Those who helped build Bestoys
Nazzareno Bonaretti could not have achieved all he had without the guidance, assistance and support of men like Padre Paolo, Signore Bianchini, Roy Waddell and Frank Kirkpatrick, prominent among many others. Apart from these, there was a small army of individuals who helped raise a small toymaking firm to become the pre-eminent wooden toy manufacturer in Australia: the men and women whom Nazzareno employed.
They were pieceworkers, casuals, part-timers and permanent employees, all helping to achieve the high standards set by Nazzareno “Jim” Bonaretti.
Many here are remembered, along with their unique contributions, with fondness and gratitude but many, many more, sadly, have faded from memory.
They were pieceworkers, casuals, part-timers and permanent employees, all helping to achieve the high standards set by Nazzareno “Jim” Bonaretti.
Many here are remembered, along with their unique contributions, with fondness and gratitude but many, many more, sadly, have faded from memory.
EMPLOYEES
CELSO VENIER and VALDENA VENIER
Young Celso Venier as a recruit for the Alpini (c1945-1948)
First and foremost was Celso Venier, whose woodworking and machinist skills and dedication to the Bonaretti family saw him rise from labourer to trusted and respected foreman, and a family friend, over more than twenty years.
Celso (pronounced ‘chelso’) was also known as ‘Cess’ to his Aussie co-workers. He was born in Udine, in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region on 18th April, 1927, the same year as Jim’s wife, Ebe, and only a few months apart. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udine)
When the Second World War ended, unlike Nazzareno whose callup to the Italian armed forces was cancelled, Celso enlisted in the Alpini, the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry, and served for a few years before migrating to Australia as a young unmarried man, aged 23 years. He was sponsored by Tancred Brothers, an export meatworks abattoir established in Bourke (New South Wales) in 1940. There was a labour shortage in Australia after the end of World War II and, just as Nazzareno had been sponsored by the Capuchin Monks in 1951, so had Celso been induced to come to Australia to work as a slaughterman. Not only was he sponsored but, unlike Nazzareno, he was flown to Australia – a rare and expensive exercise for anyone but so urgent was the requirement to fill the role, Tancred could not wait the 3-5 weeks it would take to arrive by ship. (Read more about Geoff Tancred here: https://www.beefcentral.com/news/vale-geoff-tancred/)
Celso (pronounced ‘chelso’) was also known as ‘Cess’ to his Aussie co-workers. He was born in Udine, in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region on 18th April, 1927, the same year as Jim’s wife, Ebe, and only a few months apart. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udine)
When the Second World War ended, unlike Nazzareno whose callup to the Italian armed forces was cancelled, Celso enlisted in the Alpini, the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry, and served for a few years before migrating to Australia as a young unmarried man, aged 23 years. He was sponsored by Tancred Brothers, an export meatworks abattoir established in Bourke (New South Wales) in 1940. There was a labour shortage in Australia after the end of World War II and, just as Nazzareno had been sponsored by the Capuchin Monks in 1951, so had Celso been induced to come to Australia to work as a slaughterman. Not only was he sponsored but, unlike Nazzareno, he was flown to Australia – a rare and expensive exercise for anyone but so urgent was the requirement to fill the role, Tancred could not wait the 3-5 weeks it would take to arrive by ship. (Read more about Geoff Tancred here: https://www.beefcentral.com/news/vale-geoff-tancred/)
The former Tancred Meatworks at Bourke built in 1940 - abandoned and now demolished making way for a new processing plant
 The newly opened Botany Municipal Olympic Pool at Booralee Park, Botany 1966
Over the few years he was separated from his family and friends in Italy, Celso had corresponded with a young woman from a village near his own hometown, Valdena Rinaldi, born 27th August, 1928 and, in 1955, Valdena (Val) came to Australia and wed Celso the day following her arrival.
