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| Hamleys in London, the famous toy shop celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2010.. |
William Hamley a man from Bodman in
Cornwall, South England started a toy shop called Noah's Ark in High Holborn,
London, in 1760. It began with Noah's Ark, a wooden model of the biblical
vessel including the animals. It was straightaway in demand by well to do
people and, of course, in those days children were only allowed to play with it
on Sunday.
After a while William Hamley renamed
the shop Hamleys.
When Queen Victoria came to the
throne in 1837, Hamleys was well established. Toys like pull along
wooden cats on wheels, jack-in-the-box and tumbling clowns with lead bases were
very famous.
THE BEGINNING OF HAMLEYS
HAMLEYS VARIOUS TOY'S DEPARTMENT
By the end of the 18th century toys
were not only bought by the very rich but also by the well to do middle class.
To meet the demand for toys, Hamleys, opened a new branch in Regent Street in
1881.
Another Hamley, William Henry
(1843-1916) got involved into the toy market and started fun novelties such as
exploding cigars, rubber noses and boxes of sneezing powder. In 1900 Hamleys launched
a new craze of the game: ping-pong. By now the shop became so famous that it
was enough to address your letter just with Hamleys and it got to the
destination.
The shop faced hard times during the
First World War when foreign toys were banned. Germany was the world's No. 1
toy maker. However, the British-made teddy bears, khaki-wearing dolls,
all-British clockwork submarines and toy tanks filled the empty shelves.
It still wasn't over yet for the
survival of Hamleys. They still had great problems; even so the Meccano and
soft toys of Dismal Desmond dogs were popular. In 1931, Hamleys was forced to
close the doors for a brief time.
Walter Lines, chairman of the Tri-ang company, bought Hamleys and was able to attract more customers. New toys came on the market like Monopoly and the grace for Mini-brix (rubber building blocks). In 1938, Queen Mary rewarded him with granting Hamleys the Royal Warrant.
The store in Regent Street was bombed
five times in the Second World War. The toy manufacturers were made to produce
toys which were for the war. The staff of Hamleys would not give in and they
wore tin hats and served the customers at the shop's entrance.
After the war ended there was an
economic struggle. In 1951 the Festival of Britain really started Hamleys up
again with the store's Grand Doll's Saloon and great variety of model railways.
The introduction of plastic products, especially Lego in the Fifties, boosted
the toy market. It followed by Space Hoppers, Chopper bicycles, Action Man,
Barbie and games consoles.
After 250 years Hamleys is the flagship, an institution and London's landmark. Nowadays, it has seven floors in Regent Street and attracts five million visitors a year. It houses 10,000 different toys, 450,000 items in all are on display. It plays host to prime ministers and princes. It is the first place Hollywood stars go when in London. It had starred in feature films, such as Alex Rider thriller Storm-breaker. The author of Alex Rider said that he often went to Hamleys.
Children can go there and play with
the toys. They were streaming into Hamleys for 250 years and as long this store
of dreams remain, the magic will live on.
At Christmas time there is a
Christmas Grotto where children can meet Father Christmas and the whole store
is decorated. For children it is a Christmas wonderland.
Everywhere there are toys with which they are allowed to play. Even for
grown-ups it is an experience you will never forget.
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