About Us
For the last 34 years I have worked in the pre-school toy industry. During this time I have collected interesting vintage toys to form an archive that is used as a resource by designers and educationalists in creating new products for today’s children.
A chance acquisition of a ‘Kiddiclock’ started research into Hilary ‘Harry’ Fisher Page and other toys he had created in his Kiddicraft collection. Many of these toys exist in modern day forms due to their timeless benefit and reward in young children’s play. Classic play patterns such as stacking, nesting and sorting were created in plastic, but Page's greatest claim to fame has to be his invention of what was to ultimately become the LEGO brick.
The advent of eBay opened up the opportunity to find toys long since lost to dusty corners of attics and basements across the world. The toys featured here have come from as far a field as Australia, Canada, USA, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
As I found myself outbid on product I realised that there were other people with a similar interest, either because of Page’s innovative use of early plastics or because of his invention and patents of the ‘self-locking building brick’. Some of these people have now become friends and have contributed to this site and to the search for product and materials that make up the collection. I thank them for their help and friendship.
The ultimate aim of this site is to have a full record of toys created by Page and the designers who worked with him. A pictorial representation of products created during the Hestair years (1978–1989) will be added as they become available. After the acquisition of Kiddicraft by Fisher Price most of the toys were discontinued and even the name became part of history.
2007 was the 50th anniversary of his death, and an appropriate time to honour a man who brought so much to children’s play and development - watch the video on the opening page.