On 26th February, 1957, their union was blessed by a child. Also from that same town was a family friend, Angelo Donati. He had found work at the Botany toymaking factory, Bestoys, around 1962, with Celso’s nephew, Fausto Piccini. By this time, Celso had left Tancred’s employment and was working at the NAMCO factory upholstering chairs, first at Kirrawee and then at Arncliffe. Upon hearing that there were positions open in a toymaking company, he was introduced to Jim by Angelo and Fausto. An immediate affinity was established between the two men. Both Angelo and Fausto would leave the toymaking business to start their own venture in tiling. In 1977, Nazzareno would hire them to tile the new two-storey premises he built in Byrnes Street: two bathrooms, the laundry, the kitchen and the employees’ facilities on the ground and first floors. Celso went on the know every aspect of toy manufacturing from cutting, assembling and spray-painting, even delivering truck-loads when necessary. He was an all-rounder who was well liked by his fellow-employees and employers and their children. Val, too, from time to time would be called upon to assist. So much was the Venier family enmeshed with the Bonaretti that the children would spend their Christmas break together while their parents worked. Sometimes they would go to the new Botany Municipal Olympic Pool at Booralee Park; sometimes they would be pressed into service to count out packets of screws and washers for tables and chairs, desks and stools, and all the Bestoys products that needed to be assembled. Val would become Godmother to the Bonaretti second daughter and Celso Godfather to the Bonaretti son. Celso remained with Bestoys until it was sold in 1985. As life goes on, so does the ultimate stage in everyone’s journey. Celso passed away 15th May, 2019 and Valdena on 14th February, 2022. Their passing is lamented by those of us who remain in their debt. The friendship between the children continues… 
Celso Venier November 1976 during the transfer of stock and materials from 21 Byrnes Street to No 3 before demolition of the old factory and house - Screen grab from Super 8 film
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Celso Venier and Valdena Rinaldi on their wedding day
Celso and Val with their baby daughter c1958
Celso and Valdena Venier at a family celebration 28th June, 1990
NAMCO Pink Pages entry 1960 shows it being at 41 Waratah Street, Kirrawee
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JOHN 'KASS' KASTANEAS
 Kastaneas D&H Mack’s Café Hume Highway Yagoona UY 1248 - entry in the November 1954 Sydney Telephone Directory
Known simply as Kass by his mates, John lived in Botany, on Botany Road, with his widowed mother.
Mrs. Kastaneas operated a fish and chip shop there, very close to the Empire Theatre, a cinema that once stood at 1116 Botany Road. During the busy periods when films were screening, John helped his mother and siblings in the shop. John’s parents, Dimitris and Eleni (nee: Moschovis), migrated to Australia at different times during the 1930s. After marrying, they ran a café on Melbourne Street in East Maitland. The frequent flooding in the Maitland area finally made the Kastaneas family move to Sydney in the mid-1950s. Dimitris and Eleni ran a small sandwich shop in Missenden Road, Newtown, for a few years then moved to Yagoona where they ran a fish and chips/takeaway shop for a few more years before moving to Botany and the fish and chips shop near the theatre. The sad passing of his father, Dimitris, when John was only in Year 10 – aged 17 or so – dramatically changed John’s family life. Despite being so young, John threw himself into work, dedicating his youthful years to helping his mother and siblings.
Along with his best mate, Alan, John and he were of their time: bodgies (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodgies_and_widgies), and their passion was motor cars but to indulge in this costly hobby, they needed full time employment.
With his business expanding, Jim Bonaretti was always in need of labour and one of the many the advertisements he placed brought both John and Alan into Jim’s employ around 1963. |
A collage of ad materials and snapshots of the Empire Theatre. Photo courtesy of Jenny MacRitchie, Heritage Librarian, City of Botany Bay.
Today, there is a shop “Botany Bay Seafood” located at 1110 Botany Road Botany, very close to where the Empire Theatre once stood and where young John Kastaneas once may have lived with his mother and siblings.
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John Kastaneas was a good, conscientious worker and, like Celso Venier, quickly learned the skills required to make quality toys and nursery furniture.
Jim saw potential in the young man, possibly recognising the same enthusiasm in John that he, himself had had at that age. John showed a liking for spray painting, most probably because he and his friend, Alan, had bought themselves an old (c1957) Holden car and wanted to ‘hot it up’ – as was the ambition of many young men of the day; either that or ride a motorcycle.
With Jim’s permission and a little bit of free advice thrown in, John and Alan immersed themselves into ‘restoring’ the old car, spaying it gold and finishing it off by hand-painting red flames emanating from the wheel arches.
Jim saw potential in the young man, possibly recognising the same enthusiasm in John that he, himself had had at that age. John showed a liking for spray painting, most probably because he and his friend, Alan, had bought themselves an old (c1957) Holden car and wanted to ‘hot it up’ – as was the ambition of many young men of the day; either that or ride a motorcycle.
With Jim’s permission and a little bit of free advice thrown in, John and Alan immersed themselves into ‘restoring’ the old car, spaying it gold and finishing it off by hand-painting red flames emanating from the wheel arches.
John’s girlfriend, Cheryl, who could have been termed a ‘widgie’ but for her innate classiness, would often drop by to watch the car’s transformation. John and Cheryl would marry and the Bonaretti and Venier families, together with several other Bestoys employees, would be guests at their wedding. Unfortunately, years later, John and Cheryl would separate.
Before that however, John had other problems to sort out.
It wasn’t long after he began his employment with Bestoys that Jim had a visit from a very distressed Mrs Kastaneas. It came to pass that John had landed himself in some sort of trouble with the police and was being held in custody.
