Keren
02-04-2005, 08:52 AM
(Parts of this may seem somewhat immodest I'm afraid, but I have had the disadvantage of being close to the centre of most of the major developments in the UK hobby over the last 30+ years...also some dates are only approximate - this is all from memory as my files are packed so tight I can't extract any material for fear of explosions, LOL!)
Late 19th c: Britains Ltd established in London - world's first mass-manufacturer of model horses. Chosen size 1/32nd scale. Models are made of lead until 1964, then replaced by polythene plastic due to the health issue.
1947: Julip Model Horses established in London. Originally soft toys, 1/12th (4 1/2" - wither height) Julips are later manufactured from latex composition, and in addition to horses the range includes tack, riders, harness, vehicles, stables and many other accessories, from rosettes to rats. The company slogan is 'A Riding Stable On A Table'.
1950/60s: Young equestrians meet through the pen-pal and club columns of 'Pony' magazine, resulting in the formation of the Postal Pony Club, which eventually focuses mainly on models. Key figures who meet through the PPC are Jane Fountain, Caroline Johnson, Marian Rickerby and Freda Warrington. Only Julip and Isis models (both made of flexible latex, with hair m/ts) are considered 'proper' models - Britains Ltd horses, though infinitely more realistic, are seen as *very* downmarket.
1967: Isis go out of business, leaving Julip with no competitor. PPC folds, leaving no one hobby body but several other newsletters/clubs arrive and vanish in the following years. Britains issue their famous Showjumping set, which contain horses, riders, tack and enough jumps to create an FEI-level jumping competition arena - *the* must-have toy for horsey kids of the 1960s
1969: Pamela du Boulay looks at Julips, realises she can do better and launches her 4 1/2" Rydal model horses. Jane Fountain meets her at the Arab Horse Society show and becomes an eager convert.
1970: (approx) Caroline Johnson becomes studio asistant to Pamela du Boulay. Caroline and Jane together begin to set the ground rules for model horse 'breeding' (now PA). Caroline has lived briefly in Canada and has a couple of Breyers: Jane acquires 3 Breyers from a college friend of her sister. However these 'nasty plastic' models are looked on askance by the hobby in general as they do not have hair m/ts! As a result, Breyers have no influence in the hobby for most of the rest of the decade. (In this year, I join the hobby proper via Freda Warrington and Jane). Wendy Morris issues limited run of latex compostion Arab mares.
1971: Pamela du Boulay discontinues the 4 1/2" Rydals and introduces the 6" range. Liz Bentley launches the first major 6" Rydal presence on with hobby with her Arab stallion Night Vigrant (now in the ownership of Elizabeth Bouras - see her website for more Rydals) - Freda Warrington acquires her first Rydal, shows it to me and I become a convert too.
1971: Jay Swallow and Mrs Gordon launch Swallow Horsetoys to sell Dream Pony models - see later in this thread for more details!
1972: Marian Rickerby starts the Lindfield Model Show Association - the first major national showing club, and sets in stone for the first time the convention that the hobby follows closely the rules used in the real UK equestrian scene. More Rydals enter the hobby and sadly the first sign of division becomes obvious, as hobbyists start to polarise between expensive unrealistic models (Julips) and *extremely* expensive realistic ones (Rydals).
1973: Pamela du Boulay discontinues model production to concentrate on serious sculpture, causing much distress and frustration amongst serious hobbyists. Marian Rickerby transforms LMSA into Model Horse News, the first large-scale UK hobby magazine.
1974: Hobby falls into doldrums due to loss of Rydals, though some hobbyists attempt to fill the gap with various craft-made models (to become known as 'woolies' as most are made from wool, felt, etc - a long-standing British tradtition). Marion Rickerby hold the first UK live show. Liz Bentley produces "Electra" models in air-drying clay: each is an original sculpture, which limits her production capacity: although other artists use the same medium, Electras are by far the most numerous models created in it.
