BAYKO in Import Agents

Perhaps to many people's great surprise post-war, at least, BAYKO was exported, via assorted agents, to around thirty different, and widely dispersed, countries across the planet.

While I can't prove that BAYKO was exported pre-war, the advert [right] printed in 'Games and Toys' in May, 1939, shows clear intent, even if the timing could have been better!

If you've got information on pre-war exports I'd love to hear from you…

There is also a suggestion that BAYKO may have been available in other areas - British influenced areas of East Africa for example.

I know BAYKO was also sold in Egypt, but it is possible that this, and many other export markets/retailers were serviced direct from Liverpool.

Before listing the known BAYKO Import Agents, I thought it would be valuable to cover some aspects of how BAYKO was supported in the export markets. I have a fairly comprehensive idea of how the Australian market was supported thanks to the 1955-56 wholesale catalogue of Oswald-Sealy & Co. of Sidney [left].  I cannot, of course, guarantee that all the details applied equally to all the other BAYKO Import Agents across the globe, but, I certainly believe that it's a really good place to start.

The image [left] shows the front cover of the 1955-56 Oswald-Sealy “Wholesale Catalogue Price List”. They were toy importers and wholesalers, who also sold stationery and decorations [Christmas, etc.] from their base in Sydney, with a subsidiary also covering New Zealand.

A minor detail is that the name 'Oswald-Sealy' is the name of the business owner, and does not imply a merger of two previously separate companies.

The construction of the catalogue is simple. The cover is produced in a decent quality, semi-gloss card, with all but the inside back page being printed in red.

Inside there are a total of 64 pages, all of which are printed in black ink, including many quality photographic images, on good quality, semi-gloss paper. It is a quality item, given its basic commercial purpose, probably indicative of the service level offered.

The large image [above] shows the full, double page, centre spread of the catalogue, showing the world's first and finest plastic construction toy, in all its wholesale glory. I have to be careful about reading too much into such a position which may never have been meant, but surely it's indicative, to some extent at least, of Oswand-Sealy's perspective on BAYKO.

I have a couple of related documents from a toy wholesaler in India, with an accompanying letter, dated January, 1956, which clearly covers a similar period to this Australian one. Surprisingly though, there are one or two differences - primarily in the quantities of sets included in the prescribed order quantities - and 'carton' contents. To avoid excessive duplication, these details are discussed elsewhere, the links below will take you to the relevant pages…

…click anywhere on the left hand page [above] for a larger image of the 'Carton' Contents.

From my point of view, the most interesting detail in this document lies in the last four words, immediately above the signal box model - “Delivery approximately 4 months”.  I can't see that the rigours of the Australian national infrastructure would cause such sluggishness, so the obvious conclusion is that the long lead time was caused by the BAYKO supplies coming from the U.K., without the benefit of any stockholding by Messrs. Oswald-Sealy. The minimum order quantity of 6 cartons would also seem to point to the cost of direct transportation from the U.K. rather than internal Australian carriage.

I've no insight on whether this was the standard import process in other markets, nor have I evidence it wasn't, but it's not difficult to imagine that a [then] comparatively isolated market, would have got used to such protracted lead times.

Click anywhere on the right hand page [above] for a larger image of the Ordering Conditions.

For the record, the initials “E. & O. E.” which were printed in the bottom right hand corner of every page, stands for 'Errors and Omissions Excepted', which Wikipedia defines as, “a phrase used in an attempt to reduce legal liability for potentially incorrect or incomplete information supplied in a contractually related document.”  - so now you know!

I also have some wholesale documentation from the Indian market, which you may find interesting…

The Canadian importer [below] is interesting when you consider the 1959 MECCANO take-over!

BAYKO may also have been available in other areas : -