Fuzzy-Felt
Fuzzy-Felt is a simple fabric toy intended for young children, first sold in 1950. The toys consist of a flocked backing board onto which a number of felt shapes are placed to create different pictures. Felt pieces can be simple silhouettes or more detailed printed shapes. For a farmyard scene, for example, auxiliary pieces would typically be cows, sheep, chickens, horses, cats, dogs, a farmer, and a tractor. Other scenes might include hospitals, pets, and vehicles. Fuzzy-Felt is for children over the age of three years, as the pieces may present a choking hazard.
History
Fuzzy-Felt was invented by Lois Allan during World War II, although similar products had existed pre-war, for example, Kiddicraft K100 'Pictures in Felt' of 1937. Born Lois Day, she was an American. She studied art and fashion in Paris in the 1920s. She married a Scotsman and Great War RAF captain, Peter Allan, and moved to Vine Cottage in Farnham Common in Buckinghamshire in the United Kingdom, where the couple ran a travel agency and other entrepreneurial pursuits including printing cruise ships on cigarette cases.During the Second World War, Peter’s son, Lois’s step-son, Anthony Murray Allan, also known as 'Jock' or Peter, was captured by the Germans, escaping from a prison camp as part of the "Laufen 6", but was recaptured and sent to Colditz, where he daringly escaped inside a mattress, only to be recaptured in Austria.
During the Second World War, Peter and Lois Allan contributed to the war effort by manufacturing felt gaskets for sealing components in tanks in the outbuildings of her home. Other women were involved in this work, and the Allans ran a creche for their children. She was inspired to create the toy after observing how much enjoyment children had taking the discarded and misshaped pieces of felt and sticking them to the backs of table mats. Product development following the end of the War took a few years, but after gaining the interest of toy buyers at John Lewis and Heals, Allan was able to bring Fuzzy-Felt to market in 1950, later founding Allan Industries Ltd.
Production continued at Allan's home, Vine Cottage, until 1972 when the business relocated to larger premises in the Cressex Estate in High Wycombe. In 1996 the business was bought by Mandolyn Ltd in a management buy-out, and production continued in High Wycombe until increasing manufacturing costs led to the licensing of the Fuzzy-Felt brand to a much larger UK toy manufacturer and wholesalers, Toy Brokers Ltd of Huntingdon. In 2001, via his holding company, Mr Douglas Ware a Buckinghamshire-based businessman acquired a controlling interest in Mandolyn Ltd. This holding company became 100% owner of Mandolyn Ltd and Fuzzy-Felt Ltd in 2012. In 2011, Toy Brokers Ltd had in turn been bought by John Adams Leisure Ltd who then became the licensee of the Fuzzy-Felt brand for Toy products.
As of 2016, an estimated 26.25 million sets of Fuzzy-felt had been sold internationally. Although Fuzzy-Felt reached its peak in popularity sometime in the mid-1970s, it remains an iconic children's toy, still enjoyed by children who play with it and parents who nostalgically purchase it.
Popularity
Many reasons have been posited for Fuzzy-Felt's popularity. Though seemingly simple, the various available themed sets allow for hours of creativity. Though the sets started out strictly as a collection of various coloured shapes, countless themes Fuzzy-Felt sets became available through the years. "Ballet, Farmyard, Circus, Hospital, and much later on Thomas the Tank Engine, Noddy, and My Little Pony were released to inspire picture-making" abilities.Fuzzy-Felt was also a favoured toy in Sunday schools because of its "Bible Stories set, complete with camels and three kings."
The quiet toy was, and still is, fairly cheap, and can be played almost anywhere leaving little mess, save a few stray pieces of shaped felt behind, making it a popular choice among parents.