Welcome to page two of my History of the Respected company Hobbies Ltd of Dereham. Page one. 1884 - 1920's is here
This page covers the period after WWI had ended from the 1920's to 1968.
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Once the War had ended Hobbies continued with their traditional fretwork supplies, their 'heyday' being the 1920's and 1930's especially as fretwork was concerned. Although they did dabble with other things such as an all steel tennis racket (probably because the managing director at the time was Richard Jewson a keen player). they also made steam powered model boats and separate steam engines. There were also several spats and court actions with rival company Handicrafts during these times.
After the early 1930's the interest in fretwork dwindled especially the very intricate elaborate designs and people did not want it in their homes many saying they were fed up with dusting them! Although the annual catalogue was still some 300 pages, by 1939 as interest in the hobby ceased the amount of intricate designs ceased too and although the catalogue was printed throughout WWII page numbers and items offered for sale plummeted with emphasis on war related designs and a few tools etc.
Once the war was over the catalogue gradually increased in page size but the intricate fretwork designs never returned, there was a small resurgence in the hobby for wooden toys and gifts such as pipe racks and calendar brackets and such like during the early 1950's due to lack of items in the shops but by the mid 1950's interest in Fretwork was mostly gone. You can discover more about Hobbies catalogues here
Below are some images of Hobbies factory in Dereham from 1926
Top left. Planing & sawing. Top right The Sawmill. Middle left Lathes in the Machine shop.
Middle Right Part of the machine shop. Bottom Left Woodworking dept Bottom Right Assembly dept.
n 1931 Hobbies started the Hobbies league, its aim to promote and benefit all those involved in Fretwork and Carpentry, to give help and advice to other members, to be a 'band of friends' with a common interest and to Forward the Hobbies name.
Anyone could join there was no age limit, to be a member one had to cut out a simple piece from a supplied design and use Hobbies tools. They also made a sign Fretwork cut here available to hand in ones window to get business.
The league was similar to the British Fretwork Society formed by Hobbies some 20 years earlier.
Between the 1920’s and 1930’s Hobbies were back to normal after the war years and during that time and up to the outbreak of WWII in 1939 they were employing around 200 staff, around half were in the Engineering works while the rest were employed in the normal Hobbies wares such as Fretwork and other hobby items.
In 1928 Hobbies introduced the famous Gem Treadle Fret-machine, early versions used parts from the better quality A1 machine but later cheaper Pressed steel was used. The Gem Machine was being sold by Hobbies right until the company ceased trade in 1968.
In 1931 another Treadle machine was introduced namely the I.D.L. model which apparently stood for Ideal?
All of these machines are detailed on my Treadle fretsaw page.
Left. The Gem with pressed steel footplate. Right. The I.D.L. with drilling attachment.
As you may have read on my Home page, Modern motorised fretwork machines were introduced in 1975 when Helmut Abel created the Hegner powered fret-machine, But in 1931 Hobbies produced and sold a motor kit to be attached to their fret-machines although today these kits would be banned by the Health and safety ‘watchdogs’ and in fairness you can see why!
It is a made of metal and was supplied with a two core cable and a B.C. adaptor for connecting to a lampholder, hence no earth! Up until the 1950's many houses had no electrical sockets and it was quite common although not safe to plug appliances - irons - TV sets etc into a lamp holder.
You can read about the electric drives on the Hobbies Powered Saw Page.
During 1931 Hobbies manufactured some 10,000,000 fretsaw blades in their own factory using machines invented by Hobbies Director Herbert Jewson. Hobbies were the only company in Great Britain to make fretsaw blades. Heavy machine cut the teeth, furnaces for the tempering and a bench of inspectors to ensure no duds are sent out to customers.
The Hobbies company today no longer have a factory but for many years they have sold the excellent German made Niqua brand of blade which I have been using myself for over 25 years I can happily recommend them.
Over the years hobbies had supplied designs for many model aeroplanes and gliders but on the 17th of October 1931 Hobbies Weekly magazine introduced a design for a glider which had an amazing difference to their normal designs.
You can read about this on the Hobbies Weekly page.
No 203 Coronation Coach
1937 saw another coronation – this time for King George VI and as with the last coronation in 1911 of George V -Hobbies used the event to increase business. A special edition of Hobbies weekly was published together with Fretwork designs to complement the occasion - one such design was for the superb fretwork model of the coronation coach, (design No. 203). The design remained in the annual catalogue for many years- in fact in the 1980’s the new Hobbies company founded by Ivan Stroulger (you will read more of him later) reintroduced the plan and it remained in the annual until around 1997.
