Mettoy (an abbreviation of "Metal Toy") was a British manufacturing company founded in 1933 by German émigré Philip Ullmann, who was later joined by South African-born German Arthur Katz who had previously worked for Ullmann at his toy company Tipp and Co of Nuremberg. The firm made a variety of lithographed metal wind-up toys. Both Jewish, they moved to Britain following Hitler's rise to power in 1933.[1]
History
Ullman and Katz set up their toy-manufacturing business in Stimpson Avenue, between Abington Avenue and Wellingborough Road in Northampton, with their company registered on 31 August 1932.[1] They initially produced very similar tinplate toys to those being made in Germany. Within six years the Northampton factory was said to have 600 employees, and from 1944 Katz was the managing director.[2]
During the Second World War the factory manufactured not only munitions but also a cooking stove for troops posted in tropical jungle environments.[3]