Alice, it’s possible that your dolls might have been made by Lines Bros, makers of Tri-ang trains sets etc. There is a Tri-ang Society website that might be able to help. The company is no longer in business.
It was indeed a magic shop, you name it, they sold it, from the records with the booths, model train sets, dolls, prams, bikes, lego, the list goes on. When I was little my dad used to take me every other Saturday. I had two small dolls called Toni and Sally. Toni was brunette and Sally was Blond. They had their own wardrobes with their own designer clothes. When you bought an outfit for them, they supplied you with a catalogue of their other outfits, obviously you needed the next outfit on the next visit! Poor dad, it must have cost him a fortune. I remember one outfit vividly it was a red and white spotted dress, underneath she had a matching swim suit, red suitcase, sun glasses, white sandals. On the suitcase there were stickers of capital cities she is supposed to have visited. Funny how small things stay with you. I have searched the internet for information on those two dolls but never found anyone else with a memory of them but they were from a large company at the time, someone must have a recollection of them. This was in the late fifties/early sixties, predated the Barbie, Tressie dolls by at least 10 years.
The build up to ‘bondie night’ was always a trip down to Les Browns to see the Guy Fawkes display in the window, with all the fireworks surrounding the figure. When I was older I used to go and buy records there but first we had to listen to them in the booth.
I used to love going into Leslie Brown’s, for the jokes. I once got a packet of stink bombs, which were small glass capsules with the liquid inside. Me and mate, used to work at the ASDA, West Row and took a couple of stink bombs in the warehouse, which was in the basement. We stood on a couple of stink bombs and then there was a ripe old smell soon after and lingering on for ages. At that, the store manager who was Mr. Smith came in the warehouse and had noticed the pong. At that, he said to me and my work mate, “whats that awful smell, Lads”. We, replied, “don’t know Mr. Smith, might be the drains playing up – the building was built on part of the old moat from the Stockton Castle”. He believed us, we were right devils then. Yes, them were the good days.
Remember the lego kits, starting fron 2 bob in old money, that Browns’ used to sell. Whatever happeened to the Lego models that stood in the entrance way as you walked into the shop. It was a great shop to get the latest Aurora model kits.
Remember Browns well, used to buy my 45″s there – Bowie, Sweet, Deep Purple etc etc, a great shop, used the cubicle as mentioned to listen to the record first. How things have changed…..
I used to love this shop. I have so many happy memories of it. I used to love the coin operated horse where you rode it and shot the indians. Also upstairs, where it had a full train set out which you could actually play with!! There”s not many toy shops like that any more. It”s a real shame, my kids would have loved it.
This shop holds happy memories and sad memories for me. I bought my first records, from Leslie Brown”s. Mott The Hoople…..Roll Away The Stone New Seekers……You Wont Find Another Fool Like Me. On the 31st March 1972, when i was 8 year old, my mam and dad bought me a guitar. Later that day, my mam died.
Hi Dee Dale well looking at this photo is an absolute revelation surely this must preceed the Tards on Dr Who. HOW on eareth did so many young people from toys to records squeeze into this shop on a Saturday quite amazing really
This photograph showing, amongst others, the shop of Leslie Brown. Probably just a coincidence but the alleyway also showing in the photograph, is named Little Brown Street.
This shop is a very happy but vivid memory of my childhood(i was born 1981). I remember coloured lightbulbs around the window and did a trainset also run around the window? a massive table with compartments for loads of different marbles i think was in the middle of the shop downstairs. The left wall im remembering lego, tons of space lego, thundercats, he-man, care bears…happy happy traditional little shop with a great mad proffessor kind of fell to it. A million times better than the blandness of toys r us! If anyone has any memories of the shop or any pictures id love to see them.
I used to love my visits to Leslie Browns coming in from Thornaby on the bus or car, often getting another BRITAINS ltd animal for my collection 😀 loved going upstairs to look at the latest Pipa sindy and barbie dolls, and if i remember he also stocked Huge Steiff animals too 😀
My parents bought me my Millenium Falcon from here in the early eighties! Magical shop, the sort of place that as a kid you dreamt about… They also sold “Jokes”, things like the smoking monkey and devil crackers. A bit different to iPods and PSP”s!