Not having the required bail amount, Mrs Kastaneas begged Jim for assistance. Jim wanted to help the widow, if not for her own sake, then to keep John out of gaol and in employment. He immediately went to Botany Police Station to bail him and put up the necessary security. Whatever the charge was, or fine imposed, John was never imprisoned and whatever monies were owed to Jim, they were repaid in full.
John Kastaneas remained with Bestoys until around 1967 – Alan had left a few years earlier – and started up his own business as a panel beater/smash repairer.
Today, Kass Smash Repairs has grown from “humble beginnings” to a “state of the art vehicle repair facility”, the success of which could be extrapolated from his early years of training and support by Jim Bonaretti at Bestoys.
Before that however, John had other problems to sort out.
It wasn’t long after he began his employment with Bestoys that Jim had a visit from a very distressed Mrs Kastaneas. It came to pass that John had landed himself in some sort of trouble with the police and was being held in custody.
Not having the required bail amount, Mrs Kastaneas begged Jim for assistance. Jim wanted to help the widow, if not for her own sake, then to keep John out of gaol and in employment. He immediately went to Botany Police Station to bail him and put up the necessary security. Whatever the charge was, or fine imposed, John was never imprisoned and whatever monies were owed to Jim, they were repaid in full.
John Kastaneas remained with Bestoys until around 1967 – Alan had left a few years earlier – and started up his own business as a panel beater/smash repairer.
Today, Kass Smash Repairs has grown from “humble beginnings” to a “state of the art vehicle repair facility”, the success of which could be extrapolated from his early years of training and support by Jim Bonaretti at Bestoys.
http://www.kasssmash.com.au/ and http://www.kasssmash.com.au/about-us/
“Kass Smash Repairs was founded in 1967 by John Kastaneas, a young panel beater with a vision that would take the motor vehicle repair industry by storm and allow him to single-handedly create the “Kass Group of Companies”.
“From very humble beginnings and a 120 sqm factored in a back street of Sydney’s inner west suburb of Marrickville, a theology of advanced thinking, honesty and precision was adopted. This mentality, along with long range planning and orchestrated activity has seen KSR grow to a 4,000 sqm state of the art vehicle repair facility whose main objective is customer satisfaction, client safety and long-term reliability.”
“Kass Smash Repairs was founded in 1967 by John Kastaneas, a young panel beater with a vision that would take the motor vehicle repair industry by storm and allow him to single-handedly create the “Kass Group of Companies”.
“From very humble beginnings and a 120 sqm factored in a back street of Sydney’s inner west suburb of Marrickville, a theology of advanced thinking, honesty and precision was adopted. This mentality, along with long range planning and orchestrated activity has seen KSR grow to a 4,000 sqm state of the art vehicle repair facility whose main objective is customer satisfaction, client safety and long-term reliability.”
The following images are from Kass Smash Repairs Facebook page (with thanks and without intention to infringe copyright)
11 March 2014 ·
John Kass speech at opening trade night.
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27 November 2015 ·
Jackson, John and Tim receiving 'Runner Up' at the prestigious MTA NSW State awards for excellence - 'Panel Shop Of The Year'
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27 November 2015 ·
'Runner Up' in the prestigious MTA NSW State awards for excellence - 'Panel Shop Of The Year'
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27th November, 2015 - Kass is a great boss!
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You can read more about John’s history and successes here: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10157535418569502&id=393246219501
And here: https://directory.b-2-b.org/australia/explore/new_south_wales/inner_west_council/marrickville/kass_smash_repairs.html
And some setbacks here:
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/inner-west/more-than-80000-square-metres-of-marrickville-industrial-estate-set-to-be-demolished-for-metro-line-as-business-owners-haggle-over-compo/news-story/03176058fcb39ae6ed4c42b895c5ced3
And here: https://directory.b-2-b.org/australia/explore/new_south_wales/inner_west_council/marrickville/kass_smash_repairs.html
And some setbacks here:
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/inner-west/more-than-80000-square-metres-of-marrickville-industrial-estate-set-to-be-demolished-for-metro-line-as-business-owners-haggle-over-compo/news-story/03176058fcb39ae6ed4c42b895c5ced3
SEMI (SAM) CALÍ,
Quiet and unassuming, Sam was Bestoys’ sawyer, operating all the various cutting machines and routers. From southern Italy, he was about the same age as Jim. The top half of his right index finger lay testament to the dangers of cutting machines before strict safety measures were insisted upon by the Department of Labour and Industry. Notwithstanding this handicap, he was accurate in the critical aspect of measurements and was a good, constant worker. Physically, he was a little portly but had an outstanding work ethic. He and Celso undertook the arduous task of assisting to dismantle the old Bestoys factory during the hot summer of 1976, ready for the demolition crew and the rebuilding of the new complex in 1977, Sam was with Bestoys from c1970 to c1984.
