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Author: Ruth Talbot.October 19, 2007
Irish Wade pottery began back in 1946 with Wade Ulster, then in January of 1950 it was integrated as a subsidiary of George Wade & Son Ltd to help them in their production of die pressed insulators. For three years the intertwined potteries continued to help rebuild Britain after the damage caused by the Second World War.
By 1953 the potteries were no longer needed to produce such high amounts of industrial ceramics so they both began to look around for other areas of production to keep them in business, and it is here at this time that we find the first pieces of Irish Wade pottery pieces as Wade Ulster enters into the field of ornamental giftware.
The ceramic pieces were given their own backstamps to differentiate the pieces from those made in Wade England. The first known backstamp was an ink stamp of an owl in front of a hand and was used from 1950 on their ceramic industrial goods.
From around 1953 Wade used backstamps with the inscription Irish Porcelain Made in Ireland with a picture of the shamrock leaf in the centre. These backstamps were of a variety of types including transfer prints, embossed and impressed.
The Irish Wade pottery had a style of its own and produced some very distinctive ceramic pieces which were very different from the pieces being made in the English Wade potteries and were fast becoming known for their tankards and steins which were decorated in beautiful speckled blues, greens and greys.
Probably one of the most famous types of Wade figurines to come from the Wade Ulster pottery is the pixies, leprechauns and lucky fairy folk. From 1956 to 1986 the Irish Wade pottery made many different pieces using baby pixies and large leprechauns. Alongside this the little folk theme continued with other issues: - The lucky fairy folk series was also issued in 1956 and consisted of three pixie type figurines sitting on either a rabbit, or a pig or an acorn!
A series of three more figures were also produced in 1956 in the lucky leprechauns series. The first figure was a cobbler, the second holds a crock-o-gold and the third is a tailor. Two other issues of these figures has been made the second was a new version with flesh coloured faces in the 1960s (originals had brown faces) and the third issue of 1971 where the figurines had a black ink stamp.
Wade Ulster also produced a Shamrock pottery series in 1956, this was a small series consisting of: An Irish comical pig - The backs of some of these pigs were painted in black special places of interest. A pink elephant Again on the backs of these comical elephants you will find slogans indicating that you had had too much to drink or places of interest. Some elephants were produced blank.
"Shamrock cottage" These models were sold in different versions of the years with and without place names. Pixie dish, Donkey and cart posy bowl.
In November of 1966 Wade Ulster changed its name to Wade (Ireland) Ltd. In 1971 the Irish Wade pottery produced their Mourne range; a limited collection of fifteen pieces of household ware with a truly unusual shape and smooth lines. The pieces are decorated in black with a single burnt orange flower motif and leaf imprinting.
Just like the English Wade the Irish Wade pottery has its own property series issued in 1984-1987. the Bally-Whim Irish village was similar to the Whimsey-on-Why English house collection and consisted of eight Irish village houses. "Whimtrays" little butter type dishes with the added decoration of a first or an English whimsy were made by the Irish Wade pottery in 1985. The Whimtrays in this collection were the husky, king penguin, polar bear cub, a duck, a fawn and lastly the trout.
It is quite well known that the Irish wade pottery would help its English Wade friends out when a large order was due. When they did this they sometimes used the "Wade England" backstamps on models. This means that some wade models backstamped "Wade England" actually have Irish origins.
Ruth Talbot is a Wade enthusiast and has her on own Wade blog dedicated to Wade porcelain and ceramics, including news, views, articles and reference.
Please go to:
wade-in-england-pottery.blogspot.com
Author: Ruth Talbot.October 17, 2007
In 1847 Thomas Smith and Company Ltd producer of fancy wedding cake and confectionary ornaments was founded. However it was not until 1973 that Thomas Smith and Company then operating under the name Tom Smith and Company Ltd joined forces with George Wade to produce their legendary Tom Smith Christmas Crackers.
The partnership between these two great companies would prove to be so successful that it went on to span a whole twenty-six years with more than nineteen sets of Tom Smith Crackers being produced in this time, before Tom Smith and Companies sell off to Naper Industries in August 1998 and its eventual closure in 1999.
The idea for these Christmas crackers came from Tom Smith himself during a visit to France. Here he saw small fancy sweets wrapped in tissue paper, so Smith came back to England and sold sugared almonds with a love note in fancy wrapping. This idea was not that popular and Smith decided to replace the sweet with a small gift. Also as his company had merged with a Christmas cracker producer the Tom Smith Christmas Cracker idea was born.
1973-1975 - Animate Crackers: This first issue of Tom Smith crackers contained eight Wade whimsies that had previously been issued in the Canadian Red Rose Tea promotion. Although these Whimsies were not new to the market the Animate Crackers were a huge success.