1976: Jane Fountain sees letter from Ava Durbin in Arabian Horse World about her rep/hair Breyer Arab stallion and writes to her. This is the first serious contact between UK and US hobbyists. Ava tells Jane about MARA (Model Arabian Registry of America) and gives details of Bentley Sales to Jane, and Jane obtains her first new Breyers from Stu Bentley. Jane passes on details of Breyers to Freda and myself, together with the fact that you can 'do something' with them to make them look less mass-produced. For the past 3 years Freda and I have been searching for a replacement for Rydals (I try to cast my own sculptures for ceramic production at school but fail through lack of access to production techniques): we see the potential of reworking Breyers but we don't want to replicate what we see in photos from the US - we want something that looks like the work of PdB. Conversations with PduB point us towards airbrushing and unspun mohair tops for hairing, with clean-up and repostioning techniques suggested by David Woods, my then-boyfriend and military model hobbyist. Because we are doing something different from what we see in US photos we decide not to use the term "rep/hair": after long discussion, we adopt the term custom, which has a very specific definition - a model that has all seams cleaned, m/t removed & replaced with mohair, and repainted .
1977: Freda takes her first airbrush customs to the Model Horse News Live Show (the only live show in the UK at that date): they are too far beyond what the rest of the hobby is used to and meet with a baffled response. Freda gets into contact with other US hobbyists including Marney Walerius: other UK hobbyists make contacts in the US but in the main it is only those interested in Arabs and customs who are so outward-looking at this stage, with the exception of Marian Rickerby, who makes contact with Linda Walter and begins the first in a series of magazine exchanges, swapping subs to MHN for Linda's MHCC.
1978: My first customs go to the MHN Live and one becomes not just the first Breyer but the first custom to take UK National Live Champion. Freda's horses also do well, but it soon become obvious that customs are seriously widening the polarisation within the hobby, since most people do not have any access to Breyers, let alone customs. To address the interests of the Arab/custom community, Karon Gorrie puts out 2 issues of a magazine dedicated to the breed - 'The Arabist'.
1979: I become co-editor of 'The Arabist' and we decide to market the magazine overseas, so it becomes 'The International Arabist', and eventually has subscribers in the US, Germany, Canada and Sweden as well as the UK. Also in this year the Model Arab Horse Society is founded, offering 2 annual 2-day live shows for Arabs, Anglos and PBA models only, with over 40 classes, making them the largest live shows in the UK. Also in this year Jim Richardson - after failing to acquire the Hartland moulds from Stevens Mfg - strikes a deal with Breyer to become their first UK distributor. Jane Fountain contacts Martha von Redlich of Hampshire Hill in the US, who is issuing her own original resins: at Jane's suggestion, Martha sculpts a 'Rydal copy' and gives Freda Warrington the exclusive painting/distribution rights in the UK
1980: Jim promotes Breyers heavily in the UK, widening hobby access. Most hobby business is done via mail order, but a few toy shops take on the models, However, lack of British breeds in the range mean that they lack appeal to the average 'horsey kid'. Also in this year, Jane Fountain and I import the first HRs into the hobby, and inspired by Cheryl Abelson's HR Collectors' Handbook, I begin research into the products of Beswick, a company largely overlooked at this time.
1981: To encourage interest in Breyers, Jim Richardson puts on a live display of customising at a major trade show in London. Other live shows in addition to those run by MHN and the MAHS/International Arabist begin to appear on the scene. US hobbyists - mainly on the West Coast - begin to buy UK customs, but very few rep/hair models make the opposite trip. The hobby has a bad experience with the BBC, who portrays us as 'peculiar women' in a documentary, creating an image problem that lasts for years.
1982: Karen Grimm of BHR visits the UK and talks about her first releases in resin, remade Breyers. Karon Gorrie gives up TIA and Marilyn (Beswick) Sweet become co-editor. Frans from Belgium become the first non-Brit (and non-female!) to show at the MHN Live Show. (approx) We establish links with Sweden in addition to those already existing with Germany.
1983: I discover the heat gun, enabling for the first time in the UK *really* drastic repositioning. Model Horse Gazette starts publishing in the US: UK subscriptions improve links across the Atlantic. (Approx) Anita and Donna Chaney's resins first seen by hobbyists at Arab Horse Society Show - the Chaneys do not know of the hobby and think at first we are very odd!
1985: Karen Grimm comissions me to sculpt an Arab stallion for BHR to issue as a limited edition resin. Susi Bosche from Germany visits UK hobbyists.
1986: January - first edition of the BHR Arab stallion appears, I visit Karen Grimm in LA and paint one of the resins. I also meet Gale Good, Cece O'Connor, Laurie Jo and many other west coast hobbyists, and have the honour to be the first European judge at a west coast live show.