They also offered a special Coronation Fretwork outfit which proved to be very popular with their customers.
Also offered were the commemorative Royal family photo frame (Design No 2169) The kit contained a colour photograph of the Royal Family. Whilst the Special Coronation plaque kit (No 2166) contained a special embossed Bronze Plaque some 4 inches (400mm) in Diameter.
In the early 1930’s Hobbies manufactured their first independently powered fretsaw – called the Anchor it was revolutionary for it’s time.
The first version was very basic however it was of very good build quality. The machine was advertised as having “no less than eleven ball bearings, offering very smooth running”.
By 1938 Hobbies offered a much improved version of the Anchor which in terms of quality matched today’s Hegner quality machines.
The Anchor offered a true vertical stroke giving a better cut than many of the machines available in modern times.
Full details on the Anchor machines can be found on the Powered saws page.
In 1939 Hobbies introduced another new design of treadle Fret-machine called the Marvel. The Marvel was also available equipped as a 'bench' version with a small electric motor. The Marvels were rigid arm saws and offered a true vertical stroke but this type of saw does have disadvantages which you can read about in the fretsaws pages. In later years the marvel was simply driven by a Black & Decker drill mounted on the fixed bottom arm. The Marvel models are covered in the Hobbies Power Saw pages.
During the late 1920’s Hobbies introduced Dolls houses to their range available as a kit of parts, wood and fittings and a design or just the design only, they also sold design sheets for a range of Dolls house furniture. The houses were very popular right up to 1968 when the company ceased to trade, but that was not the end of the dolls houses - as you will learn on the Hobbies today page Ex employee Ivan Stroulger built up the new Hobbies company designing and selling a range of dolls houses. (Ivan Stroulger & the new Hobbies company is here.)
I shall not cover the dolls houses in any more detail as this site is about the fretworking side of hobbies and there is already an excellent website that covers them called dollshousespastandpresent.co.uk
Old time ships
Also in the late 1930’s Hobbies introduced it’s range of Old time ships, as with other things they were attractively boxed and came with every thing needed to build the model including the wood, ready turned guns, masts, pulleys, twine for the rigging and sail material they also came with a brass nameplate plus of course the design sheet, patterns and full instructions. The design sheet was also available separately.
The models were quite large the Cutty sark for example was 21 inches (533mm) in length and very impressive when built.
When a young lad of 17 I found a complete boxed Hobbies ship kit in my Grandfathers shed which I started to build but at the time I was more interested in other things and the box got thrown away which I bitterly regret
Realising that some people would not have room for or want a large sailing ship Hobbies developed a miniature range of Old Time Ships. The largest of this range was just eight inches (200mm) in length. The model kits contained everything to make the models as with the larger models but obviously cost less money to buy.
I do have a new boxed Miniature version No3108 The Kings Ship. As you can see the kit contains everything including some tiny turned wooden cannons, a brass embossed nameplate and a delightful little metal Anchor.
On the third of September 1939 Great Britain found itself at war with Germany once again and many of Hobbies staff joined the forces or were sent to work in other important factories but as with WWI Hobbies were working full-time on war work. Hobbies engineering works manufactured components for Aircraft- in particular for the De Havilland Mosquito aeroplane.
Throughout the war both Hobbies Weekly and the Annuals continued to be published, However page numbers in both were reduced drastically due to paper shortages, by 1943 the handbook consisted of just 73 pages compare to the 1939 version of 284 pages.
The The Hobbies 1941 handbook sold over 100,000 copies in a very short time. Hobbies Weekly had far fewer pages than pre-war but still sold around 50,000 copies during wartime.
Models to make in the wartime handbooks and Hobbies Weekly were war related including Ships, planes, tanks and guns. The 1942 handbook included a printed design sheet to make a model of a Cruiser tank - the model measured 12 ½ inches by 7 ¼ inches wide (317mm x 184mm) with the description that any ‘handyman’ with a fretsaw could complete it.
Once WWII ended Hobbies started to return from doing war work to concentrate on their regular products. The days of intricate fretwork designs had by now practically died out – intricate fretwork had mostly died out in the 1930’s, many people said they were fed up dusting the stuff!
