Rocking Horse Revival

Rocking Horse Revival - Horse Links

Revival/ Horse Links

(For interesting rocking horse links and other horse links, please scroll to the bottom of the page)

Antique rocking horses? Rocking horse heirlooms? Rocking horse tradition? As rocking horse making virtually evaporated as Britain’s young men went off to fight in the First World War in 1914, all of these concepts must have seemed far-fetched.

English rocking horse workshops fell silent and most of the rocking horse companies disappeared never to return. By the time the Great War ended in 1918, a new age had dawned: Horses were becoming less a part of daily life and toy horses and rocking horses were never to regain such a broad appeal.

THE HAYDAY OF THE ROCKING HORSE

There had been no sign of this demise in the years prior to the war. British rocking horse making boomed and each year many a new rocking horse workshop sprang up to meet the increasing demand for rocking horses.

It is perhaps surprising to us nowadays in the age of brands, but most rocking horse makers and companies gave little thought to including identifying marks on their rocking horse designs. This was partially because many rocking horses were sold in department stores who had no interest in promoting the rocking horse maker. Indeed, it is not uncommon these days to see older horses with the names of Harrods, Army and Navy Stores or Barkers of Kensington stecilled on the stand. In truth though, most of the rocking horse producers comprised an individual rocking horse carver or two, or small groups of craftsmen. It is unlikely that these small groups of rocking horse makers either identified with a particular rocking horse brand or that they thought of their rocking horses as future heirlooms.

F.H. AYRES ROCKING HORSES

The London maker, F.H. Ayres, was to a limited extent an exception in that Ayres rocking horses would sometimes have a maker’s stamp and their enduring designs (most observers regard the Ayres rocking horse as the pinnacle of Victorian rocking horse design) make them both more appealing and more easily identifiable than most of their contemporaries. By the way, Ayres rocking horse production survived the First World War, but not the Second World War.

G&J LINES ROCKING HORSES

G&J Lines was one of the most prominent of the Victorian and Edwardian rocking horse makers, but they too failed to survive the First World War, though the family business did re-surface as Lines Brothers. They may have been the first to adopt a rocking horse production-line with individuals responsible for particular parts or stages of assembly. They metamorphosised again to become Tri-ang and so enjoyed a longer life than most of their rivals, even though they too could not hold back the tide of the choice of mass-produced alternative toys.

COLLINSON ROCKING HORSES

Liverpool rocking horse maker J. Collinson, which had also spawned nearby Baby Carriages, survived even longer before their final closure around 1990, but they too found that they could not square the cost circle of producing a hand-made rocking horse in a mass-production age.

And then……………………………………….

ROCKING HORSE RENAISSANCE

Rocking horse making is dead! Long live rocking horse making! As cheap plastics abound, mass materials and many homes threaten to drown in low-quality disposable toys, the hand-carved traditional rocking horse is enjoying a revival: talented and dedicated rocking horse makers have found discerning rocking horse buyers who can and will invest in the joy, the treasure and the heirloom that is a hand-carved rocking horse. The rocking horse dream is alive and rocking horse making seems back to stay!

Rocking Horse Links
The Kensington Rocking Horse Company
A small group of the top and most experienced rocking horse makers is grouped together in this rocking horse company. Another leading rocking horse maker, national rocking horse has also joined the Kensington Rocking Horse stable
Horse Links
Horse Books and Videos.com - one of the largest selections of horse riding books, horse videos and DVDs
Cox the Saddler
Horse Racing UK - Horse Racing UK and Related Links