Hull and Stafford - Early American Tin Toys

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Hull and Stafford

(Early American Tin Toys)

   The warm weather is starting, so readership is slightly down. As for myself, I raked, leaf blew, and filled  5 large-sized paper bags full  of leaves. We had a large snow storm 10 days ago, but now the snow is almost gone! 

  I found the name Hull and Stafford  when I was collecting images for the Fallows post on  April 4, 2013. What I've always found interesting is how the many different companies would make similar toys both in character and design. I've never read (so far) that 1 company would sue another for design or character. Yet Apple in 2012 sued Samsung over their Galaxy III smartphone. Part of the lawsuit was  over something like the "rounded corners" on the Galaxy, while other parts of the lawsuit centred on other software infringements (more serious).

* Addenda 

(Information provided by Mr. John Evans on May 13, 2014)

"The reason Hull and Strafford horses look the same as George Brown and other tin toy makers is because they did not make the horse itself, they purchased the horses from jobbers who sold to a few of these makers then they soldered the parts together and then painted them in their shops.

 I hope this info helps." 

John Evans

 Hull and Stafford manufactured hand-painted tin pull toys. For those who don't know, you attach a piece of cord or string to the front of the toy, and it moves on a platform and wheels (usually cast-iron). Many of the manufacturers of the time would have galloping horses with carriages, lambs or other similar characters.  For myself, it's hard to know which company made which item, since the different companies items look so similar.  Hull and Stafford  made their toys from the early 1880's - until the early 1900's. I'll need to do more research to add more storyline later.

Please click to be redirected to the fine Bertoia website

* The site above will direct you to a search page from Bertoia. 

Just add the words or name of the toy company and the toys that they've sold in the last 4-7 years will appear. For  a broader search, go to Liveauctioneers. There you will find a list of their previously and current toys that list even farther back to 2006 , and sometimes even earlier. When one thinks about the computer and the Internet, it's amazing how fast and what a broad range on information can appear in so short a timespan!

The above toy was made similarly by at least 1 other manufacturer. It's too bad the sellers don't add the logo or establishing references to specifically identify the exact manufacturer. As the circular shape rotates, the horse rocks up and down but always remains horizontal to the floor.

This pair of riders is one of my Hull and Stafford toys, because of its unique concept of a pair of riders, side by side.

Ummmph!  Here's a self-propelled toy that moves after its wound up. The colours are magnificent. But what I like most id the exaggerated large-sized wheels of the cart.

You can see the small hole through the horse's lower jaw in the top photo. What I like most about this toy is how the simple red, black and white colour theme stand out against the plain white background!

The 3 sets of photos above are typical examples of toys that many of the manufacturers of the day made.  Lambs and horses were very prominent toys of the era. What differentiates some of the Hull and Stafford designs of their toys is the embossed texture of their platforms. Notice the rough and 3D surface that the horse is trotting on. 

The above toy is quite large, measuring 18" or .457M long! A carved out mould (shape) woukld be made of 1/2 of the design (e.g. horse). The malleable tin would then be cut out, and gently hammered to the shape of the mould, by using a soft hammer made most likely from wood. After,  the 2 tin halves would be soldered together with lead.

Thanks for visiting,

and have a great part of the day,

whereer you may be.

Stacey