The History of the Great British Teddy Bear
History of Merrythought - An overview
Holmes & Laxton – The Original Founders
Chad Valley and Coalbrookdale
Florence Atwood – Inspirational Design
World War II
Mr B Trayton Holmes - The Second Generation
Jacqueline Revitt – Acclaimed Designer
Oliver Holmes – Grandson of the founder and Managing Director from 1980 to 2011
A fourth generation family business
An overview
Established in 1930 Merrythought is one of the oldest and most prestigious of England’s toy manufacturers. For over 80 years the magic of Merrythought has delighted adults and children of all ages with ranges of traditionally handcrafted soft toys.
Merrythought is the last remaining British teddy bear manufacturer and, amazingly, to this day, its bears are still being made in the company’s original Victorian factory in the World Heritage Site of Ironbridge, Shropshire.
The origin of the name Merrythought derives from an archaic name for wishbone, a symbol of ‘good luck’ – this symbol forms the company’s emblem.
Merrythought is, and always has been, a family business making quality toys for children, adults and collectors. The company is now a fourth generation family business owned and run by the Holmes family.
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History of Merrythought
The history of Merrythought provides us with a fascinating insight into early 20th century England
– a period of considerable industrial change and development.
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Holmes & Laxton – The Original Founders
Our story began in 1919 when Mr. W Gordon Holmes (the present Directors great grandfather) went into partnership with a Mr. G. H. Laxton to open a spinning mill in Yorkshire to manufacture mohair yarn from imported raw materials (Holmes, Laxton & Co.). The introduction of synthetic fibres during the 1920s led to a decline in the demand for mohair fabric causing one of their yarn customers, Dyson Hall & Co. Limited of Huddersfield to lose a considerable amount of business. Holmes & Laxton decided to buy Dyson Hall’s plush weaving company and realised that they had to find a new use for the mohair yarns.
(Pictured left: William Gordon Holmes in WWI Uniform)
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Chad Valley and Coalbrookdale
By lucky chance the Sales Director of the combined companies knew two men who were to play a vital role in the development of Merrythought. Firstly, Mr. C. J. Rendle who was in charge of production at Chad Valley and Mr H. C. Janisch, in charge of sales at J.K. Farnell (another soft toy manufacturer). Both were keen to join Holmes and Laxton to produce Merrythought Toys and together arranged to rent space in one of the Coalbrookdale’s foundry buildings.
(Pictured Right: Merrythought Factory Site – Photographed in the 1950s)
In September 1930 Mr Rendle, together with some of the workers from Chad Valley, moved into the former social room of the Coalbrookdale Company. Over the years the original Merrythought factory site at Coalbrookdale (now Ironbridge), which was purchased from the Coalbrookdale Company in 1956, has seen considerable improvement. Some new buildings have been added but the iconic brick foundry buildings dating back to 1898 are still used today.
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Florence Atwood – Inspirational Design
One of the former Chad Valley employees who came to work at Merrythought was a remarkable lady called Florence Atwood. A deaf mute, Florence had studied design at the “Deaf and Dumb School” in Manchester which she attended with Mr Rendle’s daughter. She created her own toys, translated drawings by well-known artists, including MGM studio’s Jerry Mouse, and singlehandedly designed the entire range of 32 toy patterns for the first Merrythought line in 1930.
The first company catalogue was produced in 1931 and featured the much-loved ‘Greyfriars Bobby’ and Merrythought’s now famous line of Teddy Bears beginning with the Magnet Bear.
Merrythought rented space in nearby Wellington and at the Government’s request began to produce items for the war – Chevrons (sleeve badges), linings for helmets, tiny igniter bags, gasbag masks, covers for hot water bottles and a variety of practical products made from gaberdine and velour.
(Pictured right: This mohair Magnet bear in the Merrythought archives is
one of the first made by the company in 1930.)
Florence’s second catalogue in 1932 expanded the range to include other domestic animals, wild animals, animals on wheels and even dressed animals like “Toby” – a Movie Toy that could be placed in different positions and hold them.
Until her death in 1949, Florence Atwood was the chief designer for Merrythought. Some of her characters remain as popular today as ever and are still produced using the original patterns.
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World War II
By 1939 over 200 people worked at Merrythought but on the 3rd September 1939 when the War began, the British Admiralty took over the Coalbrookdale factory buildings and used them for vital map-making work.
Merrythought rented space in nearby Wellington
and at the Government’s request began to
produce items for the war – Chevrons (sleeve
badges), linings for helmets, tiny igniter bags,
gasbag masks, covers for hot water bottles and a
variety of practical products made from gaberdine
and velour.
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Mr B Trayton Holmes - The Second Generation
In March 1946 Merrythought was able to restart production at the Coalbrookdale works and shortly Mr. B. Trayton Holmes, son of the founder, came to the factory. Trayton worked alongside his father, Gordon, for over a decade and is credited with establishing the company’s reputation as toy producer of the highest calibre. Under this new management Merrythought began to expand again.
