Loveday's Peter Hoots In my seventies stuff gallery (you'll have to scroll if you click through), I feature a Peter Hoot owl from the Ostrobogulous toys range. Peter Hoot was one of a number of creations from Kristin Baybars that I believe were sold in Heal's department stores.
One of Kristin’s other claims to fame is that she was part of a duo responsible for the creation of Humpty for “Play School”.
Back in November 2013, in the write up accompanying the photo, I mentioned that I had never seen another Peter Hoot. Well that has now changed thanks to an exchange of emails with a reader. Loveday, as it transpires, has two owls from the range. Above is the photo she shared with me.
And this is what she had to say:
"Hi there, just seen your post from several years ago about a soft toy owl Ostrobogulous, and the fact you hadn’t seen another. I just wanted to let you know that I have two! A brown one as in your picture and a bigger blue one. Both given to me as a child by my parents."
I am sure that Kristin would be delighted to know that people, like Loveday and I have kept and treasured her creations for so many years.
Loveday’s engagement with me prompted me to carry out a little more research and in so doing, I came across this interesting article from Harry Rosehill writing for the Londonist.
https://londonist.com/london/features/the-london-toy-shop-that-mirrors-a-child-s-imagination
Next time I am in London, like Harry, I’ll make a pilgrimage to Gospel Oak to see if I can find Kristin’s shop.
The Google searching I did also revealed that Kristin has a Facebook shop window too. I was delighted to scroll through the posts to find one from 21st May 2019 showing a whole parliament of owls.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Toy-Store/Kristin-Baybars-948746098636155/
It’s amazing that as old as Peter Hoot is, you many even still be able to buy one from the original creator. How cool is that?
Things got even more cool when I started trading notes directly with Kristin's team via Facebook. Not only was David Ward her shop manager, social media manager and friend aware of my earlier post (which frankly amazed me), he pointed me at another Facebook sub-site “@Ostrobogulous Toys”, here’s a link:
https://www.facebook.com/OstrobogulousToys/
The site makes for a great historical record and I am now a follower. I now know that:
1) The Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood clown I referred to in my earlier post goes by the name “Aristo”.
2) Peter Hoot came in three different sizes (I am not sure what size mine is)
3) That the range also included a hedgehog (called "Hedgiwig"), a goose (Sippigoose) a fish (Burble), and some other characters that I still need to find out more about (a lion, a mole, a fox perhaps?). Watch this space for further updates.
All the creatures look great, I just love the vintage fabrics. It would be delightful to own a few more of them, Aristo in particular. Rest assured, if I ever acquire any other characters, I'll share the photos on my site. If any of my readers share their photos with me, I'll share them here too.
Kristin is 85 years old, very sensibly shielding from coronavirus at home, and more of a celebrity than I appreciated. It turns out that she has even had a film called "A Pathway of Crumbs" made about her life and work.
I am sure I have made similar statements on this website before, but I’ll repeat myself here anyway. I love it when the internet enables decent dialogues to take place between complete strangers that just wouldn’t happen otherwise.
Many thanks to Loveday and to David. And a big wave to Kristin.
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One of Kristin’s other claims to fame is that she was part of a duo responsible for the creation of Humpty for “Play School”.
Back in November 2013, in the write up accompanying the photo, I mentioned that I had never seen another Peter Hoot. Well that has now changed thanks to an exchange of emails with a reader. Loveday, as it transpires, has two owls from the range. Above is the photo she shared with me.
And this is what she had to say:
"Hi there, just seen your post from several years ago about a soft toy owl Ostrobogulous, and the fact you hadn’t seen another. I just wanted to let you know that I have two! A brown one as in your picture and a bigger blue one. Both given to me as a child by my parents."
I am sure that Kristin would be delighted to know that people, like Loveday and I have kept and treasured her creations for so many years.
Loveday’s engagement with me prompted me to carry out a little more research and in so doing, I came across this interesting article from Harry Rosehill writing for the Londonist.
https://londonist.com/london/features/the-london-toy-shop-that-mirrors-a-child-s-imagination
Next time I am in London, like Harry, I’ll make a pilgrimage to Gospel Oak to see if I can find Kristin’s shop.
The Google searching I did also revealed that Kristin has a Facebook shop window too. I was delighted to scroll through the posts to find one from 21st May 2019 showing a whole parliament of owls.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Toy-Store/Kristin-Baybars-948746098636155/
It’s amazing that as old as Peter Hoot is, you many even still be able to buy one from the original creator. How cool is that?
Things got even more cool when I started trading notes directly with Kristin's team via Facebook. Not only was David Ward her shop manager, social media manager and friend aware of my earlier post (which frankly amazed me), he pointed me at another Facebook sub-site “@Ostrobogulous Toys”, here’s a link:
https://www.facebook.com/OstrobogulousToys/
The site makes for a great historical record and I am now a follower. I now know that:
1) The Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood clown I referred to in my earlier post goes by the name “Aristo”.
2) Peter Hoot came in three different sizes (I am not sure what size mine is)
3) That the range also included a hedgehog (called "Hedgiwig"), a goose (Sippigoose) a fish (Burble), and some other characters that I still need to find out more about (a lion, a mole, a fox perhaps?). Watch this space for further updates.
All the creatures look great, I just love the vintage fabrics. It would be delightful to own a few more of them, Aristo in particular. Rest assured, if I ever acquire any other characters, I'll share the photos on my site. If any of my readers share their photos with me, I'll share them here too.
Kristin is 85 years old, very sensibly shielding from coronavirus at home, and more of a celebrity than I appreciated. It turns out that she has even had a film called "A Pathway of Crumbs" made about her life and work.
I am sure I have made similar statements on this website before, but I’ll repeat myself here anyway. I love it when the internet enables decent dialogues to take place between complete strangers that just wouldn’t happen otherwise.
Many thanks to Loveday and to David. And a big wave to Kristin.
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Update 18th April 2021
I am pleased to post an update to this article. Thank you to Shaun for getting in touch and sharing a photo of his Peter Hoot. You can see Shaun’s original note in the comments below. Great fabric and nice colours too, what’s not to like?
I am pleased to post an update to this article. Thank you to Shaun for getting in touch and sharing a photo of his Peter Hoot. You can see Shaun’s original note in the comments below. Great fabric and nice colours too, what’s not to like?
Update 10th September 2021
I am pleased to post another update to this article. Thank you to Patricia for getting in touch and sharing a photo of her Peter Hoot. You can see her original note in the comments below and the photo she sent me here - you'll spot that Loveday and Patricia have the same owl.
Said Patricia, "I'm afraid he's got a bit dusty! He's the same material all over. I wasn't aware of his real name of Peter Hoot. He's always been Ostrobogulous to me. "
Great to see another one of these survivors.
I am pleased to post another update to this article. Thank you to Patricia for getting in touch and sharing a photo of her Peter Hoot. You can see her original note in the comments below and the photo she sent me here - you'll spot that Loveday and Patricia have the same owl.
Said Patricia, "I'm afraid he's got a bit dusty! He's the same material all over. I wasn't aware of his real name of Peter Hoot. He's always been Ostrobogulous to me. "
Great to see another one of these survivors.
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