Walmar House
288-292 Regent Street
London,
W1B 3AL
Company No: 769862
Incorporated in 1963
Dissolved in 1978 (the earlier document at Kew gives
1977, see below)
See also:
Selcol - Selmer and
Gala-Goldentone
Not to be confused with:
- Fairchild
Industries of Illinois, USA, general plastics, 1961-present
- E.E.Fairchild
' (Alderman-Fairchild Corp. / All-Fair
inc.) US game and puzzle manufacturer.
Company originally formed as Fairchild, some products appear in both Fairchild and Selcol
Fairchild graphics, as Selcol are
reported as being closed in 1968, it is fair to assume that the years 1968/9
through to 1978 are the 'Selcol Fairchild'
years, as Selcol get first billing,
it may well be that Selmer (parent of
Selcol) or Musical & Plastics Industries (MPI - parent of Selmer)
took over Fairchild and then
hived-off the result, or that Fairchild
took on the ailing (?) but better company, and agreed that due to asset help
from the acquisition, they should have predominance in the trademark?
One should also remember that Selcol would have had the greater 'goodwill' within the both the
toy and plastics industries, by dint of the decades of Selmer producing amplifiers and musical instruments alongside the Selcol records. Whatever the
reasons/relationship, Selmer ceased
to produce records when they moved Selcol
electronics out to the Braintree factory in 1968, the ill-feeling among the
Braintree plastics people seems to be of direct consequence to the arrival of Selcol Fairchild as a brand.
Although the relationship was a pre-existing one with
some records issued in Selcol Fairchild
graphics as early as 1962?
While a fair bit is known about Selcol, very little is known about Fairchild, the above being only confusion without the necessary
information! However, one piece of Fairchild's
history is freely available on the web: Their legal case as respondents to Marx Toys. To summarise the Judgement
linked to below - Marx accused Selcol of plagiarising a set of dogs
(almost certainly one of the sets of food/washing-powder premiums that cause
confusion, Marx had three ranges of
dogs), which Selcol basically -
happily - admitted to.
The case came down to when the dogs had been registered
as a design, and in the end the judge decided that by a matter of hours, the
plagiarism, err…wasn't and Marx lost
the attempt to have them removed.
It's not known what subsequently transpired between the
two companies in the wider case, but the failure of what was basically a 'cease
and desist' injunction is taught to law students to this day, as a piece of
seminal 'case law'/classic case of corporate timing, meaning it's readily
available on the web.
Listings
Fairchild (1963-approximately 1968)
- Dogs
- Tractor
- Paratrooper
Selcol Fairchild (approximately 1968-1978)
- Knitting Jinny
- Mercedes International Giant Fire Engine
(4 foot extending ladder on turntable, red and silver plastic)
- Tractor (same as Fairchild-only
branded one)
- Magic Guitar (push-button electric sound toy in the
shape of a guitar)
Links
Further Reading
- Farming in Miniature (FIM) Vol 2
- The National Archives, Kew has two files available: reference: BT 31/46762 (appears to be largely a partial duplicate of BT 31/46233/10)
What This Entry Needs
More on the relationship between Fairchild and
Selmer/Selco
Better history
Better product listings
Company personalities