In spite of wartime shortages still affecting production (up to the 1950’s) and the demise of ornate fretwork, Hobbies continued to do good business mainly due to the fact that toys and other items were not available even for some years after the war had ended.
Hobbies filled the gap with plans and kits to make all sorts of wheeled toys and novelties such as trinket boxes, letter racks, book stands, calendars, dolls houses and model ships etc.
During wartime the eagerly looked forward to Hobbies annual reduced to around 68 pages and stayed this way until the 1950’s.
When paper shortages eased the page number of the annuals had by 1957 increased to around 150 pages but it never reached the heady days of the 1930’s with the 1931- 1939 annuals approaching almost 300 pages.
As a young lad in the 1950’s I remember my late father spending the evenings at his Hobbies A1 Treadle machine (that my grandfather bought in 1900) cutting out lots of toy rabbits and other creatures also endless wheels for the little trolleys they sat on, he also made lots of decorative calendars and other novelties.Obviously as a young lad I would ‘help’ him - using my Hobbies hand-frame but I could never do the cutting as expertly as he could. Since those early days I have had a fascination for and an interest in fretworking and of course the wonderful Hobbies company.
As a matter of interest I still have my father’s Hobbies A1 Treadle machine and copies of the plans he used but sadly I don’t have a single item that he made, I suppose he just sold them all and didn’t keep any for our house. My father worked at the local Air-force base and he obtained his plywood from their old packing cases, then during his daytime job at the base as Barrack warden he would sell his wares to the ladies in the married quarters.
Over the years Hobbies have made and sold many non Fretwork things including Cameras, Steam engines, cycles, tennis rackets and even pre fabricated bungalows to name but a few so it was no surprise that in the early 1960’s they designed small sailing craft such as dinghy's and canoes.
The first ‘craft’ that Hobbies offered was a 16 foot (4.87m) long Catamaran named the “Flying cat” it was available either as a kit for the handyman to build or a ready build craft. Hobbies described it as having many advanced features and offering outstanding performance.
The “Flying Cat” was followed by a 10 foot (approx 3m) Dinghy advertised as being able to carry three persons for river or Sea. Other craft followed including the PBK range of Canoes and two craft Hobbies described as runabouts named the Zip and the Roamer.
Although these craft are interesting this site is mostly concerned with Fretwork rather than boat building so I shall not cover the craft further.
The Hobbies engineering side had been kept busy during the war years making munitions including huge bomb carriers for aircraft but most of their machinery dated back to the first world war, whereas other companies had invested in modern machinery. Hobbies soon found themselves unable to compete so in 1964 the directors decided to retire and sell the company.
The concern that bought Hobbies were a company called Industrial & Commercial Holdings Ltd, they were not interested in the engineering part of Hobbies only the retail side so this part was quickly sold off – eventually to be closed down in 1977.
The new company introduced new lines and at the same time removed previous ones that had always been successful, the new lines were a ‘flop’. The circulation of Hobbies weekly magazine dropped to just 20,000 copies so this was closed down in late 1965.
In 1968 the trusted name of Hobbies since 1897 was for some inexplicable reason suddenly changed to Exham Realisations Ltd. Heaven only knows why anyone should think that was a better company name than Hobbies!
The last Hobbies annual was published in 1968 and by 1969 the once famous and highly trusted company of Hobbies was closed down – a sad day for all fretwork enthusiasts and the employees made redundant including Sales manager Mr Ivan Stroulger.
It was not the end of the Hobbies name – which was to rise again to the company it is today. You can read about this and the part Ivan Stroulger played in it’s resurrection on the next page.
Left. The 1968 annual - last one for the old Hobbies company started by John Henry Skinner.
Right Ivan Stroulger meets G. Masters, last managing director of Hobbies Ltd.
There are two recent books available that may be of interest to those who want to know a little more of the old Hobbies company and their history. The first was published in 2009 and is entitled "Hobbies Annual useful occupations for practical chaps" and the other "Hobbies small wood projects" published in 2010. Both volumes were published by Ammonite Press, and are readily available second-hand.
I bought copies of these when they first came out and although they are profusely illustrated throughout and no doubt of great interest I must say that I was a little disappointed to find very little content about fretwork itself, especially so since Hobbies was originally founded on fretwork and it was part of the companies main business for over seventy years.
ISBN 1906672202
ISBN 1906672563
Next Page Hobbies. 1968 - Today
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