About Me

My photo
No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Saturday, August 10, 2019

F is for Fairy Snow

Not the preferred 'powder of relaxation' and social-intercourse employed by - it seems - most Tory leadership campaigners (which is most Tories!) but rather a domestic washing/laundry powder; I thought probably from the Lever Brothers/Unilever combine, but it turns out Fairy Liquid and the earlier Fairy Snow are Procter & Gamble brands, 'non-bio' and originally produced in their factories at West Thurrock and the [now] Republic of Ireland.

Car Kit; Citroen DS; Citroen DS Premium; Fairy Snow; Food Premiums; Lever Brothers; Made in England; Primo Premiums; Soap Powder Premiums; Unilever;; Free Car Kit; Free With Fairy Snow; Jaguar 3.4 litre; Jaguar 3.4 litre Premium; Jurgens; Lessive Lever; Lever Automobiles De Course; Lever et/ou Primo; Lever Primo; Plastic Citroen DS; Plastic Jaguar 3.4 litre; Premium Sports Cars; Primes Lessive; Primes Lever; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Unilever Premiums; Van den Bergh; Washing Powder Cars; Washing Powder Premiums; Food Premiums; Lever Brothers; Made in England; Primo Premiums;
I had no idea these existed, although I think I may have a baksheesh axle and tyres combo' in the spares box somewhere, so when Adrian Little sent me images I was very interested and managed to grab some more shots at a subsequent Toy Show.

Car Kit; Citroen DS; Citroen DS Premium; Fairy Snow; Food Premiums; Lever Brothers; Made in England; Primo Premiums; Soap Powder Premiums; Unilever;; Free Car Kit; Free With Fairy Snow; Jaguar 3.4 litre; Jaguar 3.4 litre Premium; Jurgens; Lessive Lever; Lever Automobiles De Course; Lever et/ou Primo; Lever Primo; Plastic Citroen DS; Plastic Jaguar 3.4 litre; Premium Sports Cars; Primes Lessive; Primes Lever; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Unilever Premiums; Van den Bergh; Washing Powder Cars; Washing Powder Premiums; Food Premiums; Lever Brothers; Made in England; Primo Premiums;
Jaguar MkII 3.4 litre

We had a maroon one of these when we were kids (it even gets a mention in Charlie Beckwith's Delta Force memoirs!)* and Dad used to screech the tyres on every roundabout between the North Circular and Retford on the old A1 'Great North Road'! Back in the day - there were a lot of roundabouts!

It ended its life as a glider-tug at Farnborough, sans roof. I don't know if it was cut off as a safety measure or ripped-off by the slipstream on the runway after rust set in, but I like to imagine the latter - the roof skidding away into the mown-grass like a demented umbrella!

You could still see it down the back of the water treatment works, behind the old hangers' until only a few years ago, where - if visual-memory serves - it had a Scammell wreaker and an old AEC tanker as companions!

Kit is simple, with white rubber (not plastic-melting PVC) tyres to be fitted over the wheel-stubs of two clip-in axles which are placed in a belly-pan already attached to the upper-bodywork. All found in a heat-sealed polyethylene bag.

* "...Major Walter jumped into his flashy maroon Jaguar and took off for London..."


Car Kit; Citroen DS; Citroen DS Premium; Fairy Snow; Food Premiums; Lever Brothers; Made in England; Primo Premiums; Soap Powder Premiums; Unilever;; Free Car Kit; Free With Fairy Snow; Jaguar 3.4 litre; Jaguar 3.4 litre Premium; Jurgens; Lessive Lever; Lever Automobiles De Course; Lever et/ou Primo; Lever Primo; Plastic Citroen DS; Plastic Jaguar 3.4 litre; Premium Sports Cars; Primes Lessive; Primes Lever; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Unilever Premiums; Van den Bergh; Washing Powder Cars; Washing Powder Premiums; Food Premiums; Lever Brothers; Made in England; Primo Premiums;
Citroen DS

Scale is largish; around 1:24/25th or 1:30th which would make them compatible with a lot of figures? And presumably it was a range of sporty types, or 'sports-saloons'?

That Jaguar had plenty of room in the back for two small boys, but the polished leather seats combined with those corduroy shorts which were de rigueur for small boys back in the 1960's meant that as Dad screeched the tyres, my brother and I would slid about like corks in a storm, the fold-down arm-rest saving us from each-other! We - of course - would over-emphasis the movements until giggling set-in and we were shouted-at to "Behave yourselves!" by some miserable 'grown-up' in the front!

So, there you go; plastic car premiums from Fairy Snow, blurb rather replaced by reminiscing, as the pictures tell you as much as I can, and thanks to Adrian for sharing them with the rest of us.

No comments: