About Me

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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.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

T is for They Don't Come Much Bigger Than This!

Oh yes they do! [5th December 2015]

I photographed this (likeness of Mr. Thomas Radford?!!) in a tobacconists in a little arcade in Reading the other day...

I didn't measure it, but it was about two or two-and-a-half feet tall, so about 1:4th scale? I'm guessing it dates from the 1970's or early 1980's, and has survived remarkably well given the frangibility of both the 'clay' pipe and the cane.

The blurb on the back, although Radford's was once a British tobacco brand, it seems that the whole concern is now (or 'was'?) a German based concern, it would be interesting to know if the statuette was made in [West] Germany or commissioned from Hong Kong or somewhere similar?

I can find trademark stuff and an address (John Brumfit & Radford Tobacco Ltd. Dieselstraße 1-84144 Geisenhausen, Germany) but no website?

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