Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes - Merchandise

Merchandise

Potter confidently asserted her tales would one day be nursery classics, and part of the process in making them so was marketing strategy. She was the first to exploit the commercial possibilities of her characters and tales with spinoff merchandise such as a Peter Rabbit doll, a board game called The Game of Peter Rabbit, and nursery wallpaper between 1903 and 1905. Other "side-shows" (as she termed the ancillary merchandise) were produced over the following two decades.

In 1947 Frederick Warne & Co. gave Beswick Pottery of Longton, Staffordshire rights and licenses to produce the Potter characters in porcelain. Nine figurines based on Appley Dapply were released beginning in 1959: Old Woman in a Shoe; Amiable Guinea Pig; Appley Dapply; Little Black Rabbit; Diggory Diggory Delvet; Old Mister Pricklepin; Old Woman in a Shoe, Knitting; Mrs. "Cottontail" at Lunchtime; another figurine of the Amiable Guinea Pig; and Two Gentelman Rabbits from the frontispiece. All the figurines were retired by 2002.

In 1975 Crummles of Dorset began producing 1 and 5/8 inch (41.3 mm) diameter enamelled boxes depicting scenes and characters from the Potter tales. Little Black Rabbit and Old Mr. Pricklepin were the only two characters from Appley Dapply released. In 1994 and 1995 Crummles was commissioned to create exclusive works for an American distributor. Little Black Rabbit was produced, and a stamp box depicting scenes from both Appley Dapply and Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes. Crummles closed its doors abruptly in 1995, and only 80 of the planned 150 stamp boxes were produced.

In 1977 Schmid & Co. of Toronto and Randolph, Massachusetts was granted licensing rights to Beatrix Potter. In 1978 the firm released an Old Woman in a Shoe music box and in 1981 an Amiable Guinea Pig music box. In the middle 1980s, music boxes featuring Gentleman in the Snow from the frontispiece (playing "Try to Remember"), Appley Dapply, another Old Woman in the Show, and Diggory Delvet were released. In 1984 flat ceramic Christmas ornaments were released depicting Amiable Guinea Pig, Gentleman in the Snow, Old Woman in a Shoe, Old Woman Knitting, Little Black Rabbit, and Diggory Delvet. Schmid became the exclusive importer of Potter figurines from the Italian firm of ANRI. The Potter figurines were sculpted in a synthetic material called Toriart. Gentleman in the Snow and Amiable Guinea Pig were released.

In 1973 The Eden Toy Company of New York was the first American firm to acquire rights to manufacture stuffed Potter characters in plush. Little Black Rabbit was issued in 1976 and Amiable Guinea Pig in 1984. In 1999 C & F Enterprise distributed a Christmas needlepoint pillow depicting the Two Gentlemen Walking in Snow from the frontispiece. Linda Long Original has produced hand-stitched, free-standing figures in fabric of Two Gentlemen in the Snow and Little Black Rabbit.