Quiet and unassuming, Sam was Bestoys’ sawyer, operating all the various cutting machines and routers. From southern Italy, he was about the same age as Jim. The top half of his right index finger lay testament to the dangers of cutting machines before strict safety measures were insisted upon by the Department of Labour and Industry. Notwithstanding this handicap, he was accurate in the critical aspect of measurements and was a good, constant worker. Physically, he was a little portly but had an outstanding work ethic. He and Celso undertook the arduous task of assisting to dismantle the old Bestoys factory during the hot summer of 1976, ready for the demolition crew and the rebuilding of the new complex in 1977, Sam was with Bestoys from c1970 to c1984.
April 1980. Left to right: [...], Ruth Rich, Ian, Mina (Celso's sister), Celso Venier, Valdena Venier, Sam Calí and his wife
EMPLOYEES REMEMBERED
Before Celso and John joined the Bestoys workforce, Jim already had a number of men and women working in the new factory in Botany when it opened in 1959.
Jim was a hands-on employer and would not expect anyone to carry out work he was not prepared to do himself.
Operating machinery such as cross-cut saws, bandsaws, multi-headed drills, disc- and belt-sanders in the machinery hall was mostly carried out by the men, as well as spray-painting and heavier work such as loading and unloading trucks.
Women were usually allocated the lighter work such as assisting the spray-painter, ‘spackling’ and sanding primed surfaces, assembling components and packing finished product. They did not make tea or serve coffee during the breaks!
(Spackle is simply a US brand name for a type of putty that dries quickly with minimal shrinkage – perfect in the high-volume, rapid processing of toymaking. In the UK the equivalent brand is Polyfilla.)
The Bonaretti children, too, did their bit. After school and homework, and at weekends, they were called upon from time-to-time, to fill little envelopes with carefully counted-out screws and washers that would be included with the flat-pack products – thousands of them!
Child labour, indeed! Everyone helped. Not only was the three-child production line of value to the business but it instilled in them a sense of duty and the value of work for, come Christmas time, “Santa” was very thankful and most generous.
Records of the many and varied men, women, boys and sometimes girls employed over the years from the beginning in Botany, regrettably, are gone and memory fades but those who stand out are mentioned below together with the approximate years they were with Bestoys.
Vera Smith was a local Botany lady, an Aussie through-and-through, who loved a ‘ciggie’ on her break. She was accepting of ‘new Australians’ – some were not – and was a conscientious and diligent worker. She always had a smile for the ‘Missus’ and the children and always presented for work immaculately dressed and made-up with bright red lipstick. At the time, she was one of several women employed by Bestoys to hand-sand and pack, taking over from Ebe when she went to collect her children from Botany Public School. Vera was with Bestoys from c1959 to c1966
Angelo Donati, as mentioned above, joined Bestoys together with Fausto Piccini – most likely from an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald. He was young and energetic and sported a thick black moustache. He would later leave Bestoys to start a tiling business with his close friend, Fausto. Angelo was with Bestoys from c1959 to c1964.
Fausto Piccini, along with Angelo Donati, joined Bestoys after answering an advertisement for labour. He was related to Celso Venier through Celso’s wife, Valdena to whom he was a nephew. Tall and lanky, he was clean-shaven and quiet. Fausto left with Angelo Donati to pursue a business venture in tiling. Fausto was with Bestoys from c1959 to c1964.
George Apostolopolous, an elegant and gracious older Greek national, seemed incongruous among the other male employees. Lean and mustachioed, he nonetheless carried his duties well and without complaint. George was with Bestoys from c1962 to c1970.
Alf, red-headed and left-handed, was primarily employed as delivery driver. Middle-aged, he wore glasses and put his hand to anything he was required to do whenever he had completed his delivery runs. Alf with Bestoys from c1966 to c1970
Stefano a bright young man, youth, really when he joined Bestoys. He was trained in all aspects of the manufacturing business and eventually took over the spray-painting position.
Elia Palumbo
There were many, many more who helped make Bestoys the best wooden toys and nursery furniture manufacturer in Australia in the more than 32 years that it existed under the ownership of Nazzareno and Ebe Bonaretti.
Before Celso and John joined the Bestoys workforce, Jim already had a number of men and women working in the new factory in Botany when it opened in 1959.
Jim was a hands-on employer and would not expect anyone to carry out work he was not prepared to do himself.
Operating machinery such as cross-cut saws, bandsaws, multi-headed drills, disc- and belt-sanders in the machinery hall was mostly carried out by the men, as well as spray-painting and heavier work such as loading and unloading trucks.
Women were usually allocated the lighter work such as assisting the spray-painter, ‘spackling’ and sanding primed surfaces, assembling components and packing finished product. They did not make tea or serve coffee during the breaks!
