Fuzzy-Felt

thumb|A composition in Fuzzy-Felt by a two-year-old.

Fuzzy-Felt is a simple fabric toy intended for young children, first sold in 1950. The toys consist of a flocked backing board onto which a number of felt shapes are placed to create different pictures. Felt pieces can be simple silhouettes or more detailed printed shapes. For a farmyard scene, for example, auxiliary pieces would typically be cows, sheep, chickens, horses, cats, dogs, a farmer, and a tractor. Other scenes might include hospitals, pets, and vehicles. Fuzzy-Felt is for children over the age of three years, as the pieces may present a choking hazard.

History

Fuzzy-Felt was invented by Lois Allan (d. Farnham Common 1989) during World War II, although similar products had existed pre-war, for example, Kiddicraft K100 'Pictures in Felt' of 1937. Born Lois Day, she was an American. She studied art and fashion in Paris in the 1920s.

In popular culture

Fashion

In 2008, fashion designer Stella McCartney used a “ 7-meter high, 14-meter wide” Fuzzy-Felt backdrop, created by artists Jake and Dinos Chapman, as a visual accent for the debut of her 2008 spring/summer collection in Paris. The backdrop was made up of “rainbow-coloured rabbits, giraffes and a particularly anxious ladybird”, all reminiscent of the 1970s child’s toy.

Literature

In Jeanette Winterson's novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, the protagonist Jess uses Fuzzy-Felt to depict Bible scenes, one of which is a rewrite of Daniel in the lions' den. She depicts Daniel as getting eaten by the lions, and when confronted by the pastor tries to disguise this by saying that she 'wanted to do Jonah and the whale, but they don't do whales in Fuzzy-Felt'. The pastor then tells Jess that they should do the Astonishment at Dawn scene, and Jess remarks to herself that this is 'hopeless... Susan Green was sick on the tableau of the three Wise Men at Christmas, and you only get three kings to a box'.

Music

Fuzzy-Felt Folk is a collection of “rare, delightful folk oddities for strange adults and maybe their children too… The front cover imagery of the album is from the original 1968 Fuzzy-Felt Fantasy set.”

Current

Fuzzy-Felt toy products are currently sold by John Adams Leisure Ltd of Huntingdon, under license from Fuzzy-Felt Ltd and Mandolyn Ltd. There is a UK registered trade mark (number 2461883) for "Fuzzy-Felt", registered to a non-trading UK company (number 03227732) "Fuzzy-Felt Ltd". In 2017 Fuzzy-Felt was commemorated with a special stamp from the Royal Mail, which was celebrating 10 of the most iconic and much-loved British toys from the last 100 years. Fuzzy-Felt was amongst the top ten classic toys chosen. Even after nearly 70 years, Fuzzy-Felt continues to evoke feelings of nostalgia across generations and is still hugely popular throughout the world today.