How Tri-ang toy makers are linked to Chichester
Toymaking clearly runs in the Lines family. Joseph Lines and his brother George Lines ran the North London based company G&J Lines (18761930) and their ancestors before them had been making traditional toys and models as far back as the 1850s.
George was a trained carpenter whilst Joseph was more business focused, so together, they made an excellent team.
G&J’S business was predominantly wood based and they specialised in making wooden horses of all sizes and scales right up to fullsize horses that were used in shops to sell saddlery.
They made and promoted a very successful rocking horse. Whilst Joseph and George mainly stuck to traditional wooden toys, Joseph’s sons, however, were keen to venture into new markets.
When Joseph’s sons, Walter, William and Arthur, returned from the First World War, they formed the toymaking company Lines Bros Ltd. They cleverly used the name ‘Tri-ang’ as a brand name because a triangle is made up of three lines.
At the start of the Second World War, the British Government deemed that production of toys was ‘nonessential’ and production facilities were used for weapons manufacturing instead. Toy making began again shortly after the war ended.
The brothers set up their Tri-ang works in Morden Road, London, which became The Merton Factory. This was designed by Walter and in the centre, it had its very own football field, which came in handy as a space for testing out the model aircraft produced by the brothers’ International Model Aircraft Company, which was also on site.
With three founders, all of whom had been brought up in the toymaking business, the Lines Brothers’ empire kept growing and business boomed. At its peak in 1947, Lines Bros Ltd claimed itself to be the ‘largest toy company in the world’. They had 40 companies worldwide including the famous Hornby, Meccano
and Dinky brands.
The 1960s were a difficult time for the British toy industry, with domestic companies struggling to compete with imported toys from the US and Japan. Although Lines Brothers Ltd did their best to move with the times, sturdy metal and wooden toys bought through toyshops with decent profit margins were increasingly replaced with cheap mass-produced plastic.
The diecast car market was increasingly dominated by cheaper imports from companies such as Mattell and Far Eastern manufacturing took over much of what had been the ‘penny toy’ sector.
As a result of this and some losses overseas, the brothers were in financial difficulties and in 1971 the company officially dissolved.
When Walter Lines retired as Lines Bros chairman in 1962 at the age of 80, he established Good-wood Playthings Ltd. It was certainly not a retirement, though, and very much a business.
By this point he had amassed more than 60 years of experience in the toy making industry and put all that experience to good use. He set up his toy factory in an old sawmill in Lavant and in keeping with the family ethos, produced sturdy and traditional wooden toys.
in the 1960s, Good-wood toys was an anachronism, producing high-quality wooden toys in an age when plastic toys were becoming the norm.
Walter designed the factory himself and oversaw the design of every product that was produced. There was a playroom in the factory where children were invited to come and test out the latest invention and, with 10 grandchildren, Walter was not short of willing testers.
Good-wood Playthings Ltd produced the original Sindy bed and the attention to detail of this child’s doll bed is remarkable. The bed came fully assembled in a large box complete with bedding.
The bed was 16 inches long and made of turned and polished wood. The four posts were made from a deep-stained mahogany wood whilst the frame and bed head were made from a much lighter and redder stained wood. Each column needed 3.5 turned beads, 14 in total and would have been hand turned in a lathe at the Good-wood factory.
The bedding was also impressive. The eiderdown was padded and stitched in rectangles to give it a quilted look and the curtains, canopy and valance were made of cotton chintz and all finished with a cotton lace trim.
The bed was displayed in the Hamleys catalogue from 1965 to 1972. There is no evidence to confirm its availability after this date so it is assumed that production of the bed must have ceased. These beds were quite exclusive.
To put it in context, in 1966-67 the Good-wood four poster bed cost £3.9.4 but you could buy Sindy’s plastic Cherub Bed for £1.12.11, just over a third of the price, which may have been the reason for the decision to stop production after 1972.
The Good-wood toy factory in Lavant closed its doors in 1975. There are still many members of the local community who fondly remember working in the factory and are proud to have been part of such a lovely piece of British toy making history, where the emphasis was made on building toys that were made to last.
To accompany the May The Toys Be With You exhibition, The Novium Museum currently has a wonderful display of vintage toys from the collection on the second floor. Visit over February half term to take part in the Toy Detective Trail and win a ‘build your own brick’ reward.
Visitors can also take part in a Junior Jedis Workshop and a Traditional Toy Making Workshop. For further details,visitwww.thenovium. org.uk/whatson