1976-1977 - Safari Park: This second issue of Tom Smith Crackers were once again previously used models. The set consisted of ten models, eight of which had been again used in previous promotions. However there were two new Wade models in this set - the Lion and Musk Ox.
1978 - 1979 - Circus Animates Crackers: This was the first set of Tom Smith Crackers which were made exclusively for Smith by Wade. Smith had the right of exclusivity for two years for each of the whimsies that George Wade and later Wade Ceramics designed for him, before the rights were once again passed back to the Wade Company.
This set of ten circus models differed from previous Whimsy models (with exception of the seal) as each animal stood on his own circus drum base. Most of the models were in a one colour glaze.
1980-1981 - British Wildlife: Eight British animals were the theme for this next set of Tom Smith crackers.
1982-1983 - Farmyard Animals: Another set of eight animals were used in the Farmyard Tom Smith Crackers set. All these models were new for Tom Smith with exception of the Goose which had previously been used in the Red Rose Tea promotions, so was given a different colour beak to differentiate it from the earlier version.
1984-1985 - Survival Animals: This set consisting of eight animals was the first Tom Smith cracker set to be produced in a one colour glaze. This started the trend and all subsequent Tom Smith cracker whimsy models would be coloured in this way from this point onwards.
1986-1987 - Wildlife: These one colour-glazed animals totalled fifteen officially named. However it has been reported that other animals have been found inside these Tom Smith crackers and it is thought that these were to the spare left over models from previous promotions.
1987 - Nursery Rhyme Crackers: These six nursery rhyme Wade whimsy models was offered as a set of Tom Smith party crackers for one year only. The limited number of Wade miniatures were taken from the previous Canadian Red Rose Tea promotion and re-coloured in the now distinctive one-colour Tom Smith cracker glaze.
1987-1996 - During this time Tom Smith used a lot of spare Wade whimsies from previous finished promotions and series. The models were re-coloured in Tom Smiths one-colour glazes and he used them in numerous other cracker lines, two to a box, alongside plastic toys and other cracker inserts.
1988 - Village of Broodlands: Ten miniature house models based upon Whimsie-on-Why Wade series, were planned for this series however only the first set of five models only made it into production as these houses proved much more costly to produce than the previous animals and characters that Tom Smith had used in his cracker sets.
1988-1989 - Family Pets, Tom Smith Party crackers: This set of eight animal and bird crackers was once again designed for Tom Smith.
1990-1991 - World of Dogs: Two exclusively designed dog models were added to six previously issued Wade miniature dog models to create the thirteenth set of Tom Smith cracker sets.
1992-1993 - Birdlife Series: One new design of a wren was added to make a set of eight models. Some models in this series had been previously used by Smith but were re-coloured to distinguish them from the originals.
1992-1994 - Snow Life Animals: This set was very similar to the previous Birdlife series, with one new model the reindeer and re-coloured glazes.
1994-1996 - Tales from the Nursery: Ten models but only eight crackers meant that some models were harder to obtain than others. This set contained eight of the highly successful Red Rose Tea miniature nursery collection with the addition of two new models for Tom Smith.
1996-1997 - Cat collection: As the previous cracker series this set of Tom Smith crackers contained ten models with a box holding eight crackers. Once more two new models were designed and in the United Kingdom there has been reports of different colourways being found.
1996-1997 - Bear Ambitions, Christmas time crackers: These were originally a Wade giftware line but Tom Smith used them in their six model Christmas time cracker set.
1998-1999 - Hedgerow Party time crackers - Sea Life Party time crackers. - The last two sets of Tom Smith crackers to be brought out before the closure of the Tom Smith Company were the Hedgerow and Sea Life party time sets. They each contained eight re-issued models in a six cracker box.
Author: Ruth Talbot.October 17, 2007
I think one of my all time favourite Wade collections has to be the Disney Hatbox series. These figurines were made larger than the standard Wade whimsies and are taken straight from the films so are so true to life in a cartoon context that can only be described as charming.
Altogether Wade produced two separate issues of Disney Hatbox Wade figurines, covering seven different Walt Disney films. The first issue comprised of three different sets of figurines. The first of these sets was taken solely from Disneys Lady and the Tramp film and contained six different Lady and the Tramp characters: Lady, Tramp, Peg, Trusty, Jock and Scamp.
The first Wade Hatbox models from this collection started to appear in 1956 and production of this issue and set went on until 1965. It also threw up two different variations of Trusty (black or brown nosed) and three variations of Jock, who can be found wearing no coat, a blue coat or a green coat.
The reasons behind Jocks clothing problems was that Wade first issued Jock with no coat at all but was soon told that this was wrong as he wore a coat in the film. So they ceased production and gave him a blue tartan coat, but later altered its colour to the more familiar green tartan.
