BAYKO in LITTLEWOODS Catalogues

Liverpool based LITTLEWOODS [The LITTLEWOODS Organisation, or LITTLEWOODS Mailorder Stores] was, for many, many years, the U.K.'s largest mail order business.
It was founded by John Moores [who had the pleasure of meeting me on several occasions] on the back of his Football Pools business, taking advantage of its most valuable asset…
…the names and addresses of people who were regular, reliable payers!
	Their next logical step was to utilise their substantial supplier list as the basis for establishing their LITTLEWOODS chain of stores, which once topped the hundred mark.
	BAYKO appeared in just three Autumn / Winter catalogues that I know of - 1957, 1958 and 1959 - but may have appeared in other years…
	…though certainly not in the 1950s or 1960s.
I know this because I've only found BAYKO entries in the British Library, St. Pancreas, for those three years from those two decades…
…sadly the records are held on coloured Microfiche and, they're unable to provide images off them, and refuse to explore any options.
To be even handed with my frustration, I've also failed to get any information from the company that now operates the catalogues, indeed they don't even bother to reply to my contacts…
…this is particularly galling as I worked for LITTLEWOODS, in the 1970s, and know what their customer service ethic used to be!
S U C C E S S ! - I've finally got them, thanks to eBay, is there any limit to what will eventually appear there?

LITTLEWOODS Catalogue - Autumn / Winter - 1957 / 1958

The image [left] is page 254 of the LITTLEWOODS Autumn/Winter Catalogue, 1957/1958.
The BAYKO entry is bottom left, with the script in second position in the 'Junior Craftsman' section of the white background part of the right hand column.
If you slide your mouse over the image it will highlight the BAYKO section.
In additional, if you click anywhere on the image, you will see a larger copy of the BAYKO section.
The set shown is BAYKO set #2, which [to me a strange choice] was the only size available.
The complete BAYKO entry reads as follows : -
Bayko Building Set No. 2 offers great scope for model building. Parts beautifully moulded from attractive coloured plastic. True-to-life houses and other buildings can be made complete with roofs, floors, windows and brick sections. Illustrated building plans included.
		31/6
UK 008	COMPLETE

This image comes from downloads containing images from three different LITTLEWOODS Catalogues that I picked up on eBay.

The image [right] is page 281 of the LITTLEWOODS Autumn/Winter Catalogue, 1958/1959.
The BAYKO entry is top left, with the script in the matching position in the white background section.
Slide your mouse over the image to highlight the BAYKO section.
Additionally, if you click anywhere on the image, you will see a larger copy of the BAYKO section.
The set shown is BAYKO set #4, but set #2 and set #3 are also available, a significant growth on the previous year.
The complete BAYKO entry reads as follows : -
'Bayko' Building Sets. - make realistic models of houses, and other buildings, with roofs, windows, floors, brick sections, etc. Moulded from coloured plastic. complete with illustrated building plans.
UK 551 Set No. 2 - Box Size:	31/6
14½ by 10⅜ by 2⅝ ins. SET
UK 552 Set No.3 - Box Size:	52/3
15½ by 11 by 3 ins. SET
UK 552 Set No.4 - Box Size:	99/3
16 by 10½ by 4½ ins. SET

This image comes from downloads containing images from three different LITTLEWOODS Catalogues that I picked up on eBay.

The image [left] is page 546 of the LITTLEWOODS Autumn/Winter Catalogue, 1959/1960. I think the change in page number range is because the Autumn/Winter catalogue just continued from the Spring/Summer version.
The BAYKO entry is top left, with the script just above the middle, in the white background section, in the right hand column.
Slide your mouse over the image to highlight the BAYKO section.
Additionally, if you click anywhere on the image, you will see a larger copy of the BAYKO section.
The set shown is BAYKO set #3, but set #2 is also available, but this represents a reduction from the previous year…
…unlike the prices which have gone up by 4%.
The complete BAYKO entry reads as follows : -
Bayko Building Set . . . with illustrated building plans.
UK 551 Set No. 2 - Box Size:	32/9
14½ by 10⅜ by 2⅝ ins. SET
UK 552 Set No.3 - Box Size:	54/3
15½ by 11 by 3 ins. SET

This image comes from downloads containing images from three different LITTLEWOODS Catalogues that I picked up on eBay.

If you can help provide details of any other BAYKO entries then I'd love to hear from you…

Below here are links to related info : -

Click on any of the links below for related information.
BAYKO Sales and Marketing	BAYKO Advertising	BAYKO at Exhibitions
BAYKO Retail Channels		BAYKO Cabinets and Retail Display
BAYKO in the Army and Navy Stores	BAYKO in Binns Stores [House of Fraser]	BAYKO in Gamages
BAYKO in Hamleys	BAYKO in Cooke's of Manchester Catalogue	BAYKO in J. G. Graves Catalogues
	BAYKO in FREEMANS Catalogues
BAYKO in CURRYS		BAYKO in Local Toyshops
	BAYKO Direct Sales
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