Maker record
Wells
Wells was a British toy maker whose business began in 1919 with Alfred Wells in Islington, London. It produced low-priced tinplate vehicles, including clockwork models, and later became associated with Brimtoy. The combined Wells-Brimtoy range included tinplate trains, cars and lorries, as well as toy stoves and domestic play sets. Its clockwork toys used a distinctive helical spring mechanism, and the company also made O gauge railway models.
- Founded
- 1922
- Final year
- 1965
- Countries
- United Kingdom
- Locations
- North East London, United Kingdom
- Founders
- Arthur C. Gilbert · W.H. Wells
The story of Wells
Alfred Wells began a metal toy business in Islington in 1919. Its early products included comparatively inexpensive tinplate vehicles, made at a time when German manufacturers had dominated the metal toy trade. The Wells range included clockwork vehicles; surviving examples are associated with a compact helical-spring mechanism. Wells expanded from Islington to larger premises in Walthamstow.
In 1932 Wells acquired Brimtoy, a separate maker of train sets, accessories and toy stoves. The businesses’ products continued to appear under Wells, Brimtoy and Wells-Brimtoy names. A 1951 catalogue foreword described the acquisition and the subsequent creation of Wells-Brimtoy Distributors in 1949 as the sales organisation for both companies. Around 1938, the combined works were at Progress Works on Stirling Road in Walthamstow. Production included tinplate trains, cars and lorries, with O gauge railway models a notable line; by 1949 the factory employed about 700 people. Later takeovers and changes in ownership followed, and Wells-Brimtoy moved to Anglesey around 1964. The available accounts differ on when production ended, so the brand’s final year is not stated here.