1987: (approx) Kathleen Moody acquires the last of the BHR Arabs, and is inspired to create her own resin sculptures (thanks, Kathleen!). Jim Richardson/Equorum commission Breyer SR on Classic Arab family for Horse & Pony magazine. The Hobby Horse News first seen in UK.
1988: (approx) Jim Richardson sells Equorum to House of Nisbet. (approx) Horse and Pony Model Club started by Kerrina Reed - gains many new hobbyists via Horse & Pony magazine. (approx) Swallow Horsetoys finally wind up Dream Ponies: a new owner relaunches them as Magpie Models. (approx) Under new ownership, Julip launch new range of mass-produced vinyl models made in China in addition to original latex horses. Daphne MacPherson of Cascade visits the UK.
1989: Final Model Horse News Live Show. (approx) Model Horse News ceases publication. International Arabist goes all-breed in response, adopts DTP, becomes Model Horse International (subscribers in the US, and Europe/Scandinavia), and runs the first live show in the UK to have separate divisions for OFs and customs. Animal Artisty resins begin to make an impact on the hobby. Wider Breyer and custom ownership prompts hope that the division in the hobby will soon fade away, though House of Nisbet's interest in Breyers wanes.
1990: Freda Warrington stops customising to concentrate on her successful career as a fantasy novelist. (Approx) Marian Rickerby replaces Model Horse News with Model Horses Unlimited Club: club magazine is small-format unlike MHN which was large-format. Eva Jango of Sweden visits the UK.
1991: For the first time, hand-painted customs make their presence felt in the show-ring. (approx) Harvey May publishes first book on Beswick.
1992: Continuing concerns about poor judging standards and new worries about the loss of knowledge and expertise as the result of several senior hobbyists moving on to new interests come to a head. I host a meeting of all sections of the hobby, and a resolution is taken to establish a central body to regulate and promote the hobby under the Chairmanship of Ann-Marie Westwood, last editor of Model Horse News. This become the British Model Equine Forum, a loose collective open to all.
1993 (Approx) Karon Gorrie founds Horsing Around magazine, Sarah Clements takes over Horse and Pony Model Club, Magpie Models cease production.
1995 (approx) Lesli Kathman visit the UK, attends a live show and tells UK hobbyists about this new 'model horse internet thing, Haynet'.
*IMPORTANT NOTE*
This material is all copyright by the author, so please do NOT use it outside of quotations in this discussion group without first requesting permission from the author. Thank you :) !
Keren
Late 19th c: Britains Ltd established in London - world's first mass-manufacturer of model horses. Chosen size 1/32nd scale. Models are made of lead until 1964, then replaced by polythene plastic due to the health issue.
1947: Julip Model Horses established in London. Originally soft toys, 1/12th (4 1/2" - wither height) Julips are later manufactured from latex composition, and in addition to horses the range includes tack, riders, harness, vehicles, stables and many other accessories, from rosettes to rats. The company slogan is 'A Riding Stable On A Table'.
1950/60s: Young equestrians meet through the pen-pal and club columns of 'Pony' magazine, resulting in the formation of the Postal Pony Club, which eventually focuses mainly on models. Key figures who meet through the PPC are Jane Fountain, Caroline Johnson, Marian Rickerby and Freda Warrington. Only Julip and Isis models (both made of flexible latex, with hair m/ts) are considered 'proper' models - Britains Ltd horses, though infinitely more realistic, are seen as *very* downmarket.
1967: Isis go out of business, leaving Julip with no competitor. PPC folds, leaving no one hobby body but several other newsletters/clubs arrive and vanish in the following years. Britains issue their famous Showjumping set, which contain horses, riders, tack and enough jumps to create an FEI-level jumping competition arena - *the* must-have toy for horsey kids of the 1960s
1969: Pamela du Boulay looks at Julips, realises she can do better and launches her 4 1/2" Rydal model horses. Jane Fountain meets her at the Arab Horse Society show and becomes an eager convert.
1970: (approx) Caroline Johnson becomes studio asistant to Pamela du Boulay. Caroline and Jane together begin to set the ground rules for model horse 'breeding' (now PA). Caroline has lived briefly in Canada and has a couple of Breyers: Jane acquires 3 Breyers from a college friend of her sister. However these 'nasty plastic' models are looked on askance by the hobby in general as they do not have hair m/ts! As a result, Breyers have no influence in the hobby for most of the rest of the decade. (In this year, I join the hobby proper via Freda Warrington and Jane). Wendy Morris issues limited run of latex compostion Arab mares.
