1960s

The first Mettoy toy typewriter, “Mettype Junior”, hit British toy shops in 1952, joining stoves, sewing machines, cash registers and train sets in the recommendations for Christmas gifts that year. […]

“Labubu fan fury after dolls pulled from Pop Mart stores over fights”, “Labubu dolls make up 90% of fake toys seized at UK border”, “Disturbing reason people are now burning […]

In the 100+ years of the telephone there’s been a number of changes to phone numbers and the way we dial them. These changes have enabled direct calling, increased capacity […]

Skip to: Timeline / Fibre info / Burn test / Finishing treatments / Sources The biggest revolution to take place in fashion was not one of style, but of fibre. […]

Back in the summer of 2022 (#106) we shared the paintings of artist Hermoine Burton. A keen amateur artist, her life’s works ended up discarded in a Bedford charity shop […]

Ok, maybe we’re a bit late to this party and we’re all a bit sick of pink by now, but Barbie®: The Exhibition is still on in London and we’ve […]

Dissent and writing materials defined the look of soldiers in the Vietnam War. The M1 “steel-pot” helmet (in use from 1941) had a camouflage fabric cover added as general issue […]

SylvaC was a pastel powerhouse. WIth the majority of their output taking place from the 1930s to 1970s, their wares have endured through changing fashions, and even now can sit […]

Wear your heart on your sleeve and your outrage on your lapel. Protest badges are a symbol of allegiance and an act of defiance against the status quo. These small […]

Google the name “Hermoine Burton” and there’s nothing. Or there wasn’t until her paintings were found, some ten years after her death, scattered across Bedford charity shops. Fortuitously, they were […]