Britains' Americans

Brigadier Raymond E Bell reminisces about his collection of Britains figures representing American troops that have now passed to his grandchildren

- Brigadier Raymond E Bell

The first Britains’ Americans in my (now my eldest grandson’s) collection were the United States Cavalry, Service Dress, mounted at the walk, Set # 229. But for a quirk of fate, however, the troopers may never have become an important and necessary part of the Britains’ American military formations in today’s grandchildren’s toy soldier army. It so happened that on my birthday at the age of ten, a so-called ‘aunt’ had thoughtfully ordered from the renowned toy store F.A.O. Schwarz in New York City a musical typewriter, net value ten US dollars and some change. Alas, the gift arrived in broken condition, so it had to be replaced.

Now the New York toy store in 1946 had on hand a large stock of Britains soldiers because the company had again begun to produce toy soldiers for the export market and for the dollars it brought into the United Kingdom’s treasury. There was a whole section in Schwarz’s devoted to toy soldiers and their appearance in Christmas catalogues had beguiled me as a young boy throughout WWII. The store’s early wartime inventory had not been completely exhausted and the troops’ display in the Schwarz catalogue as formations during the war had whetted my taste for the figures. But cost-wise (at $1.98 or about 8 shillings a box) they were too expensive for my limited weekly allowance of just ten American cents.