Bestoys "School Mate" & "Victory" Desks & Stools

Bestoys
"SCHOOL MATE", "VICTORY" and "AUSTRALIA VICTORY" Desks and Stools

The “School Mate”, “Victory” and “Australia Victory” Desks and Stools go hand-in-hand. They were introduced together, one offering a correct writing slope (remember writing slopes?) and the other a flat surface. They were compact, taking up a corner of a room yet giving the young scholar ample storage space and working surface.

c1959

“SCHOOL MATE” Desks and Stools.
The original models were made of solid ¾” dressed radiata pine and featured a sloping hinged lift-up lid and stylish Swedish tapered legs, all finished in two coats of maple-tinted gloss clear lacquer, hand-sanded in between coats. The top panels were edged with a gold and black plastic beading and had one ink well and two pencil grooves. It was supplied complete with a matching stool, upholstered with plastic sponge foam and reinforced PVC coated fabric. The legs were easy to assemble onto the mounting blocks on base of the desk and stool, using the bolts and washers supplied in the flat pack carton. The bolts fastened into a T-nut which had been inserted into the block with the outer hole concealed by a nickel-plated dome.
The “SCHOOL MATE” was offered in a variety of styles:

Desk and Stool – plain wooden lid with upholstered stool
Desk and Stool with blackboard – as above but with a hinged blackboard under the lid that swung out and fitted into a groove on the front of the desk
Desk and Stool with map of Australia – the plain desk and stool with a PVC-coated full colour map of Australia applied to the top of the lid
Desk and Stool with map and blackboard – as above with the swing-down blackboard.

1958 "School Mate" Desk and Stool, closed

1958 "School Mate" Desk and Stool, opened

“VICTORY” & “AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desk & Stools.
Equal in popularity to the “School Mate” was the “Victory” series. The original “Victory” had a pull-out drawer, which was later changed to a hinged lift-up lid and was very like the slightly larger “School Mate” except it had a flat lid rather than sloping.
Two options were offered:

“VICTORY” Desk and Stool – originally with a drawer, later changed to hinged lift up lid, the top was covered with a washable PVC plastic as was the front of the drawer and matching stool. And was trimmed with plastic beading to the edges of the lid. Also with one inkwell and 2 pencil grooves.
“AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desk and Stool – Same as the “Victory” but featuring a PVC-coated full-colour map of Australia on the top.

Both items came in cartoned flat packs complete with bolts and washers.

1958 "Victory" and "Australia Victory" Desk and Stool. Writing on the catalogue was done by Jim Bonaretti in preparing the next catalogue.

A plastic inkwell was supplied with each desk, fitted into the hole on the right-side of the pencil rack

Last century, no provision was made for left-handed children. As was the custom of the day, natural "lefties" were "encouraged" (read: forced) to use their right hand, often resulting in children writing backward. This was the first-hand experience of Jim's own son. Mercifully for children today, this practice no longer is followed and is, in fact, frowned upon.

Victorian-style nickel-plated metal hinges were fixed with six screws each, usually hammered in to start then screwed down to tighten

Zinc-plated 4-prong tee nuts used in the mounting blocks

Chrome-plated pronged dome caps used to cover the outside drill holes on the mounting block

Zinc-plated slotted head machine bolt (or screw) supplied with each desk and stool. A screwdriver was all the equipment required for assembly

Zinc-plated flat washer. Eight of these, with eight bolts were supplied in a small paper envelope

1963

"SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool
The range on offer doubled with the introduction of the option of either a polished or upholstered stool.
Offered now were:

“SCHOOL MATE” No 1 – Plain polished desk and stool
“SCHOOL MATE” No 2 – Plain polished desk and upholstered stool
“SCHOOL MATE” No 3 – Polished desk with polished stool and blackboard
“SCHOOL MATE” No 4 – Polished desk with upholstered stool and blackboard
“SCHOOL MATE” No 5 – Polished desk with map of Australia and polished stool
“SCHOOL MATE” No 6 – Polished desk with map of Australia and upholstered stool
“SCHOOL MATE” No 7 – Polished desk with map of Australia and blackboard and polished stool
“SCHOOL MATE” No 8 – Polished desk with map of Australia and blackboard with upholstered stool.

