Woolworths Virtual Museum - Early History of Chad Valley


Chad Valley Toys have given pleasure to eight generations of children, from the present Queen of England, to kids across the United States, Europe, Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand. Some of the toys have been simple, many have been sophisticated; some have been "just for fun" while others have nourished young minds and helped scholars to map the world in which we live. One common feature has applied throughout the last 144 years - a build quality that's second to none. Why else would early Chad Valley be among the most sought after toys on the world-wide web? And why do the antique toys so often carry the description "well used but in surprisingly good condition for its age"? On this page we take a whistle stop tour of the Company's first 125 years until Chad Valley joined forces with Woolworths, Britain's leading toy retailer.

The name Chad Valley first appeared on toys in around 1920, a new name for a printing company that had already been trading for up to ninety years. The idea began in around 1830 when a British printer by the name of Anthony Bunn Johnson began to make simple games for children as a sideline. These consisted mainly of pictures on paper and card, sometimes supported by a set of rules or instructions. In 1860 his two sons, Joseph and Alfred, branched out on their own, setting up a similar business, "Johnson Brothers" that operated from George Street, Birmingham, England. In 1897 the business moved to new premises on the edge of Birmingham in a Valley next to the river Chad - inspiring the new name "Chad Valley Company Limited" which was adopted some years later.
			The early toys were made of paper and card, and with a strong emphasis on the printed word appealed to more affluent and educated families. Sales grew steadily and, by the end of Queen Victoria's reign the Company was exporting across the British Empire and beyond. At this time it was unusual for most ordinary children to be given toys at all, with most receiving more practical presents like socks and fruit. Only the upper classes regularly bought toys - and then mainly at Christmas - to keep their little Herberts firmly in the Nursery with Nanny, where they could be seen but not heard. Then, at around the time that F. W. Woolworth opened their first British store, came inspiration in the form of soft toys - particularly bears and dolls.

	A German toy maker by the name of Mary Steiff dreamt up the idea of soft toys, starting with elephants and graduating on to bears. A batch was exported to the U. S. in 1903, where they were a big hit. Americans nicknamed them "Teddies" after President Theodore Roosevelt, who had famously refused to shoot an old bear on a hunting expedition. Chad Valley soon introduced a teddy of their own. Remarkably the design was developed during the Great War. They were able to re-tool their Harborne plant for toy production at the height of a world war.
The teddies were very popular, with thousands selling every week during the 1920s, thanks to new, extra premises in the Wrekin Toy Works in Wellington, Staffordshire.

Chad Valley produced many different dolls, initially at Harborne during the late 1910s with china faces, felt bodies and clothes and glass eyes, and from 1920 in Wellington, Staffordshire. Here they began to experiment with new materials, particularly celluloid. All dolls were labelled "Chad Valley Hygienic Toys" The company developed a reputation for build quality and attention to detail, with most dolls having great faces. Among the most spectacular dolls of the pre-war years was Snow White - boxed with the Seven Dwarves (1937) - with every Snow White face hand-painted. For a while Snow White truly was the fairest in the land.


The Chad Valley Princesses and the Royal Warrant

Then came the true fairest ones of all. Literally Princesses - to be precise the Princess Elizabeth, heir to the throne of the British Empire (today's Queen), and her younger sister, the late H. R. H. The Princess Margaret. The late King George VI and Queen Elizabeth ( the late Queen Mother) were pleased to grant Chad Valley exclusive rights to design and manufacture the doll. The company obliged with a most remarkable likeness (right). A royal warrant (shown at the top of this page) followed as a reward in 1938 and the dolls were exported all over the world, with many Snow Whites sold to wealthy Americans, and many Princess Elizabeths sold to loyal subjects across the Empire. Very large quantities were exported to Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with exports also to India, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and South Africa.

			Today a complete, boxed set of Snow White with all seven dwarves fetches up to US$1000 (£600) and a mint condition Princess Elizabeth doll over £1000, particularly following Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee. To complete the royal collection in 1937, Chad Valley also produced a jigsaw showing three generations of the House of Windsor - Queen Mary, then the Queen Mother, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and their daughters Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. It is hard to believe that, only months before, the monarchy had been in crisis when George VI's elder brother, Edward VIII, abdicated to marry the American, Wallace Simpson.




Product development during the pre-war period was driven by acquisitions. By 1930 the company was already trading from two factories in Harbourne and Wellington. In 1931 they took over the long-established toy manufacturers Peacock and Company - bringing not only new product lines but also new capabilities. For the first time the company could produce complex metal toys like model trains and cars. These lines proved very popular.

