M is for Multiple Manufacturers Mascots

A quick round-up of a few of the smaller corporate mascot stuff on hand, I think one or two have been seen here before in show-reports or such-like, but as a group they make an interesting diversion!

Starting with the all-important beer mascots!

This is a vinyl/PVC key-ring charm of the mascot of Brickwoods Ltd, a brewer from Portsmouth, founded in 1851 by Fanny Brickwood and acquired by Whitbread's in 1971, the last pint left the brewery in 1983.

This is a solid piece of polystyrene, another key-ring and mirrors the larger ceramic one which is quite common on evilBay. As a brand they (Flowers) only date from 1952 and seem to have brewed their last pint in the 1990's, whether that was a pint of Brewmaster brew is your guess, but you can blame Whitbread for the demise . . . again!

As an aside . . . while our (the UK's) much-loved beers all disappeared in the 1980's/1990's being replaced by gassy chilled shite like Fosters, Heineken, Coors &etc . . . the same thing was happening everywhere; back when you could have a decent chat about non-platform stuff, we were chatting about favorite beers on the HäT forum, I mentioned my favorite Phauenbrau from Tüttlingen and someone from Germany said "Disappeared years ago!", it turned out that all the old, little-town, local brands (and even some of the bigger ones - Herforder I think?) had been swallowed up in the same process, and not just in Britain or Germany, but everywhere - it's called globalisation, and has almost certainly lead to Trumpundbrxit, but it is also 'progress' and; like it or not, you can't turn the clock back, for good or bad 'progression' is a one-way trip; we won't get the old brands back by voting for populist reactionaries and disrupters, but we may well get war!

That's enough beer (I think?), and proselytising! But still sticking with beverages; I think this was a soft-drink (although several beers seem to have Lutin in longer titles - or Lutine?), maybe a carbonated thing, or a yogurt thing and while I thought it might be German (I bought it in Germany) a vague attempt to find it on Google resulted in a possibility it may be a Spanish drink? As the little bear supping the Lutin looks like he could have been manufactured by Manurba or Jecsan, it's no clue!

The bear looks a dead-ringer for Mary Plain, a now rather lost and forgotten children's character, one of my favorite books is Mary Plain in Wartime, which takes us neatly to the next entry in 'mascot of the day'! Seems to be a stand-alone figure, and is polyethylene.

I thought this chap was some DIY superstore, hardware or plumbing maskot, because of the tool-box, but a slightly deeper search revealed a darker history involving IG Farben and Courthold's (the Ford Motor Company may have made some army trucks for the Nazi's, but apparently one of our biggest pre-war concerns was making plastics/fabrics for them!), slave labour and all sorts of stuff - which may be a red-herring - but it seems Diolen was a man-made fabric brand of a Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken AG, in the polyester group, to which the forenamed companies were connected?

As a result I think the 'tool-box' is a US style lunch-box and that hideously patterned set of matching checked-hat and dungarees are in fact his 'mighty, hardwearing, comfy, Diolen' work wear? Another stand-alone figure, it's the sort of PVC thing that might have been contracted from Heimo/Bully?

Sugus is a survivor brand (over all the above?), being now owned by Wrigley's where it is used in several territories, but only Spain in Europe, although when I bought it several German collectors recognised it as having been a brand of their younger days. It's another key-ring, PVC.

Also it only seems to survive as a fruit-flavor brand of wrapped, boiled-sweet (candy), while this mascot pertains to the liquorice variant, which even if it survives as a brand, won't use a mascot which might be misinterpreted in these PC times - look at the trouble they are having in Holland with the innocent Swartz Pete, or what happened to our Robinson's Golly mascot?

Again "It's progress", again problematical [in the moment] for some, but I'd rather lose a few mascots or traditions, than be a part of bullying, whether deliberate or sub-conscious, whether meant or as a bi-product of cultural activity . . . after all we used to have the happy 'cultural tradition' of burning people at the stake, after church on a Sunday; usually for living alone with a few cats!

I don't think even the execrable Mr Mogg hankers back that far - although he's a 'landowner' so he'd probably jump at the chance to add a few empty cottages to his estates, after the owners' have been immolated! 'Vote for my idea, I've got a silly accent!'

We ended-up with more proselytising! Who'd have thought I could find so much rant in five little polymer novelties, but they've all got a history! I haven't measured them but they are all between about 30 and 45mm