"School Mate" Desks and Stools from Bestoys 1963 catalogue

“VICTORY” & “AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desks & Stools
By 1963, both the “Victory” and “Australia Victory” had done away with drawers and were manufactured with hinged lift-up lids even though the catalogue illustration for the "Australia Victory" had drawers. The lids had plastic beading. The stools, as far as can be seen, were not upholstered.

“VICTORY” Desk and Stool
“AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desk and Stool – Same as the “Victory” but featuring a PVC-coated full-colour map of Australia on the top.

"Victory" and "Australia Victory Desks and Stools from Bestoys 1963 catalogue

1966

With the introduction of Corinite, the high-pressure plastic laminated particle board, Bestoys took the challenge of this new material and converted much of its range to Corinite both in particle board and hardboard, and to some extent the softer plywood.
The range of “SCHOOL MATE” and ‘VICTORY” Desks and Stools were redesigned to create an exceptional range of students’ desk to suit any modern décor and renamed accordingly “DE LUXE”.
The raw edges of the body of the desks were finished with a specially made brown plastic edging as were the outer-facing edges of the Swedish legs. The unupholstered stool, too, was trimmed with the plastic edging.
These now came in a vast variety of woodgrain colours from the light eucalyptus, through the mid-shades of oak and maple, right through to the dark shades of teak and walnut, plus white – there was something for everyone. And sales proved that everyone loved these desks.

"DE-LUXE SCHOOL MATE” Desks and Stools
The upholstered stools were discontinued reducing the range from eight to four.

“DE LUXE SCHOOL MATE” No 1 – Plain
“DE LUXE SCHOOL MATE” No 2 – with blackboard
“DE LUXE SCHOOL MATE” No 3 – with map of Australia
“DE LUXE SCHOOL MATE” No 4 – with map of Australia and blackboard

“VICTORY” & “AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desks & Stools
As with the “School Mate”, the “Victory” was redesigned and made of Corinite. It too was offered with or without a map of Australia on the lid and no option for an upholstered stool.

“DE LUXE VICTORY” Desk and Stool
“DE LUXE AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desk and Stool – Same as the “Victory” but featuring a PVC-coated full-colour map of Australia on the top.

"School Mate" Desks and Stools from Bestoys 1966 catalogue

"Victory" and "Australia Victory" Desks and Stools from Bestoys 1966 catalogue

The above colour swatch is from Formica and dated 1966. Corinthian Joinery eventually sold its process to Formica around 1973. Only some of these woodgrain patterns were duplicated by Corinite in 1966.

Plastic extrusion trim of the type that was used to finish the raw edges of Corinite panels. Bestoys purchased it in large coils about 50 cms wide, packed in cartons interleaved with cardboard sheets. Miles and miles of this trim were used over the course of almost 30 years.

To read more about Corinite click here:

Corinite Raw Material

1967

Another change was made to the "SCHOOL MATE” and “VICTORY” Desk and stools warranting a name change as well. Now both ranges were "SUPER DE LUXE”.
The legs of both ranges were changed from Corinite to chrome-plated tapered metal legs with swivel ferrules, and stools were, once again, upholstered.

"SCHOOL MATE” Desks and Stools

“SUPER DE LUXE SCHOOL MATE” No 1 – Plain
“SUPER DE LUXE SCHOOL MATE” No 2 – with blackboard
“SUPER DE LUXE SCHOOL MATE” No 3 – with map of Australia
“SUPER DE LUXE SCHOOL MATE” No 4 – with map of Australia and blackboard

"School Mate" Desks and Stools from Bestoys 1967 catalogue

“VICTORY” & “AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desks & Stools

“SUPER DE LUXE VICTORY” Desk and Stool
“SUPER DE LUXE AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desk and Stool – Same as the “Victory” but featuring a PVC-coated full-colour map of Australia on the top.

