Traditional British Toys

Well Jalima again a good point. I guess if they're ooking for toys from their own childhood the FP phone is perfect so I'll order that. This model will no doubt be an antique in 20/30 years lol.

felice Fuzzy Felts!!! Again, had forgotten about them. My son adored his FF's. (as an aside felice and travelsafer please mind your language. It's only June!).

Lovely site Tizliz. I was about to order the wee 'pull-along' dog but they're out of stock . Shame - it would have been perfect.

Juney64, we were in Sutton-on-Sea, near Mablethorpe, a couple of years ago, and there was a little shop with it`s window full of gollywogs, all different sizes, I was just sorry that I didn`t have anyone to buy one for. I loved mine as a child.

Although Brio isn't traditionally British Thomas the Tank definitely is. Both my grandson and now my granddaughter love Thomas. I've just bought some wooden track with a motorised Thomas and a Bertie the Bus along with a storybook of Thomas and Bertie's race, and we act it out (often bringing in other characters eg her Duplo Mickey Mouse). My grandson only had the motorised Thomas when he was starting to tire of his push along ones. I also used to buy, via a book search shop, Ladybird Thomas theTank books. They're a perfect size for youngsters. I only used to let them keep the books when I'd got a duplicate but, thus far the books have never been damaged. On the subject of those Sambo money box things, I was in a charity shop once and one was brought in; I asked to buy it but they said it 'hadn't been priced'; I reckon someone from the shop had it. I know they're not 'correct' now, but I just love anything from the past.

I went with my friend this week to take her two small grandchildren to a play group. The toy that seemed to fascinate the little ones (babies at the crawling stage) was a spinning top, although they are different now to the ones I am used to seeing.

Oh, and I bought one of those large furry push along dogs for my younger grandson because a) he loves dogs and b) I'd always wanted one but never owned one.The one I bought was a Labrador although the one's I coveted from my childhood were (fox) terriers. I also had a wooden farm set for Christmas one year as the children never wanted one but I was sure they'd play with one if they had one (which they did). Little granddaughter loves her dad's old Fisher Price binoculars.

Sorry folks but if gollywogs aren't offensive to black peoples, especially those who relatives were slaves, I give up.
We were fortunate to spend half a day at the new museum of African Americans in Washington DC some months ago. The experience of visiting this wonderful museum along with African Americans we could hear explaining calmly to the children in their group that this was the experience of great grandma was something I won't forget,
My ancestors worked in the dark satanic mills. In Manchester, life expectancy was around 30 in the Manchester d 19th century. Life was tough, disease rampant but they weren't slaves.
I don't want to bring this jolly discussion down. The persistent references to gollywogs and black sambos as acceptable toys these days is something i feel unable to ignore.

Iam64 I feel the same as you

They're not acceptable these days and I am surprised that anyone is still selling them.
If I still had mine then he would not be on display but would still be much loved, such was our innocence in those days.
We went to the William Wilberforce museum recently - oddly enough not that far from Whitby.

I'm surprised as well Jalima. I mentioned early ear that my sister still has her golly, knitted by our gran, he's safely in a cupboard, rather than on display.
We were innocent. The first black peoples I saw were American GIs at the airforce base we lived close to in 1957,-8. We wondered why we never saw black and white GIs together. It was probably in my teens when I learned about segregation.

Jalima your teddy looks a bit like Sooty! There's a thought, a Sooty glove puppet, very British and in fact Yorkshire, now't as nice as Sooty.