(Spackle is simply a US brand name for a type of putty that dries quickly with minimal shrinkage – perfect in the high-volume, rapid processing of toymaking. In the UK the equivalent brand is Polyfilla.)
The Bonaretti children, too, did their bit. After school and homework, and at weekends, they were called upon from time-to-time, to fill little envelopes with carefully counted-out screws and washers that would be included with the flat-pack products – thousands of them!
Child labour, indeed! Everyone helped. Not only was the three-child production line of value to the business but it instilled in them a sense of duty and the value of work for, come Christmas time, “Santa” was very thankful and most generous.
Records of the many and varied men, women, boys and sometimes girls employed over the years from the beginning in Botany, regrettably, are gone and memory fades but those who stand out are mentioned below together with the approximate years they were with Bestoys.
Vera Smith was a local Botany lady, an Aussie through-and-through, who loved a ‘ciggie’ on her break. She was accepting of ‘new Australians’ – some were not – and was a conscientious and diligent worker. She always had a smile for the ‘Missus’ and the children and always presented for work immaculately dressed and made-up with bright red lipstick. At the time, she was one of several women employed by Bestoys to hand-sand and pack, taking over from Ebe when she went to collect her children from Botany Public School. Vera was with Bestoys from c1959 to c1966
Angelo Donati, as mentioned above, joined Bestoys together with Fausto Piccini – most likely from an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald. He was young and energetic and sported a thick black moustache. He would later leave Bestoys to start a tiling business with his close friend, Fausto. Angelo was with Bestoys from c1959 to c1964.
Fausto Piccini, along with Angelo Donati, joined Bestoys after answering an advertisement for labour. He was related to Celso Venier through Celso’s wife, Valdena to whom he was a nephew. Tall and lanky, he was clean-shaven and quiet. Fausto left with Angelo Donati to pursue a business venture in tiling. Fausto was with Bestoys from c1959 to c1964.
George Apostolopolous, an elegant and gracious older Greek national, seemed incongruous among the other male employees. Lean and mustachioed, he nonetheless carried his duties well and without complaint. George was with Bestoys from c1962 to c1970.
Alf, red-headed and left-handed, was primarily employed as delivery driver. Middle-aged, he wore glasses and put his hand to anything he was required to do whenever he had completed his delivery runs. Alf with Bestoys from c1966 to c1970
Stefano a bright young man, youth, really when he joined Bestoys. He was trained in all aspects of the manufacturing business and eventually took over the spray-painting position.
Elia Palumbo
There were many, many more who helped make Bestoys the best wooden toys and nursery furniture manufacturer in Australia in the more than 32 years that it existed under the ownership of Nazzareno and Ebe Bonaretti.
THE WORKING WEEK – 1959 onward
1920 ITR (International Time Recorder) Time Clock
BUNDY ON, BUNDY OFF
Situated in the tiny office-cum-storeroom at the front of the old 1959 Bestoys factory was an ancient “Bundy” clock similar to the one illustrated here on the right.
Each employee was required to Bundy on when they arrived for work and Bundy off when they finished. An individual’s time card was inserted into the slot and the employee pushed down the lever to stamp the time. At the end of each week, the time card was used to calculate the ordinary hours and overtime worked – there was always overtime! – and pay the wages accordingly. This was always done on a Friday and always in cash – no EFTs, ATMs or DDs then. (EFT = Electronic funds transfer; ATM = Automatic teller machines; DD = direct deposit.)
When, in c1963, a new office was built toward the back of the premises, a new time clock was also installed – electric – no pushing down of levers! Slip your card into the slot and, bang!, automatically date-stamped – such was the technology then.
Monday to Friday, work began at 7 a.m. and finished at 5.30 p.m. with one ‘smoko’ break in the morning and a half-hour lunch break at noon. This amounted to 8 hours of ordinary time and 2 hours of overtime at time-and-a-half – all-in-all, a 10-hour day.
Saturdays were from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. – another 5 hours of overtime. Bestoys always had more work than it could cope with, no matter how many employees were engaged or how long the government and local council permitted them to work.
Shops’ opening hours, too, were strictly controlled by the government and, unless yours was a family business, retail trading was restricted for all retailers, usually from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., Monday to Friday and from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday – no Sunday trading was allowed.
So, working those long work hours at Bestoys gave the employees very little – in fact, no – time for shopping if they weren’t married or didn’t live with parents. It was very unusual for a woman to carrying on working once she married – the ‘man of the house’ was expected to earn enough to support her and her children.
While wages were good – Jim always paid above-award wages – there was no time to spend those wages.
It was not long before the employees approached Jim and a compromise was reached: no overtime on Friday afternoon. Knock-off was 3.30 p.m. allowing them two hours to shop for essentials and with an ample wage packet in their pocket.