1971: Pamela du Boulay discontinues the 4 1/2" Rydals and introduces the 6" range. Liz Bentley launches the first major 6" Rydal presence on with hobby with her Arab stallion Night Vigrant (now in the ownership of Elizabeth Bouras - see her website for more Rydals) - Freda Warrington acquires her first Rydal, shows it to me and I become a convert too.
1971: Jay Swallow and Mrs Gordon launch Swallow Horsetoys to sell Dream Pony models - see later in this thread for more details!
1972: Marian Rickerby starts the Lindfield Model Show Association - the first major national showing club, and sets in stone for the first time the convention that the hobby follows closely the rules used in the real UK equestrian scene. More Rydals enter the hobby and sadly the first sign of division becomes obvious, as hobbyists start to polarise between expensive unrealistic models (Julips) and *extremely* expensive realistic ones (Rydals).
1973: Pamela du Boulay discontinues model production to concentrate on serious sculpture, causing much distress and frustration amongst serious hobbyists. Marian Rickerby transforms LMSA into Model Horse News, the first large-scale UK hobby magazine.
1974: Hobby falls into doldrums due to loss of Rydals, though some hobbyists attempt to fill the gap with various craft-made models (to become known as 'woolies' as most are made from wool, felt, etc - a long-standing British tradtition). Marion Rickerby hold the first UK live show. Liz Bentley produces "Electra" models in air-drying clay: each is an original sculpture, which limits her production capacity: although other artists use the same medium, Electras are by far the most numerous models created in it.
1976: Jane Fountain sees letter from Ava Durbin in Arabian Horse World about her rep/hair Breyer Arab stallion and writes to her. This is the first serious contact between UK and US hobbyists. Ava tells Jane about MARA (Model Arabian Registry of America) and gives details of Bentley Sales to Jane, and Jane obtains her first new Breyers from Stu Bentley. Jane passes on details of Breyers to Freda and myself, together with the fact that you can 'do something' with them to make them look less mass-produced. For the past 3 years Freda and I have been searching for a replacement for Rydals (I try to cast my own sculptures for ceramic production at school but fail through lack of access to production techniques): we see the potential of reworking Breyers but we don't want to replicate what we see in photos from the US - we want something that looks like the work of PdB. Conversations with PduB point us towards airbrushing and unspun mohair tops for hairing, with clean-up and repostioning techniques suggested by David Woods, my then-boyfriend and military model hobbyist. Because we are doing something different from what we see in US photos we decide not to use the term "rep/hair": after long discussion, we adopt the term custom, which has a very specific definition - a model that has all seams cleaned, m/t removed & replaced with mohair, and repainted .
1977: Freda takes her first airbrush customs to the Model Horse News Live Show (the only live show in the UK at that date): they are too far beyond what the rest of the hobby is used to and meet with a baffled response. Freda gets into contact with other US hobbyists including Marney Walerius: other UK hobbyists make contacts in the US but in the main it is only those interested in Arabs and customs who are so outward-looking at this stage, with the exception of Marian Rickerby, who makes contact with Linda Walter and begins the first in a series of magazine exchanges, swapping subs to MHN for Linda's MHCC.
1978: My first customs go to the MHN Live and one becomes not just the first Breyer but the first custom to take UK National Live Champion. Freda's horses also do well, but it soon become obvious that customs are seriously widening the polarisation within the hobby, since most people do not have any access to Breyers, let alone customs. To address the interests of the Arab/custom community, Karon Gorrie puts out 2 issues of a magazine dedicated to the breed - 'The Arabist'.
1979: I become co-editor of 'The Arabist' and we decide to market the magazine overseas, so it becomes 'The International Arabist', and eventually has subscribers in the US, Germany, Canada and Sweden as well as the UK. Also in this year the Model Arab Horse Society is founded, offering 2 annual 2-day live shows for Arabs, Anglos and PBA models only, with over 40 classes, making them the largest live shows in the UK. Also in this year Jim Richardson - after failing to acquire the Hartland moulds from Stevens Mfg - strikes a deal with Breyer to become their first UK distributor. Jane Fountain contacts Martha von Redlich of Hampshire Hill in the US, who is issuing her own original resins: at Jane's suggestion, Martha sculpts a 'Rydal copy' and gives Freda Warrington the exclusive painting/distribution rights in the UK
1980: Jim promotes Breyers heavily in the UK, widening hobby access. Most hobby business is done via mail order, but a few toy shops take on the models, However, lack of British breeds in the range mean that they lack appeal to the average 'horsey kid'. Also in this year, Jane Fountain and I import the first HRs into the hobby, and inspired by Cheryl Abelson's HR Collectors' Handbook, I begin research into the products of Beswick, a company largely overlooked at this time.
