This is a chid’s bike that starts as a 4 wheeler, then can quickly and easily be changed to a trike by removing one front wheel and repositioning the other by means of the clever axle system. Then when your child is ready the rear wheels are changed in the same way converting the same frame into a first pedalled two-wheeler bike. This is such a fantastic idea we thought it well worth putting on the front cover of our…
Times may be a little tough in Britain right now, but we are already seeing large orders placed for Christmas which suggests that many children will certainly not go short this year. Even if the presents are slightly smaller or a little less expensive it’s safe to say that Christmas will still be a joyous occasion with plenty of toys, food and drink. Contrast that with the lives of millions of children in the third world who may not know…
We regularly receive orders for toys and games from overseas, or to be sent overseas, but calculating the Postage & Packing cost is frequently difficult. The cost depends on the weight and size of the parcel, where it is to be sent, what service is to be used etc. Given the number of countries, we have been asked to send to the permutations are enormous. We tell our customers that we will advise the actual cost of delivery, (plus a…
When my wife and I started Mulberry Bush twelve years ago our aim was to build a collection of traditional toys and games that Grandparents would want to buy for their grandchildren. Lots of wooden toys, not too much plastic, nothing to do with computers, and none of those character or film related toys that are the “must have” one Christmas and gone the next. The only slight snag was that we weren’t grandparents ourselves, nor indeed did we have…
It’s a little known fact that dolls houses were in existence in Egypt over 5,000 years ago. These early examples were true miniature homes, made out of wood, with miniature furnishings, servants and livestock. However, these ancient Egyptian dolls houses were not toys as we know them today. Discovered in Egyptian tombs it is thought that these models were used for religious purposes. It wasn’t until the 16th century that dolls houses began to be used for amusement, but not…
Toy collecting, especially antique tin and wooden toys, as an investment is a relatively recent phenomenon. It started to get serious in the mid-’60s with prices and demand is driven largely by interest from the USA. By the mid-eighties, the market really took off. Toy prices in the USA and around the world started going through the roof. In 1988 the sale of the contents of Leon J Perelman’s Toy Museum generated over $5 million in just 24 hours for…
Quality wooden toys give lasting pleasure. They feel organic. They are robust and long lasting. Aside from their immediate play value they also represent an investment in childhood memories. An heirloom that can be passed on from generation to generation. Many of our toys are similar to those that parents remember with fondness from their own childhood. All are guaranteed to be fun and exciting as well as educational and helping to improve and develop motor and creative skills. But…
Parents and carers today want toys for their children that are not only entertaining and fun but also educational. Babies arrive in the world hungry for learning, and milk, so it falls to parents and carers to ensure that they are adequately stimulated, supported and challenged. Babies are like sponges. They absorb every aspect of their experiences via their five senses and these all contribute toward their cognitive, social and physical development. Educational toys for babies are often brightly coloured…
I’ve taken a close look at our recent sales statistics to compile this list of traditional wooden toys that continue to be immensely popular: Jacobs Ladder: This is a very popular traditional folk toy consisting of wooden blocks that are held together with ribbon. When the toy is held at one end the illusion of a block tumbling down the ladder is created. Fascinating fun. Junior Carpenter Set: This brilliant carpentry set continues to be extremely popular. It consists of…
There’s a nicely written piece about traditional games on Time Magazine’s website with the author describing how he and his primary schoolmates played marbles in the playground in the 1970s. No doubt he thinks that makes him sound old, but I could have written the same about my primary school in the 1950s and I reckon if I asked my father – now in his 80s – he could have done the same for the 1920s and ’30s. But in…