Maker record
Brimtoy
Brimtoy was a British maker of tinplate clockwork toys. Registered in 1914 by British Metal and Toy Manufacturers Ltd, the Brimtoy name was used by a successor company from 1923. The range included toys such as a bonneted coach. In 1932, toy maker A. Wells & Co acquired the Brimtoy name, and the combined business continued to use Brimtoy alongside Wells and Wells-Brimtoy.
- Founded
- 1914
- Final year
- 1983
- Countries
- United Kingdom
- Locations
- Shoreditch, London, United Kingdom
- Founders
- W. J. Wells · J. R. Brimley
The story of Brimtoy
British Metal and Toy Manufacturers Ltd registered the Brimtoy name in 1914. The company operated as BMTM until 1921, when it was liquidated. In 1923, a new company called Brimtoy Ltd was formed by some of its former directors. It made tinplate toys, including a bonneted coach. In 1932, A. Wells & Co, a toy maker established by Alfred Wells in 1919, acquired the Brimtoy name. The two firms produced tinplate clockwork toys, but Wells invested in newer manufacturing technology and made its products in-house. The combined business used both companies’ factories separately. After the Second World War, Wells-Brimtoy moved to Holyhead, Anglesey, where a factory called Progress Works also made alarm clocks; clockwork toys continued to be made at the Walthamstow factory. The London business closed in 1970, and the operation later traded as CMT Wells Kelo in Holyhead until the late 1980s.