1981: To encourage interest in Breyers, Jim Richardson puts on a live display of customising at a major trade show in London. Other live shows in addition to those run by MHN and the MAHS/International Arabist begin to appear on the scene. US hobbyists - mainly on the West Coast - begin to buy UK customs, but very few rep/hair models make the opposite trip. The hobby has a bad experience with the BBC, who portrays us as 'peculiar women' in a documentary, creating an image problem that lasts for years.
1982: Karen Grimm of BHR visits the UK and talks about her first releases in resin, remade Breyers. Karon Gorrie gives up TIA and Marilyn (Beswick) Sweet become co-editor. Frans from Belgium become the first non-Brit (and non-female!) to show at the MHN Live Show. (approx) We establish links with Sweden in addition to those already existing with Germany.
1983: I discover the heat gun, enabling for the first time in the UK *really* drastic repositioning. Model Horse Gazette starts publishing in the US: UK subscriptions improve links across the Atlantic. (Approx) Anita and Donna Chaney's resins first seen by hobbyists at Arab Horse Society Show - the Chaneys do not know of the hobby and think at first we are very odd!
1985: Karen Grimm comissions me to sculpt an Arab stallion for BHR to issue as a limited edition resin. Susi Bosche from Germany visits UK hobbyists.
1986: January - first edition of the BHR Arab stallion appears, I visit Karen Grimm in LA and paint one of the resins. I also meet Gale Good, Cece O'Connor, Laurie Jo and many other west coast hobbyists, and have the honour to be the first European judge at a west coast live show.
1987: (approx) Kathleen Moody acquires the last of the BHR Arabs, and is inspired to create her own resin sculptures (thanks, Kathleen!). Jim Richardson/Equorum commission Breyer SR on Classic Arab family for Horse & Pony magazine. The Hobby Horse News first seen in UK.
1988: (approx) Jim Richardson sells Equorum to House of Nisbet. (approx) Horse and Pony Model Club started by Kerrina Reed - gains many new hobbyists via Horse & Pony magazine. (approx) Swallow Horsetoys finally wind up Dream Ponies: a new owner relaunches them as Magpie Models. (approx) Under new ownership, Julip launch new range of mass-produced vinyl models made in China in addition to original latex horses. Daphne MacPherson of Cascade visits the UK.
1989: Final Model Horse News Live Show. (approx) Model Horse News ceases publication. International Arabist goes all-breed in response, adopts DTP, becomes Model Horse International (subscribers in the US, and Europe/Scandinavia), and runs the first live show in the UK to have separate divisions for OFs and customs. Animal Artisty resins begin to make an impact on the hobby. Wider Breyer and custom ownership prompts hope that the division in the hobby will soon fade away, though House of Nisbet's interest in Breyers wanes.
1990: Freda Warrington stops customising to concentrate on her successful career as a fantasy novelist. (Approx) Marian Rickerby replaces Model Horse News with Model Horses Unlimited Club: club magazine is small-format unlike MHN which was large-format. Eva Jango of Sweden visits the UK.
1991: For the first time, hand-painted customs make their presence felt in the show-ring. (approx) Harvey May publishes first book on Beswick.
1992: Continuing concerns about poor judging standards and new worries about the loss of knowledge and expertise as the result of several senior hobbyists moving on to new interests come to a head. I host a meeting of all sections of the hobby, and a resolution is taken to establish a central body to regulate and promote the hobby under the Chairmanship of Ann-Marie Westwood, last editor of Model Horse News. This become the British Model Equine Forum, a loose collective open to all.
1993 (Approx) Karon Gorrie founds Horsing Around magazine, Sarah Clements takes over Horse and Pony Model Club, Magpie Models cease production.
1995 (approx) Lesli Kathman visit the UK, attends a live show and tells UK hobbyists about this new 'model horse internet thing, Haynet'.
*IMPORTANT NOTE*
This material is all copyright by the author, so please do NOT use it outside of quotations in this discussion group without first requesting permission from the author. Thank you :) !
Keren