This was the norm for Bestoys and retailing throughout the 60s.
It wasn’t until 1971 that late night shopping was introduced in New South Wales as a trial. In response to crippling union action that would have severely affected Christmas trade, the Askin government passed emergency legislation that allowed all retailers to trade until 9 p.m. on the evenings of December 16, 23 and 30 – all Thursdays. The ensuing bedlam on those Thursday nights proved the success of allowing all retailers to trade, notwithstanding the impending Christmas rush.
(More on this here, with thanks: http://fabsydneyflashbacks.blogspot.com/2018/06/1971-birth-of-thursday-night-shopping.html)
Not long after, Saturday trading was extended to 4 p.m., allowing employees, like those at Bestoys, greater flexibility to spend their hard-earned wages.
To compare…
The average earnings for a week's work in 1965-66 was $57 (around $793 in 2022, using this calculator: https://www.in2013dollars.com/australia/inflation/1966 $57), and minimum wages for women were set around 30% lower than for men. While the average wages are calculated slightly differently now, the average weekly earnings for Australia, in 2022, is $1305 per week.
Fifty years ago, the majority of Australians who worked were men working fulltime and well into their 60s. Today, far more people are working part-time, or in temporary or casual jobs. Retirement ages vary much more, with a greater proportion of men not participating in the labour force once they are older than 55. Nowadays, 45% of working Australians are women, compared with just 30% 50 years ago.
With thanks to https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/stats-show-how-far-weve-come-in-50-years/news-story/6da1c24bc848763407f7b06ca15d166b
This is a good site to see how things have changed in the fifty years to 2017: https://www.dailycare.com.au/good-living/life/the-cost-of-living-1966-compared-to-today
And this: https://au.jobted.com/salary
Situated in the tiny office-cum-storeroom at the front of the old 1959 Bestoys factory was an ancient “Bundy” clock similar to the one illustrated here on the right.
Each employee was required to Bundy on when they arrived for work and Bundy off when they finished. An individual’s time card was inserted into the slot and the employee pushed down the lever to stamp the time. At the end of each week, the time card was used to calculate the ordinary hours and overtime worked – there was always overtime! – and pay the wages accordingly. This was always done on a Friday and always in cash – no EFTs, ATMs or DDs then. (EFT = Electronic funds transfer; ATM = Automatic teller machines; DD = direct deposit.)
When, in c1963, a new office was built toward the back of the premises, a new time clock was also installed – electric – no pushing down of levers! Slip your card into the slot and, bang!, automatically date-stamped – such was the technology then.
Monday to Friday, work began at 7 a.m. and finished at 5.30 p.m. with one ‘smoko’ break in the morning and a half-hour lunch break at noon. This amounted to 8 hours of ordinary time and 2 hours of overtime at time-and-a-half – all-in-all, a 10-hour day.
Saturdays were from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. – another 5 hours of overtime. Bestoys always had more work than it could cope with, no matter how many employees were engaged or how long the government and local council permitted them to work.
Shops’ opening hours, too, were strictly controlled by the government and, unless yours was a family business, retail trading was restricted for all retailers, usually from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., Monday to Friday and from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday – no Sunday trading was allowed.
So, working those long work hours at Bestoys gave the employees very little – in fact, no – time for shopping if they weren’t married or didn’t live with parents. It was very unusual for a woman to carrying on working once she married – the ‘man of the house’ was expected to earn enough to support her and her children.
While wages were good – Jim always paid above-award wages – there was no time to spend those wages.
It was not long before the employees approached Jim and a compromise was reached: no overtime on Friday afternoon. Knock-off was 3.30 p.m. allowing them two hours to shop for essentials and with an ample wage packet in their pocket.
This was the norm for Bestoys and retailing throughout the 60s.
It wasn’t until 1971 that late night shopping was introduced in New South Wales as a trial. In response to crippling union action that would have severely affected Christmas trade, the Askin government passed emergency legislation that allowed all retailers to trade until 9 p.m. on the evenings of December 16, 23 and 30 – all Thursdays. The ensuing bedlam on those Thursday nights proved the success of allowing all retailers to trade, notwithstanding the impending Christmas rush.
(More on this here, with thanks: http://fabsydneyflashbacks.blogspot.com/2018/06/1971-birth-of-thursday-night-shopping.html)
Not long after, Saturday trading was extended to 4 p.m., allowing employees, like those at Bestoys, greater flexibility to spend their hard-earned wages.
To compare…
The average earnings for a week's work in 1965-66 was $57 (around $793 in 2022, using this calculator: https://www.in2013dollars.com/australia/inflation/1966 $57), and minimum wages for women were set around 30% lower than for men. While the average wages are calculated slightly differently now, the average weekly earnings for Australia, in 2022, is $1305 per week.