Les Brown also sold records in the 50″s and 60″s and probably earlier. You could go to the counter and ask to hear one of the new record releases with a view to buying it. The girl behind the counter would put the record on a turntable and you went into a small cubicle with glass windows where you could hear the record. There were about six of these cubicles. Les Brown was one of the main sellers of records in the 60″s in Stockton. Most of the ground floor was devoted to record sales.
The Happy- Wanderer”Puppets were the originals of Mr Leslie Brown, whose shop is shown here I worked with him and Mr Cyril Hay from 1989 till his death in 1986 Of the shop he said the advent of childrens T.V killed the small toy-shop as the demand for one or two items was impossible to meet, example was “Teen-age Mutant Turtles”. TOYS-R-US was the final straw, leaving his traditional christmas stock hardly touched ,the model-kits, railways etc were in the main , purchased for the fathers enjoyment When Star-Wars was the vogue, he had a visit from “DARTH-VADA”, it was a disaster, so many turned out he had to shut the shop, the police diverted High Street traffic and two of his side windows were cracked The request from the manufactures for a “SUPERMAN” visit was turned down The boy and girl shown on shop frontage were “throwing” a coloured ball to each other First floor had the coin operated railway lay-out and accessories sales on one side, the other dolls and prams . Alongside ROCK-BOTTOM is Little Brown Street , a way for Postmen to the sorting office to the rear of the G.P.O
Sorry to hear of Cyril’s passing, he worked as a boiler-man in the Head Wrightsons, Thornaby Machine Shop for years, he was a nice quiet man who was a keen photographer & was always willing to give the chaps advice when they wanted it.
Cyril R.I.P.
Alice, it’s possible that your dolls might have been made by Lines Bros, makers of Tri-ang trains sets etc. There is a Tri-ang Society website that might be able to help. The company is no longer in business.
I remember the Guy Fawkes display and the Witch for Halloween. I also loved and wanted the train set up they had which I think was downstairs.
It was indeed a magic shop, you name it, they sold it, from the records with the booths, model train sets, dolls, prams, bikes, lego, the list goes on. When I was little my dad used to take me every other Saturday. I had two small dolls called Toni and Sally. Toni was brunette and Sally was Blond. They had their own wardrobes with their own designer clothes. When you bought an outfit for them, they supplied you with a catalogue of their other outfits, obviously you needed the next outfit on the next visit! Poor dad, it must have cost him a fortune. I remember one outfit vividly it was a red and white spotted dress, underneath she had a matching swim suit, red suitcase, sun glasses, white sandals. On the suitcase there were stickers of capital cities she is supposed to have visited. Funny how small things stay with you. I have searched the internet for information on those two dolls but never found anyone else with a memory of them but they were from a large company at the time, someone must have a recollection of them. This was in the late fifties/early sixties, predated the Barbie, Tressie dolls by at least 10 years.
The build up to ‘bondie night’ was always a trip down to Les Browns to see the Guy Fawkes display in the window, with all the fireworks surrounding the figure. When I was older I used to go and buy records there but first we had to listen to them in the booth.
I used to love going into Leslie Brown’s, for the jokes. I once got a packet of stink bombs, which were small glass capsules with the liquid inside. Me and mate, used to work at the ASDA, West Row and took a couple of stink bombs in the warehouse, which was in the basement. We stood on a couple of stink bombs and then there was a ripe old smell soon after and lingering on for ages. At that, the store manager who was Mr. Smith came in the warehouse and had noticed the pong. At that, he said to me and my work mate, “whats that awful smell, Lads”. We, replied, “don’t know Mr. Smith, might be the drains playing up – the building was built on part of the old moat from the Stockton Castle”. He believed us, we were right devils then. Yes, them were the good days.
