Post by Patrick on Aug 30, 2010 12:28:04 GMT
Who'd have thought it eh? I vaguely remember playing with it - but remember Stickle Bricks better.
If today were not already a national holiday, it would surely have been declared one, because it is exactly 60 years since the first box of Fuzzy-Felt went on sale. I know. Go and have a lie down.
Like so many great inventions, Fuzzy-Felt was a by-product of the military- industrial complex. It was discovered during the second world war when Lois Allan, whose outbuildings were being used to manufacture felt gaskets for sealing tank components, noticed how the workers' children enjoyed sticking cast-off shapes on to the fuzzy backs of her table mats
Allan's first sets, launched in Heals and John Lewis, were an immediate success. Soon the product spread internationally, expanding into themed boxes such as Ballet, Maths, Bible Stories and the all-conquering On the Farm. To date, more than 25m boxes have been sold.
And it is still not difficult to see why the descendants of discarded gasket edges have proved so popular. Like Lego, Fuzzy-Felt is simple, pretty, wholesome, cheap(ish), infinitely variable and easy to disperse irritatingly throughout the home. Unlike Lego, it can also be kept rolled up in a slightly grubby ball, and is virtually impossible to hurt your sister with.
Nor should its artistic potential be overlooked. Besides helping even the most cack-handed child to produce a recognisable picture, Fuzzy-Felt's powerful nostalgic overtones have made it a popular medium for ironically minded artists. In 2008, Jake and Dinos Chapman got through pallets of it, creating the 98 sq m backdrop to Stella McCartney's spring/summer collection.
But despite a burst of recent innovations, including covering the product with glitter, laminating it, and branding it with Thomas the Tank Engine, Fuzzy-Felt's peak seems to be in the past. The million-a-year sales of the mid-70s have now been reduced to a more modest 250,000, many of them doubtless bought by parents with themselves in mind.
Nevertheless, on this day of national celebration, we can all take comfort from the fact that when the 100th anniversary comes round in 2050, our descendants will still have bits of Fuzzy-Felt to play with. They'll find them down the backs of their ancestors' chairs.
If today were not already a national holiday, it would surely have been declared one, because it is exactly 60 years since the first box of Fuzzy-Felt went on sale. I know. Go and have a lie down.
Like so many great inventions, Fuzzy-Felt was a by-product of the military- industrial complex. It was discovered during the second world war when Lois Allan, whose outbuildings were being used to manufacture felt gaskets for sealing tank components, noticed how the workers' children enjoyed sticking cast-off shapes on to the fuzzy backs of her table mats
Allan's first sets, launched in Heals and John Lewis, were an immediate success. Soon the product spread internationally, expanding into themed boxes such as Ballet, Maths, Bible Stories and the all-conquering On the Farm. To date, more than 25m boxes have been sold.
And it is still not difficult to see why the descendants of discarded gasket edges have proved so popular. Like Lego, Fuzzy-Felt is simple, pretty, wholesome, cheap(ish), infinitely variable and easy to disperse irritatingly throughout the home. Unlike Lego, it can also be kept rolled up in a slightly grubby ball, and is virtually impossible to hurt your sister with.
Nor should its artistic potential be overlooked. Besides helping even the most cack-handed child to produce a recognisable picture, Fuzzy-Felt's powerful nostalgic overtones have made it a popular medium for ironically minded artists. In 2008, Jake and Dinos Chapman got through pallets of it, creating the 98 sq m backdrop to Stella McCartney's spring/summer collection.
But despite a burst of recent innovations, including covering the product with glitter, laminating it, and branding it with Thomas the Tank Engine, Fuzzy-Felt's peak seems to be in the past. The million-a-year sales of the mid-70s have now been reduced to a more modest 250,000, many of them doubtless bought by parents with themselves in mind.
Nevertheless, on this day of national celebration, we can all take comfort from the fact that when the 100th anniversary comes round in 2050, our descendants will still have bits of Fuzzy-Felt to play with. They'll find them down the backs of their ancestors' chairs.