		Expansion was cruelly interrupted by the Second World War. Within months most production was switched to the war effort, although some toys were still made. Remarkably, despite pressures on raw materials, a small number of metal toys were built alongside the traditional paper and card based games. Prices rocketed putting most items well out of reach of all but the most affluent families.
Two examples of 1939 toy range are intriguing:- the Chad Valley Globe (above) was very sophisticated, including a dial to allow students to calculate the time anywhere in the world. At the time of production an enlarged Germany had swallowed up Austria following the Anchluss, but Poland remained intact. As the globe includes a royal warrant in can be dated precisely to the 1939 season. The wooden Soldier Skittles (right) cruelly predicted the bombardment which Field Marshall Rommel was to inflict on Allied troops in North Africa less than two years later.
With peace came new lines and increasing sophistication. From 1945 to 1952, in an attempt to settle an enormous National Debt, manufacturing companies were encouraged to focus on the export market. Chad Valley was no exception. Teddy Bears (below, left) got stubby noses to suit the preferences of American children. London Buses (below, centre left) a familiar emblem around the world featured in abundance.

The battery operated telephone set (above centre right) was every bit as sophisticated as the finest 'phone system in Mayfair, while the range of soft toys was expanded and modernised including many Gollies which were all the rage in the 1950s and 60s, thanks to programmes like the Black and White Minstrels and to Robertsons Jams, who only finally dropped the golly motif in 2001.


Chad Valley were among the first toy manufacturers to establish links to the new independent television programmes, building on movie work they had done with Disney in the 1930s. Most famous of Chad Valley's new television stars was Sooty (illustrated, above/right), a teddy bear glove puppet who appeared with Sweep, a glove puppet dog, and Sue, a panda. His catchphrase is "izzy wizzy let's get busy". In the 1950s most television pictures were broadcast live. Famously in one episode of The Sooty Show, the puppet-master and co-star Harry Corbett lost hold of Sooty, revealing his Chad Valley identity label (above). Company sales and profits rocketed!


Another feature of Chad Valley in the 1950s and 60s was a focus on educational toys that would stretch young minds and develop model citizens. There were more puzzles, more arts and crafts and construction kits and more scale models.
		A particular favourite was a royal jigsaw (left), published to mark the accession of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 and depicting the Queen seated with Prince Charles (now the Prince of Wales) to her right and Princess Anne (now the Princess Royal) to her left. To avoid any disrespect much larger pieces were used for the heads of all three Royals (right). This ensured that there were no joins across the faces.
The Chad Valley globe was updated to reflect the new world order, and during the 1960s a moon globe was added - reflecting the increasing interest that accompanied Kennedy's space race. Engineering and construction kits abounded alongside the more traditional board games and soft toys. There were many acquisitions to produce the new ranges, including:- Hall and Lane, Birmingham 1951 (Metal toys) Roberts Brothers, Gloucester (Makers of Glovum toys) Acme Stopper and Box Company 1959 (Metal toys) H. G. Stone and Company 1967 (Makers of Chiltern toys, specialising in soft toys and doll production)

			The Chad Valley Give-A-Shows (launched in 1961) were a parent's dream - a toy that encouraged children to want to go to bed early! Many a child of the 1950s and 60s will recall taking the projector, complete with film show off to bed and viewing the stories quietly under the sheets. Franchise arrangements were made with leading television and film companies, allowing a very wide repertoire of film strips to be developed, including cartoon characters from Disney and MGM and the various Gerry Andersen series from ITC, including Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet. Many projectors have survived over forty years, still in their boxes and with film strips intact. A Thunderbirds Give-A-Show is the most prized collectable, with a mint in box version fetching up to £100 at auction.

Other popular products during the 1950s and 60s including a wide selection of musical instruments, including drums, tambourines and guitars, humming tops in various sizes and many more topical board games. All were considered the height of fashion and are still most collectable today. To keep pace with sales the company kept expanding through acquisition.

Then disaster as the finances of the company became over-complicated. Restructuring followed, with factories closed and production of different types of toy centralised into one or another factory. For example all soft toy production was transferred to Pontypool in 1975. But it was too late. The company was sold to Palitoy in 1978 to clear its mounting debts, becoming just a small cog in a much larger conglomerate.

Palitoy introduced only a small number of Chad Valley products. Some, designed as educational toys, were co-branded Milton Bradley (today's MB Games) and Chad Valley. The most famous, "Facts and Figures", guarantees to raise your IQ Sky High.
Their new soft toy lines, notably rubber Smurfs were not a big hit, although for a while Soft Toys continued to sell well. By the mid 1980s no new Chad Valley products were launched and factories were converted to manufacture under other brand names. In 1988 Woolworths took over Chad Valley, reviving and developing the brand for a whole new generation.
Toys and Stationery Gallery Home F. W. Woolworth & Co. Ltd. Toys Tin toys and sixpenny notions On the curriculum in the 1950s Own brand development in the 1960s and 1970s The Chad Valley Toy Company Ltd. (Bookmarks on this Page) Early history of Chad Valley Ruling classes and the royal warrant Post war expansion and brand development Best of both worlds Toys re-launched under Operation Focus Stationery that never stands still