A.L. Lindsay & Company

A.L. Lindsay & Company, known as A.L. Lindsay & Co. was one of the longest operating toy manufacturing companies in New South Wales. Based in Leichhardt, the company was also known as Lindsay's Toy Factory. Lindsay's was the first Australian company to manufacture children's costumes under licence from Disney and Warner Brothers.

A.L. Lindsay & Company
Headquarters
Leichhardt, New South Wales
,
Australia

Establishment

Albert Leslie Lindsay (1882–1957) established A.L. Lindsay & Co. in Leichhardt in the 1920s.[1] The company originally manufactured shoe polish[1] and after introducing aprons and feather-dusters a new line of native American "Indian" inspired head-dresses for children in the 1930s[1][2] inspired Lindsay to specialise in children's costumes and toys, concentrating on 'wild west' outfits.[1][2] The first factory was located at 90-94 Parramatta Road, Petersham.[3]

Children's toy manufacturing

Lindsay's specialised in fancy dress costumes for boys and girls based mainly on television characters. Lindsay's toy guns and cowboy and Indian outfits together with the Buffalo Bill brand ensured that the ‘wild west’ was part of Australian childhood.[2] Costumes were also based on local television shows such as Skippy, Romper Room and Humphrey B. Bear.[1]

Development

Lindsay's was the first Australian firm to produce costumes under licence from Disney and Warner Brothers.[2] The company opened an additional factory at 5 Foster Street, Leichhardt and in 1968 they moved out of the two factories and into the one establishment, a two-storey factory at 19-25 Beeson Street, Leichhardt.[3]

In 1984, the company, by then trading as Lindsay's Toy Factory,[4] Leichhardt, opened a museum of toys and books.[5][2][6]

See also

References
  1. "Dress up and play the Lindsay way!". State Library of NSW. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  2. "Packaging for child's fancy dress costume, 'Conductor Outfit', paper, made by A L Lindsay and Co, Australia, 1955–1963". Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  3. "Manual press". Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  4. Simpson, Margaret. "Bench-top cover, cardboard, A L Lindsay & Co Pty Ltd, Australia, 1970–1993". Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  5. Harvey, Robyn (29 July 1990). "The Exhibitionists". The Sydney Morning Herald: 52. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  6. Lees, Stella; Macintyre, Pam (1993), The Oxford companion to Australian children's literature, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-553592-1
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