Selling Model Cars In The 1960s

In addition to collecting the models themselves, toy enthusiasts eagerly seek out related pieces of advertising and promotional material, which can be anything from printed catalogues to display stands supplied to toy shops.

- Andrew Ralston

The added bonus here is that hitherto unknown pieces are constantly turning up. This month, we’ll look at two pieces of model car related ephemera which shed a little light on some of the tactics used by the two big British manufacturers, Corgi and Dinky, to promote their products.

At first sight both of these resemble stamps, though they weren’t for postal use. The one picturing the Corgi Triumph Herald is in fact a label used on boxes of matches – which were hardly likely to have been designed for children to play with! Instead, they were probably distributed to trade contacts by Corgi representatives. When, in 1956, Mettoy tried to muscle into the diecast market – at that time dominated by Dinky – they made a huge effort to place their products in as many outlets as possible, visiting not only traditional toy shops and department stores but also smaller shops like newsagents.