Between 1967 and 1973, Brooke Bond Foods Ltd. of Canada offered thirty two Miniature figurines as a promotion for their Red Rose Tea. These figurines were chosen from a standard line of promotional figurines made by George Wade and Son Ltd. For the tea promotion, each box of 60 tea bags contained one figurine. During the run of this promotion it is estimated that 100 million figurines were supplied to Brooke Bond by Wade and it is with figurines from this promotion that so many of today's collector, began their collections. We can remember when the Red Rose Tea figurines were so plentiful at local flea markets one could pick them up for pennies a piece. Today they are usually displayed behind glass and are priced, well above the original price of a few pennies.

In 1971, due mainly to the extraordinary success of the Red Rose Tea promotion, Wade decided to launch its own retail line with figurines from the tea promotion. This was the start of one of the most successful retail lines produced by the George Wade and Son Ltd. pottery. The new lines were to be known as Whimsies - renewing a name first used for the line of miniature figurines produced in the 1950's. The new retail line of Whimsies contained twenty five figurines from the tea promotion plus thirty five new figurines. This second line of Whimsies ran from 1971 through 1984.

Originally, the 1970's Whimsies were sold in sets of five figurines in decorated boxes.Throughout the 1970's further sets of five figurines were produced with each set having its own distinctive coloured box. Due to the success of the Whimsies, a number of companies from various parts of the world began to retail a number of the sixty figurines using the company's own packaging. Some of the most frequently found Whimsies in non Wade packaging are from Whimsies Ltd. A division of Simons Associates,Inc of Los Angeles, California. There were twenty four of the original sixty figurines offered in this set. Each figurines was sold separately shrink wrapped onto decorative cards. On the rear of each card was a list of the figurines available.

The twenty four figures offered by Simons Associated Inc. were Rabbit, Fawn, Mongrel, Squirrel, Elephant, Setter, Cat, Collie, Zebra, Bear Cup, Field Mouse, Owl, Kitten, Chimp, Horse, Duck, Giraffe, Spaniel, Lion, German Shepherd, Lamb, Pine Marten, Corgi and Hedgehog.

Due to the enormous number of figurines produced for the retail and promotional Whimsies a number of variations are to be found. Most of the true variations' came about due to the remaking of the worn-out moulds. The expression 'true variation' is used to differentiate them from many colour variations which came about as a result of the hand decorating process where the glazes were applied to the figurine by individual decorators. Often a colour was missed or a different colour was applied due to the high speed of production -the decorators were paid on a scale based on the number of' figurines produced each day. It is therefore difficult to class these colour variations as true variations. Never the less, many of the colour variations add to the interest of numerous collections.

The 1970's saw a number of other sets of miniature figurines produced by the George Wade and Son Ltd Pottery. Amongst the most popular of these were the Whoppas, a set of fifteen figurines produced between 1976 and 1981, the Championship Dog series issued between 1975 and 1981, and the two horse sets issued between 1974 and 1981. It is interesting to note that in 1981, the complete set of Whoppas was chosen as a line of premiums soin packets of Red Rose Tea again in Canada. In 1970, Wade began producing miniature figurines for the Tom Smith & Co. Ltd party crackers. The sets were used for two year periods before being replaced by a new set. Most set party cracker figurines featured figurines pressed especially for Tom Smith but there were a number of Whimsies interspersed amongst the Tom Smith specials (Please note that in the World of Wade, the section title for Tom Smith & Co. Ltd on page 103 has the last two number of the issue date reversed instead of reading 1976 the year read 1967).

Throughout the 1970's Wade Heath & Co Ltd concentrated on producing items for Wade (PDM) Ltd which had been formed in 1969 to supply and distribute advertising war for the various spirit, beer and cigar producers. Wade (Ireland) Ltd in the 1970's continued to produce giftware items, many of which started life prior to the 1970's. One popular line with today's collectors was the Mourne Range introduced in 1971. This was a relatively short lived line making it nowadays somewhat difficult to collect complete sets. The end of the 1970's saw a number of changes to the products of the various Wade Potteries.

PS:-Response to a letter from Judy Sayre in the November Wade's World.:

The correct color for the hare in the 1983-1985 USA Red Rose Tea promotion is dark brown as illustrated in the World of Wade, pg 42. The same figurine, but colored light-honey was used in the 1980-1981 Wildlife Set of party crackers and once again, but colored white in the 1992-1993 Snowlife set.

If you want more from Mike and Ian go to Wade Official Site.