Remember the lego kits, starting fron 2 bob in old money, that Browns’ used to sell. Whatever happeened to the Lego models that stood in the entrance way as you walked into the shop. It was a great shop to get the latest Aurora model kits.
Remember Browns well, used to buy my 45″s there – Bowie, Sweet, Deep Purple etc etc, a great shop, used the cubicle as mentioned to listen to the record first. How things have changed…..
I used to spend my pocket money in Les Browns near on every week.
I used to love this shop. I have so many happy memories of it. I used to love the coin operated horse where you rode it and shot the indians. Also upstairs, where it had a full train set out which you could actually play with!! There”s not many toy shops like that any more. It”s a real shame, my kids would have loved it.
This shop holds happy memories and sad memories for me. I bought my first records, from Leslie Brown”s. Mott The Hoople…..Roll Away The Stone New Seekers……You Wont Find Another Fool Like Me. On the 31st March 1972, when i was 8 year old, my mam and dad bought me a guitar. Later that day, my mam died.
Hi Dee Dale well looking at this photo is an absolute revelation surely this must preceed the Tards on Dr Who. HOW on eareth did so many young people from toys to records squeeze into this shop on a Saturday quite amazing really
This photograph showing, amongst others, the shop of Leslie Brown. Probably just a coincidence but the alleyway also showing in the photograph, is named Little Brown Street.
This shop is a very happy but vivid memory of my childhood(i was born 1981). I remember coloured lightbulbs around the window and did a trainset also run around the window? a massive table with compartments for loads of different marbles i think was in the middle of the shop downstairs. The left wall im remembering lego, tons of space lego, thundercats, he-man, care bears…happy happy traditional little shop with a great mad proffessor kind of fell to it. A million times better than the blandness of toys r us! If anyone has any memories of the shop or any pictures id love to see them.
I used to love my visits to Leslie Browns coming in from Thornaby on the bus or car, often getting another BRITAINS ltd animal for my collection 😀 loved going upstairs to look at the latest Pipa sindy and barbie dolls, and if i remember he also stocked Huge Steiff animals too 😀
My parents bought me my Millenium Falcon from here in the early eighties! Magical shop, the sort of place that as a kid you dreamt about… They also sold “Jokes”, things like the smoking monkey and devil crackers. A bit different to iPods and PSP”s!
Les Brown also sold records in the 50″s and 60″s and probably earlier. You could go to the counter and ask to hear one of the new record releases with a view to buying it. The girl behind the counter would put the record on a turntable and you went into a small cubicle with glass windows where you could hear the record. There were about six of these cubicles. Les Brown was one of the main sellers of records in the 60″s in Stockton. Most of the ground floor was devoted to record sales.
The Happy- Wanderer”Puppets were the originals of Mr Leslie Brown, whose shop is shown here I worked with him and Mr Cyril Hay from 1989 till his death in 1986 Of the shop he said the advent of childrens T.V killed the small toy-shop as the demand for one or two items was impossible to meet, example was “Teen-age Mutant Turtles”. TOYS-R-US was the final straw, leaving his traditional christmas stock hardly touched ,the model-kits, railways etc were in the main , purchased for the fathers enjoyment When Star-Wars was the vogue, he had a visit from “DARTH-VADA”, it was a disaster, so many turned out he had to shut the shop, the police diverted High Street traffic and two of his side windows were cracked The request from the manufactures for a “SUPERMAN” visit was turned down The boy and girl shown on shop frontage were “throwing” a coloured ball to each other First floor had the coin operated railway lay-out and accessories sales on one side, the other dolls and prams . Alongside ROCK-BOTTOM is Little Brown Street , a way for Postmen to the sorting office to the rear of the G.P.O
Bob,
Mr. Cyril Hay was my Great Uncle. He died 2 days ago aged 92.
Sorry to hear of Cyril’s passing, he worked as a boiler-man in the Head Wrightsons, Thornaby Machine Shop for years, he was a nice quiet man who was a keen photographer & was always willing to give the chaps advice when they wanted it.
Cyril R.I.P.