The name Disney Hatbox was used because the Disney models - in this case the Lady and Tramp characters were sold in small individual round boxes, which in many ways resembled hatboxes - hence the name.
The second Hatbox set contained more Disney hatbox Lady and the Tramp characters; this time Dachie, Si and Am the Siamese cats, Boris and Toughy. Other characters were from Bambi, Dumbo and Baby Pegasus from Disney’ s Fantasia film. The third set contained models from both Sword in the Stone and 101 Dalmations.
In 1981 the Wade Hatbox Lady and the Tramp characters, with the exception of Trusty were re-issued, along with some of the other Disney Film characters that Wade had released in the second set.
The re-issue of Tramp himself was very different from the Tramp model of the first issue. In the first issue he is depicted standing up, but he is clearly depicted sitting down in the second issue. Unfortunately Tramp is the only one of the Lady and the Tramp characters to be remodelled. The others were complete copies using the original moulds of the characters. Obviously this makes identification of first or second Wade hatbox figures rather confusing, especially as a lot were issued with Black and Gold Wade labels instead of any embossed, stamped or transfers as identifying backstamps.
The whole of the second issue had backstamps consisting of the Black and Gold labels saying "Walt Disney Productions Wade England" , as opposed to the "Wade England" backstamp used in the first Hatbox issue of the Lady and Tramp characters.
There are a few other things to look for when trying to decide if you have a first or second issue Wade Hatbox figurine: Jock Green Coat - In the first issue Jock was given a purple mouth this was changed to pink for the second issue. Jock no coat and Jock Blue coat were not re-issued.
Peg - The first issue Peg has a yellow fringe of hair and a red nose. The second issue Peg has a beige fringe and brown nose.
Scamp - At first Scamps ears are mauve but later for the second issue they are pink.
Lady - Lady is probably the hardest to distinguish between. Her ears in the first issue were light brown and became darker in colour for the second issue.
These lovable Lady and the Tramp characters were also made into much larger figurines by Wade, in the Disney Blow Ups collection of 1961 to 1965. Here we find the character of Tramp sitting down, a new version of Lady, then blow ups of Scamp, Trusty and Jock. The difference in size is obvious for example the Hatbox version of Tramp sitting from the second issue stands 47mm high but the sitting Disney Blow Up tramp is 160mm tall, that’ s nearly three and a half times larger.
Author: Ruth Talbot.October 16, 2007
Due to the tremendous success of the Canadian Red Rose Tea Wade Whimsy promotions the geographical area was extended into the United States of America in 1983, where Red Rose Tea is owned by Redco Foods Ltd. The first American issue of the Red Rose Tea miniatures was a set of fifteen miniature animals. The majority of these fifteen models were from the English Whimsies collection 1971-1984 and were given a single colour glaze make over. The exception was the squirrel and the hare, which were taken from the Tom Smiths British Wildlife series of 1986-1987. This first Red Rose tea miniatures series finished in 1985 and it was during this same year that the second set of miniature animals began.
This second set of miniatures had already been offered in Washington earlier in 1982. Obviously they must have been the usual success as they were then rolled out in all the American States. These second issue Red Rose tea miniatures were similar to the highly popular first animal set, and once again contained fifteen single colour glazed animals all taken from either the English Whimsies or Tom Smiths Wildlife series.
In 1990 Red Rose tea added another five miniatures taken again from Tom Smith but this time from his Family Pets series of 1988-1989, to the second issue of animals to make a total of twenty miniature animals which comprised their third issue. In some parts of America the Red Rose tea miniatures were not included as premiums inside the tea boxes; instead collectors had to send the UPC code along with a small charge for postage in order to receive their model.
It was quite common for overlaps of issues to happen between states. Where one American state would be offering one specific issue of Red Rose tea miniatures another would be onto another. And this is what happened with issue four which began in 1992 whilst the third issue of miniature animals did not really finish until 1996.
Once again America offered its fourth issue as a mail order purchase rather than as a free tea premium, this was mainly because the packs of decaffeinated tea were not designed to hold a little Wade whimsy. The whole of this collection of twenty miniature animals were the same as the animals from the previous third issue.
In 1993 Red Rose tea miniatures brought out its fifth issue which lasted for six years and this time consisting of a new theme - ten circus models. The moulds from the Tom Smiths Circus Animates Crackers 1978-1979 were used but given a different colour glaze from the originals. However in 1996 five completely new circus models made specifically for this set - were added to make the sixth issue, which ran until 1998.
The seventh Red Rose tea miniature issue began in 1998 and consisted of ten Endangered North American animals. Seven of these models were brand new designs with only three being remodelled from previous issues.
