S is for Shot at the Show

I only shot one thing at the show, if you need pictures of tables about 20 were published on the Friends Who Like Plastic Warrior Faceplant page the next day! But I did shoot this as I thought it was a bit special.

Malleable Mouldings circus set, beautifully boxed and had you found this under your family's Christmas tree in the 1950's you would have been well made-up! Actually quite simple with two horse trainers, two clowns and six prancing horses, but most sets in those days were a bit simple and contained duplicates - it was only when Plastics took a full-hold that the variety we're used to now, became the norm, I guess that's why farm and zoo was so popular, their sets' tended to have lots of different items rather than six-to eight identi-men and an officer, bugler or standard bearer!

The outer is a generic gift box, laminated in patterned wrapping paper, and was probably bought-in for the festive season, it is very age-faded now, but was once a bright primrose background with scarlet and navy motifs.

Quite a Germanic or Scandinavian look to the repeat pattern, both must have had good paper industries with all those forests, maybe it came from the Hertz Mountains? All a bit Grimm or Hans Christian!

Not brilliant shots and I've placed them sideways to concentrate the eye on the colours, not the figures, but the marbling of the clowns' plastic was stunning, if you like such things (I do!); one having what seems to be every colour in the factory that day, the other centered more on the reds/yellows, but after the gloom and greyness of six years of war and blackout and ten-odd years of post-war austerity, these would have lit up the parlor/living-room when that lid came off!

A lovely thing and so rare . . . thanks to Mercator Trading for letting me shoot it.