Fifty years ago, the majority of Australians who worked were men working fulltime and well into their 60s. Today, far more people are working part-time, or in temporary or casual jobs. Retirement ages vary much more, with a greater proportion of men not participating in the labour force once they are older than 55. Nowadays, 45% of working Australians are women, compared with just 30% 50 years ago.
With thanks to https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/stats-show-how-far-weve-come-in-50-years/news-story/6da1c24bc848763407f7b06ca15d166b
This is a good site to see how things have changed in the fifty years to 2017: https://www.dailycare.com.au/good-living/life/the-cost-of-living-1966-compared-to-today
And this: https://au.jobted.com/salary
A Brief History of the Bundy Clock
The terms Bundy clock, or just Bundy, have been used in Australian English for time clocks. The term comes from brothers Willard and Harlow Bundy.
The Bundy clock is a time clock, sometimes known as a clock card machine or punch clock or time recorder, and is a device that records start and end times for hourly employees (or those on flexi-time) at a place of business.
In mechanical time clocks, this was accomplished by inserting a heavy paper card, called a time card, into a slot on the time clock. When the time card hit a contact at the rear of the slot, the machine would print day and time information (a timestamp) on the card. One or more time cards would serve as a timesheet. This allowed a timekeeper to have an official record of the hours an employee worked to calculate the pay owed an employee.
An early and influential time clock, sometimes described as the first, was invented on November 20, 1888, by Willard Le Grand Bundy, a jeweler in Auburn, New York. His patent of 1890 speaks of mechanical time recorders for workers in terms that suggest that earlier recorders already existed, but Bundy's had various improvements; for example, each worker had his own key. A year later his brother, Harlow Bundy, organized the Bundy Manufacturing Company, and began mass-producing time clocks.
(With thanks to: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Time_clock)
The Bundy clock is a time clock, sometimes known as a clock card machine or punch clock or time recorder, and is a device that records start and end times for hourly employees (or those on flexi-time) at a place of business.
In mechanical time clocks, this was accomplished by inserting a heavy paper card, called a time card, into a slot on the time clock. When the time card hit a contact at the rear of the slot, the machine would print day and time information (a timestamp) on the card. One or more time cards would serve as a timesheet. This allowed a timekeeper to have an official record of the hours an employee worked to calculate the pay owed an employee.
An early and influential time clock, sometimes described as the first, was invented on November 20, 1888, by Willard Le Grand Bundy, a jeweler in Auburn, New York. His patent of 1890 speaks of mechanical time recorders for workers in terms that suggest that earlier recorders already existed, but Bundy's had various improvements; for example, each worker had his own key. A year later his brother, Harlow Bundy, organized the Bundy Manufacturing Company, and began mass-producing time clocks.
(With thanks to: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Time_clock)
Early time clock, made by National Time Recorder Co. Ltd. of Blackfriars, London at Wookey Hole Caves museum
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This Acroprint "Clip-O-Matic" Model 200 was a popular top-load mechanical time clock that took a "notch" or "clip" of out of the time card and provided a consecutive print format for easy manual calculation of time cards. After the introduction of computerized time and attendance systems, the Model 200 was retired due to decreased demand.
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A typical time card used in the 'new' time clocks
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SERVICES and SUPPLIERS
Just as any company cannot function successfully without good employees, nor can it without good suppliers, quality raw materials and competent support services.
SOLICITOR
At the end of 1956, Nazzareno Bonaretti was in need of good legal advice when he decided to purchase the going concern of R Waddell. How he came to know the well-known and respected city solicitor, Mr. Frank C. Kirkpatrick is unknown but his son, Mr. Frank C. Kirkpatrick, Jnr, was to be Nazzareno’s legal representative for his entire life.
The law firm was situated in what was then known as the Sydney Morning Herald building, an impressive edifice on the junction of Pitt, Hunter and O'Connell Streets. Frank Senior was admitted to the New South Wales Bar Association on 8th March, 1921.
Frank Junior was around the same age as Nazzareno – mid-twenties – when they were introduced to each other. When Frank Junior was admitted to the NSW Bar Association on 4th March, 1949, Nazzareno was selling his hand-made toys in northern Italian markets. Frank Junior, bespectacled with Brylcreemed hair, was a survivor of polio, which affected his right side and left him with a permanent limp and using his left hand to write. They immediately found mutual empathy, each living with a condition that made them struggle to succeed: Frank, his disability and Nazzareno, his ethnicity and language.
They were two social strata apart: Frank was part of a wealthy professional family living on the affluent North Shore; Nazzareno was a small-town immigrant living in an enclave of struggling Italians, but they nonetheless remained friends throughout their lives, not in a social sense but one in which one could depend on the other in whatever circumstance may have arisen.