"Victory" and "Australia Victory" Desks and Stools from Bestoys 1967 catalogue

The new style of tapered steel leg did away with the wooden mounting blocks on the base of the desk and stool.
In their place, using a jig, metal mounting brackets were fixed during manufacture. The consumer only needed to screw the metal legs in place to be ready for use. No counting out of bolts and washers, either, meant one step ion manufacturing was eliminated.

Zinc plated metal mounting plates used four screws on each to attach to the base of the desk and stool

The image on the left shows how the steel tapered legs would have been assembled

1970

The 1970 changes to both the “SCHOOL MATE" and “VICTORY” Desks and Stools saw new style legs made of either gold- or chrome-plated ¾” tubular steel with fancy scrolled stretchers. Each pair of legs was in the form of an inverted "U" with two flanges attached to the top at right-angles. Two holes were punched in each. Both styles included an upholstered stool and came with a packet of 16 nickel-plated self-tapping wood screws to attach the legs (8 for the desk and 8 for the stool) at the pre-punched holes on the base of the desk and stool.

The names reverted to the simple form:

Zinc-plated pan head slotted self-tapping screw

Nickel-plated round head slotted self-tapping screw

“SCHOOL MATE” Desks and Stools

“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 1 – Plain
“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 2 – with blackboard
“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 3 – with map of Australia
“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 4 – with map of Australia and blackboard

"School Mate" Desks and Stools from Bestoys 1970 catalogue

“VICTORY” & “AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desks & Stools

“VICTORY” Desk and Stool
“AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desk and Stool – with a PVC-coated full-colour map of Australia on the top.

"Victory" and "Australia Victory" Desks and Stools from Bestoys 1970 catalogue

1973

By 1973, changes once again were made to both the “SCHOOL MATE" and “VICTORY” Desks and Stools. This time, the ¾” tubular steel legs with fancy scrolled stretchers were available either in chrome-plated or black – the gold-plated option being discontinued. The black leg option was to offer a more economical product as these were dipped in black polymer paint on the premises while the more expensive chrome-plating had to be outsourced. Nothing else changed: the body was made of white or woodgrain Corinite particle board, the lid and pencil rack trimmed with brown plastic beading and the rack had two pencil grooves and still retained a plastic ink well even though pen and ink was being supplanted by Biros. Both styles included an upholstered stool and came with a packet of 16 nickel-plated self-tapping wood screws to attach the legs to the pre-punched holes on the base of the desk and stool.

“SCHOOL MATE” Desks and Stools

“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 1 – Plain
“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 1 – Plain with black legs
“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 2 – with blackboard
“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 2 – with blackboard and black legs
“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 3 – with map of Australia
“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 3 – with map of Australia and black legs
“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 4 – with map of Australia and blackboard
“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 4 – with map of Australia and blackboard and black legs

"School Mate" Desks and Stools from Bestoys 1973 catalogue

“VICTORY” & “AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desks & Stools

“VICTORY” Desk and Stool
“VICTORY” Desk and Stool with black legs
“AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desk and Stool – with a PVC-coated full-colour map of Australia on the top
“AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desk and Stool – with a PVC-coated full-colour map of Australia on the top with black legs.

"Victory" and "Australia Victory" Desks and Stools from Bestoys 1973 catalogue

c1978

It appears that the appointment of George Wills & Co Ltd NSW as exclusive distributor of the complete Bestoys and N.E.S.Toy ranges meant a number of changes to the “SCHOOL MATE” and “VICTORY” Desks and Stools. The legs appear to have lost their fancy scrolled stretchers and were now available only in gold-coloured powder coating.
As well as this, and to modernise it - and save machining costs - the ink well was no longer supplied - saving one operation on the drill and only one pencil groove applied to the pencil rack, again saving one pass on the router.
The catalogue of c1979 also shows these modifications:

