This site was last updated on May 6th 2008
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Much of this site is still under construction ("yawn", I hear you utter), many images are still to be added as well as some of the links - please visit often to see how things are progressing. I hope what you see is useful and I welcome all feedback, especially constructive feedback! Thanks for visiting this site.
| Pieter Roovers has a vintage & collectable toys website, part of which is dedicated to Bonzo. You can check it out at http://www.comictoys.info: there is a collectors forum, classifieds area, collectors information and links to other useful sites. |
News
A [SMALL] UPDATE!
New additions have been made to several pages, I can make a postcard or tobacco checklist available to anyone who wants them, please email me.
Two new Chad Valley acquisitions have come my way recently. Firstly, a 14" long-legged Bonzo, rare in itself, but alongside that I have just acquired what I regard as one of the rarest Bonzo's ever produced - a 10" Chad Valley Postman Bonzo, complete with cap and satchel. Now, the Postman Bonzo is rare (with a capital R) but the one I have bought comes complete with his own, original Chad Valley tricycle - something I have never seen before. The trike is original, with a Chad Valley Button, the same as on Bonzo, and Bonzo himself is securely stitched to the trike.
The Illustrated London News Picture Library has hit the web showing a selection of images from a number of popular artists including George Studdy. At the moment the list of Studdy images is not extensive although the team behind the project have promised that more images will appear over coming months. For those interested you can visit the site for yourselves here and the picture library will cover images taken from the ILN group of publications which includes The Illustrated London News (of course), The Graphic, The Sphere, The Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News (including Holly Leaves Magazine), The Tatler, The Bystander, The Sketch, Britannia & Eve and The Illustrated War News. A small selection of the Studdy images are shown below. . . .and to see the full content on the website use the search option on the main page to look for Studdy.
The very nice young ladies at the ILN Picture Library recently allowed me access to the magazine archive and in the short time I was able to stay and browse I managed to update the first few years of the Studdy contributions to The Sketch. More than 120 new titles have been added to the list of illustrations covering the period 1906-1914. On my next visit to the picture library I hope to be able to continue that update at least to the time just before Bonzo was christened!
Images shown courtesy of the ILN Picture Library
More news. . . .
Okay, the intro pages have been redesigned to make them a bit more readable and the images of 'nice' things that I can't afford have moved to a gallery page with prices realised where I have that information.
These Bonzo's from Merrythought are still available, so if you want one please order them soon - more than two thirds have been sold!
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ITEMS I HAVE FOR PRIVATE SALE .
Merrythought Bonzo's
Two NEW Bonzo related items have been released by Merrythought and these are a jointed Airman Bonzo and a baby Bonzo.
These are available now from many Merrythought stockists.
In addition, there is a very limited edition TT Bonzo, available only from the Bearhuggery on the Isle of Man, email me for details.
TT Bonzo has a 'leather look' jacket and red scarf with the Legs-o-Man embroidered on the back of the jacket.
Anyone interested in acquiring any of the Merrythought Bonzo's please let me know, I can let you know what's available and the cost.
On the subject of Merrythought toys, this 1938-issued Farmer's Boy, designed by Studdy and one of a series of Studdy characters has just come into my possession.
Merrythought didn't have a picture of this toy in their archives, the only toy in the set that they have seen is Yop:
British Pathe have released a series of minifilms on their website which viewers can download on registration - the low resolution (128kb/sec) versions of the films are free of charge and include a short film about George Studdy and show the man himself with his wife, Blanche, and daughter, Vivienne. It's a short film, just over 2 minutes long, and it can be downloaded in a few minutes, the file is around 2MB in size - click on the frame below to take you to the site and perform the search for you - all you have to do is click on the fourth film from the bottom of the list and follow the instructions to download the movie!
In addition to the Studdy clip Bonzo can also be seen in the Lupino Lane short as well as a bathtime short, search for Bonzo then look for the links. The bathtime film is a little risque for the time it was produced!
The image above is © British Pathe and may not be reproduced without their permission
The contents of this website can be made available on CD-ROM with updates by email on request but the text lists are available now as a downloadable PDF (if you use this please acknowledge it - it will encourage me to keep this up to date too), anyone interested can email me at the usual address with questions, image donations or additions for the site. New stuff will continue to be added as often as I can do it so please keep coming back.
Cheers! Reg
On the pages that follow I have listed all postcards, cigarette & trade cards known to me, as well as a selection of other Bonzo and Studdy memorabilia. Many of the pictures shown are taken from my own, modest, collection of Bonzo items.
If anyone has any Bonzo items for trade or sale or have scanned pictures of other Bonzo items that they would like included in these lists please forward them to me by email:
or
Items included from other sources will be acknowledged where possible.
LINKS TO OTHER PAGES - YOU CAN ALSO USE THE SITEMAP LINK ABOVE
Postcard Checklist A4 format (PDF version)
Link to - The Life and Work of George Studdy- By Paul Babb & Gay Owen
Link to - Ebay Auction - Items Related to Bonzo
Link to - Playles Auction - Items Related to Bonzo
The Acknowledgements - (Without the help of these people, this site would not have developed quite as much)
I am pleased to acknowledge the permission given by Paul Babb & Gay Owen and publisher Richard Dennis to reproduce illustrations used in their excellent book 'Bonzo - The Life and Work of George Studdy'
Bonzo is © the Estate of George Studdy