind when we returned to Canada in 1966 and through my teens and well in my 20s, I would occasionally pass a rainy Sunday afternoon setting it all out again. My floral garden has travelled far and wide over the past 40+ years, one of the few of my childhood toys to survive. During our stay here, my parents brought me to the V&A where I remember vividly the dress collection (who knew?). So it seems wonderfully appropriate, given the path of my childhood and my career, to offer the floral garden to Bethnal Green Museum.'

This floral garden was made by Britains Ltd. in the early 1960s in England. The idea behind the garden was that an initial set or pieces could be bought, with expansion packs and extra items available to improve and diversify the garden. The pieces fit together with ease, and can be easily split up and put back together again. What this achieves is a level of variety and change that ensures children don't get bored of playing.

B.399:1 to 155-2012