“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool

“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 3 – with map of Australia

"School Mate" Desk and Stool from Bestoys 1978 catalogue

“VICTORY” & “AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desks & Stools

“VICTORY” Desk and Stool
“AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desk and Stool – with a PVC-coated full-colour map of Australia on the top

"Victory" Desk and Stool from Bestoys 1978 catalogue

"Australia Victory" Desk and Stool from Bestoys 1978 catalogue

c1982

When the exclusive distributorship with George Wills & Co Ltd NSW was terminated, the range of the “SCHOOL MATE” and “VICTORY” Desks and Stools changed once more. The legs reverted to the original 1958 Swedish style and only one model of each type was offered. All but the desks with the map of Australia were dropped from the range:

“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool

“SCHOOL MATE” Desk and Stool No 3 – with map of Australia

"School Mate" Desk and Stool from Bestoys 1983 catalogue

“AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desk and Stool

“AUSTRALIA VICTORY” Desk and Stool – with a PVC-coated full-colour map of Australia on the top

"Australia Victory" Desk and Stool from Bestoys 1983 catalogue

This is confirmed by the wholesale price list of Alltoys International Pty Ltd dated 21st February 1983:

Vintage Finds

"Australia Victory" Desk and Stool - c1973-c1982

Offered for $150 negotiable from Strathmore (Essendon) Melbourne 3041 Victoria, the seller was reasonably impressed by this "Australia Victory" Desk and Stool, advertising it as...
Mid Century 1960’s Australian Made Flip Top Map Desk & Stool
"...This is beyond cute. An amazing mid century children's desk & stool set. Lovely as a fab retro side table or storage piece. Made by BESTOYS Sydney. Flip top style desk featuring a map of Australia on the desk top. Timber laminate with original curved gold metal tube style legs. Overall condition of the desk is very good preloved. Structurally sound. No wobbles. Overall cosmetic signs of wear. Areas of minor damage & staining to the map top. Still presents really well. The flip top works perfectly. - Desk Size - 60.5cm Length x 42.5cm Deep x 69cm High.
Accompanying the desk is the original matching seat/stool. Same original gold metal tube base as the desk. Structurally sound. No damage. Excellent preloved vintage condition. The seat has been professionally reupholstered in new teal blue vinyl. Super comfy. - Seat Size - 30.5cm Wide x 24cm Deep x 46.5cm High.
A really unique & fabulous piece of mid century Australian furniture. Perfect for a child’s room or as a fun retro décor piece. Great for an apartment or a small living zone.
Last Edited:25/05/2021"

Unfortunately, the date of 1960s is not accurate. Because the tubular steel legs are without the scrolled stretchers and finished in gold powder-coating, and there is no inkwell and only one pencil groove, this desk and stool was manufactured after around 1978 and before the legs were changed once more in c1982, otherwise the description offered by the seller is very accurate.

2021 "Find" of "Australia Victory" Desk and Stool from between c1973 and c1982.

"Australia Victory" or "Scholar"?

Listed on Facebook's Marketplace in July 2023, this desk, if it is indeed from Bestoys, appears to be a hybrid of the "Australia Victory" Desk and the "Scholar" Desk. The description is accurate in that it was most likely manufactured in the mid-1980s.
It has some of the "Australia Victory" Desk features:
- map of Australia
- plastic beading around the lid and pencil rack - neither of which were offered on the "Scholar" Desk
However, the sides of the lid and pencil rack in this example are cut straight. Since 1967, the range of "Victory" Desks always featured the lid and pencil rack cut to an isosceles trapezoid shape - a quadrilateral with one pair of sides parallel.
The map is certainly one that was applied to thousands of Bestoys desks and the plastic edging was of a type that was used from time to time on desks and tables. The hinges, too, are similar to those used after the Victorian-style nickel-plated hinges were discontinued. No inkwell and one pencil groove indicates a manufacturing date of between 1978 and 1982.
A mystery which may be solved in time...