On the curriculum in the 1950s
         
The interior of the F. W. Woolworth & Co. Ltd. "Junior's Sweet Shop" - one of the early own brand items made in Hong Kong and sold in the 1950s. All the sweets were edible, so we had to do some digital magic to refill the counters! (Image: Paul Seaton)
         
The 1950s saw a massive expansion of the toy ranges in Woolworths stores, with the Company no longer constrained by an upper price limit of sixpence.  Austerity measures introduced by the government prevented retailers for importing more items than they did before the war - which was a great help to Woolies who used their import licences to bring in larger, bigger ticket items from occupied Germany, Japan and the British Colony of Hong Kong.  The Junior's Sweet Shop is a great example of the new innovative products of the time. The box for the F. W. Woolworth & Co. Ltd. "Junior's Sweet Shop" - which opens out to reveal a wonderful array of 1950s sweets and candy (Image: Paul Seaton)
         
The Real Life Number Scheme kit for teachers - developed by Winifred M. Ferrier and manufactured by E. J. Arnold and Son (Image: Paul Seaton) When Winifred M. Ferrrier set up a project to help teachers to improve the numeracy of 1950s children by teaching real life number skills, naturally she approached Woolies. With the Company's agreement, alongside the Christmas Decorations Shop, Toy Shop, Sweet Shop and Stationery Shop, she included an
F. W. Woolworth & Co. Ltd. Store. 
The Woolies pack from Winifred M. Ferrier and E. J. Arnold and Son Limited's Real Life Number Scheme teachers' pack (Image: Paul Seaton)
         
So many of today's parents and grandparents learnt to shop using plastic coins and paper notes and a list of the products available in their local Woolies.  Some of the questions were:
  • 1/- at first, 6d. for a pram = _________ left
  • 2/6 at first, 9d. for a horse, 2d. for a bon bon, 1/- for a doll = ___________ left
         
Colleagues show off their toy displays in Pontypool (No. 130) in Easter 1951 (With many thanks to Mr Ray Gallanders)
         
Development of plastic in the 1950s led to a revolution in toy making and Woolworths were among the first to display an array of plastic dolls, tea sets, buckets and spades in this Easter Display in 1951.
         
Beautifully dressed Toy windows at Woolworths in Selsdon, Surrey (No. 932) in 1955.
         
Woolies biggest selling ranges at Christmas were board games like Ludo, Draughts and Blow Football and Jigsaw Puzzles - and the three hottest topics of the 1950s were space travel (which captured everyone's imagination), Royalty following H. M. The Queen's coronation in 1953 and television, with the first commercial television broadcasts which stimulated a lot of product development.
         
The Woolworth superstore in Briggate, Leeds (No. 5) packed out with customers for Christmas 1959.
         
By 1959 Woolworths sold more toys than anyone else in Britain, with presents for all ages and three quarters of the nation visiting the stores in the four weeks running up to Christmas.  Airfix kits (particularly models of World War II planes and space ships) were all the rage.  The stores look very different today, but Airfix Spitfires were back on sale in the January sale in 2004, and Woolies were still officially Britain's number one for fun!
         

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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.
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