(Pictured right) Trayton Holmes and Jimmy Matthews presented with the Retailers Association of Merit Award in the 1970’s.
The original buildings were improved and a new office block and a design and showroom building were built in the grounds. In 1955 an automatic stuffing machine was brought over from America – although it did not entirely replace the hand stuffing which still continues to this day. Trayton demonstrated a willingness to break into new markets. One of his innovations was to exhibit at the prestigious Nuremberg (Germany) trade show in 1958.
Trayton demonstrated a willingness to break into new markets. One of his innovations was to exhibit at the prestigious Nuremberg (Germany) trade show in 1958.
(Pictured left: Queen Elizabeth II meeting a Merrythought Corgi at the British Industries Fair, late 1950s)
This new found knowledge of the international toy market can also be credited to James (Jimmy) Matthews, the Managing Director of Deans (another British soft toy manufacturer), who in 1952 agreed to represent Merrythought in his extensive overseas sales tours. This proved to be a long-lasting and successful association, with Jimmy remaining a named Director of Merrythought until 2001 (aged 90).
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Jacqueline Revitt – Acclaimed Designer
The high quality of Merrythought soft toys has been maintained throughout the company’s history but over time many new designs and product lines have been created. One of Merrythought’s most well known designers was Jacqueline Revitt.
Jacqueline started working at Merrythought in 1972 following extensive training as a clothing designer and pattern cutter. Jacqueline found her inspiration for realism by watching animals in action. Having drawn the animal in profile, she engineered the joining parts to create patterns from which the design could be cut in mohair or plush cloth. After the pattern was created Jacqueline and her assistant produced a factory model for approval and continually checked the production to ensure that the final product was up to the standard of the original model.
(Pictured right: Master Mischief was one of Jacqueline’s universally acclaimed designs, winning a TOBY award in 1992)
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Oliver Holmes – Grandson of the founder and Managing Director from 1980 to 2011.
Oliver Holmes was the original founder’s grandson who joined the factory in 1972 after training as an engineer. Oliver worked alongside his father Trayton before taking over as Managing Director in the 1980s.
The Holmes family were known for being enterprising, intriguing and occasionally eccentric and Oliver was no exception. Amongst other adventurous exploits Oliver was a keen hot air balloonist; he was the first person to fly the North and Irish Seas and even flew over the North Pole in his trusted ‘Merrythought’ balloon. Oliver bought a huge amount of energy and vision to Merrythought so despite being a third generation Managing Director was a pioneer in his own right.
Merrythought enjoyed a lot of success in the 1990s. The worldwide market in the USA, China and Japan was doing well and Merrythought was building a large collector base across the world.
In 1995 Oliver founded the Merrythought International Collectors Club and in 1996 opened the factory for the first time for a huge Collectors Club Open day – the success of this led to it becoming an annual event still enjoyed today.
(Pictured left: The Merrythought hot air balloon piloted by Oliver Holmes, 1980s)
Unfortunately the high of the 1990s was soon bought down in the mid 2000s when changes in the British economy began to take its toll on manufacturing. Increasing production costs and the increasing popularity of cheaper imports created a shift in consumerism that had a huge impact on the soft toy market. Merrythought was unable to compete with these foreign imports and after several difficult years shut its doors in 2006.
Merrythought was unable to compete with these foreign imports and after several difficult years shut it's doors in 2006. There was an outcry from collectors across the world and in 2007 Oliver rallied several loyal members of staff together in a bid to rebuild Merrythought back up; albeit on a much smaller scale concentrating on traditional and collectable teddy bears.
In early 2011 Oliver was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and, after only a matter of weeks, died at home, aged just 60. His dedication to Merrythought was so strong that he worked up until three weeks before his death in denial of his illness, for fear that it might affect moral amongst staff.
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A fourth generation family business
Merrythought remains a family business and has now passed to Oliver’s three daughters, Sarah, Hannah and Sophie Holmes. Oliver’s eldest daughter, Sarah, joined Merrythought as Marketing Manager in 2010, having worked in London for several years. Sarah now manages product development whilst her sister, Hannah, joined in 2011 to manage the production side.
Merrythought continues to create a range of beautifully made traditional and limited edition teddy bears which are sought after across the globe. This unique company also produces exclusive bears for a number of quality retailers, each of whom appreciates the quality, flexibility and excellent all-round service offered by Merrythought and its UK based factory. – a period of considerable industrial change and development.
There is nothing mass-produced about a Merrythought toy because each one is lovingly handcrafted, no two animals of any design are ever exactly the same. Through every stage of production, Merrythought’s dedicated team of highly skilled staff do everything they can to ensure that only the highest quality soft toys are manufactured here in Ironbridge.
Merrythought is proud that its teddy bears remain 100% handmade in England in the same way they have been for over 80 years.
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