The Endangered North American Animals series ran until 2002 and it was in this year that the American Red Rose tea miniatures issue of Noahs ark was released. This issue contained two brand new concepts; the first being that one of the models, Noah, was issued next to his wife and the second that the ark was only available to purchase through the mail. The issue consisted of Noah and wife along with seven different animals. There was both a male and a female version of each ark animal, making sixteen pieces in total including the ark.
As a separate item but to coincide with the Noahs Ark issue Redco Foods offered a money box to their American collectors in 1993. This was in the form of a white Dove of Peace carrying in her beak a dark green twig.
At the end of the Noahs Ark miniature issue in 2006 a ninth Wade whimsy issue was introduced, again with the main element having to be purchased from Red Rose tea. There are twelve models in this Pet Shop friends set including the pet shop itself that has to be purchased separately.
These nine issues of American Red Rose Tea miniatures along with the previous four Canadian Red Rose Tea issues have been so successful that reports of 200,000,000 + Wade models have been circulated via the Red Rose Tea promotions. And with success like that I think Red Rose tea will go on offering their Wade ceramic premiums for many more years to come.
Author: Ruth Talbot. October 16, 2007
Whoever would have thought that adding a free wade whimsy to a pack of tea would not only revive sales but become so popular that one promotion originally proposed for two to three years would span four decades, numerous issues and many countries? Enter the Canadian Red Rose Tea company. Way back in 1967 the idea of using Wade miniatures as free premiums in packs of Red Rose Tea in Quebec Canada was born. Popularity for these Red Rose Tea Wade whimsies was so great that the initial issue of twelve models was extended into a series of thirty-two and the promotional area extended throughout Canada.
This promotion consisted of Wade whimsy miniature animals. The very early models from this issue can be distinguished from the later ones due to the fact that the "Wade England" backstamp is on the bottom of the model in a recess. In later models the backstamp appears along the rim of the model.
Also there were two different versions of the rabbit made, the earliest version has closed ears which Wade craftsmen found difficult to tidy up around the ceramic casting. So another version of rabbit was introduced this time with open ears.
It is worth mentioning that not just in the Red Rose Tea Wade whimsies but with many other Wade whimsy issues two seemingly identical models turn up. These models look very alike apart from their obvious size difference. This was due to original moulds breaking or wearing out and being replaced by smaller ones.
If you think the models look familiar then you would be correct. The majority of the Red Rose Tea Wade Whimsy promotion was re-issued as the English Whimsies 1971-1984 collection. Also Red Rose teas sister company in the United Kingdom Brook Bond followed suit and used the frog, butterfly and fan tailed goldfish for a promotion of its own. Plus the terrapin and crocodile (or alligator as shown in an advertisement for Red Rose tea from the 1960s) was previously used in the Flintstones Christmas cracker promotion ran by Balding and Mansell in 1965.
This first Red Rose tea promotion ran from 1967 to 1973 and was so successful that it was decided that they would begin another promotion again using Wade whimsies as free premiums in their packaging of the tea.
This second promotional issue was originally rolled out in selected areas of Canada and comprised a series of twenty-four Wade Whimsy nursery rhyme characters; however as before it was such a hit with Red Rose Tea drinkers that in 1973 the promotion was once again extended throughout Canada.
It is reported that over twenty million Red Rose Tea Wade whimsy nursery rhyme models were made. And once again they were used by other firms as part of their promotions one such promotion was by Lever Rexona in New Zealand as part of a Signal toothpaste promotion in the early 1970s.
The Red Rose Tea Wade Whimsy Miniature nursery rhyme promotion ran from 1972 till 1979. In 1981 the company used the excess models from the English Whoppa series that had just came to an end as their next promotion. However this time in their third promotional issue they changed their tactics.
Instead of giving away the Wade whimsy as a free premium inside the packaging of the tea, the Red Rose tea company asked collectors to send in promotional tabs from the tea boxes themselves along with $1 to cover the postage costs. The Wade whimsy Whoppa was then sent out in a small box.
In 1982 the fourth and last Red Rose Tea Canadian Wade whimsies issue was issued. It lasted for two years until 1984 and comprised again of miniature animals. Six models from the very first Red Rose Tea Canadian promotion were given a colour glaze makeover. The other seventeen models that made up this fourth issue of twenty-three animal models were from the English whimsies series.
This however this is not the end of the story. Due to the popularity of the Canadian Red Rose Tea Wade whimsy free premium promotions the promotions were extended out into the United States of America in 1983 were they continued to remain as popular as in Canada. Even today there exists a Red Rose tea Wade whimsy promotion entitled Pet shop Friends, issued in 2006.
