Does anyone remember the Britain’s Floral garden range which was sold in the 1960’s. It was a great pocket money toy with plants, flower beds and lawns available to buy, enabling children to design and build their own garden layout.
The toy company Britains first launched a miniature gardening series in painted lead in 1931 but after war broke out in September 1939 , all resources were transferred to the war effort and after the war production was not continued.
The plastic garden series was introduced by Britains in 1960 as a constructional toy, one of the special features being the planting of the flowers with a special ‘dibber’. Most of the plants, when pushed into the ‘holes’ in the brown, plastic flower beds by this tool actually stood up as if they were growing. Care had to be taken not to push too hard else the plant would disappear into the hole.
The planting tool or dibber was made in 2 designs and was only issued with the flower packets and box sets.
Design 1 was one piece of solid plastic with a point at the tip.
Design 2 saw the plastic tool adapted to include a short metal rod at the end.
The Floral packets cost 1s 11d when they were first introduced, a ‘pocket money ‘ price while larger items such as the pond required careful saving before they could be purchased.
Floral miniature garden plants included crocus, snowdrops, tulips, daffodils, lupins, hyacinths, roses, sunflowers, hollyhocks and delphiniums. The series also included lawn, fencing, brick edging and stone walls.
In 1961 a greenhouse, cold frame, wheelbarrow and garden roller were added to the range while 1962 saw the introduction of the rockery and pond. In 1963 the swing seat proved a popular addition along with the lawn mower, garden hose and ‘crazy paving’ cardboard sections while in 1965 the garden shed and a range of vegetables were introduced including cabbages, sprouts, marrows and peas.
A range of flower pots and seed trays were also produced to fit perfectly into the potting shed and greenhouse.
In 1967 the floral garden people were launched along with some garden furniture and a sundial, birdbath and dovecote. These sets were designed to boost declining sales but were expensive for pocket money purchases and so few were bought and are rare to find.
Unfortunately the sales of the Britains floral garden continued to decline and the range was deleted in 1970.
This collection was started in the late 1960’s and has been added to over the years including many lovely pieces purchased from Hungerford Arcade.
Does anyone remember the Britain’s Floral garden range which was sold in the 1960’s. It was a great pocket money toy with plants, flower beds and lawns available to buy, enabling children to design and build their own garden layout.