Around the end of 1958, after Nazzareno bought and returned the R. Waddell company, Frank helped him purchase two properties in Botany. It was not uncommon for Frank to make ‘house calls’ in the evenings or week-ends to the old cottage that stood at 19 Byrnes Street. On one particular week-end, Frank brought his three children to play with the Bonaretti children while he, Nazzareno and Ebe discussed particular matters. The children played in the backyard of 19 Byrnes Street – not the manicured lawns and gardens of St Ives they were accustomed to but the gravel-strewn patch bordered by factory buildings in the middle of which stood a striped Lindsay play-tent – a recent gift from Santa.
In time, Frank Junior’s son, also named Frank C. Kirkpatrick, would become a solicitor. In April, 1997, Frank the grandson would be instrumental in conveyancing the large factory complex when Ebe, Nazzareno’s widow, decided to sell and move closer to her children. The factory complex in Botany was sold in July 1997 for a mere $650,000. The last purchase in 2020 was for $4,500,000.
Before then, Frank Junior would attend the wedding of Nazzareno’s second daughter in 1980.
The factory complex was completed in 1977 but Nazzareno was dissatisfied with the building and sought legal redress from the builder. Frank urged him not to take action through the NSW Master Builders’ Association, advising him that these legal processes rarely went in favour of the complainant. The problems Nazzareno had encountered with the builder were, in the main, that sarking had not been inserted beneath the vast saw-tooth roof which meant there was no insulation in the hot summer months or cold winter months. There were other lesser issues as well, such a lack of letter boxes.
As predicted, the ruling went against the complainant and for the defendant, and the building remained without a letter box and without sarking and Nazzareno without compensation. He was disappointed that he didn’t heed Frank’s advice and was considerably out-of-pocket because of the failed action.
Frank C. Kirkpatrick, Jnr passed in 1993 and will always be remembered as a true gentleman and friend to the Bonaretti family.
At the end of 1956, Nazzareno Bonaretti was in need of good legal advice when he decided to purchase the going concern of R Waddell. How he came to know the well-known and respected city solicitor, Mr. Frank C. Kirkpatrick is unknown but his son, Mr. Frank C. Kirkpatrick, Jnr, was to be Nazzareno’s legal representative for his entire life.
The law firm was situated in what was then known as the Sydney Morning Herald building, an impressive edifice on the junction of Pitt, Hunter and O'Connell Streets. Frank Senior was admitted to the New South Wales Bar Association on 8th March, 1921.
Frank Junior was around the same age as Nazzareno – mid-twenties – when they were introduced to each other. When Frank Junior was admitted to the NSW Bar Association on 4th March, 1949, Nazzareno was selling his hand-made toys in northern Italian markets. Frank Junior, bespectacled with Brylcreemed hair, was a survivor of polio, which affected his right side and left him with a permanent limp and using his left hand to write. They immediately found mutual empathy, each living with a condition that made them struggle to succeed: Frank, his disability and Nazzareno, his ethnicity and language.
They were two social strata apart: Frank was part of a wealthy professional family living on the affluent North Shore; Nazzareno was a small-town immigrant living in an enclave of struggling Italians, but they nonetheless remained friends throughout their lives, not in a social sense but one in which one could depend on the other in whatever circumstance may have arisen.
Around the end of 1958, after Nazzareno bought and returned the R. Waddell company, Frank helped him purchase two properties in Botany. It was not uncommon for Frank to make ‘house calls’ in the evenings or week-ends to the old cottage that stood at 19 Byrnes Street. On one particular week-end, Frank brought his three children to play with the Bonaretti children while he, Nazzareno and Ebe discussed particular matters. The children played in the backyard of 19 Byrnes Street – not the manicured lawns and gardens of St Ives they were accustomed to but the gravel-strewn patch bordered by factory buildings in the middle of which stood a striped Lindsay play-tent – a recent gift from Santa.
In time, Frank Junior’s son, also named Frank C. Kirkpatrick, would become a solicitor. In April, 1997, Frank the grandson would be instrumental in conveyancing the large factory complex when Ebe, Nazzareno’s widow, decided to sell and move closer to her children. The factory complex in Botany was sold in July 1997 for a mere $650,000. The last purchase in 2020 was for $4,500,000.
Before then, Frank Junior would attend the wedding of Nazzareno’s second daughter in 1980.
The factory complex was completed in 1977 but Nazzareno was dissatisfied with the building and sought legal redress from the builder. Frank urged him not to take action through the NSW Master Builders’ Association, advising him that these legal processes rarely went in favour of the complainant. The problems Nazzareno had encountered with the builder were, in the main, that sarking had not been inserted beneath the vast saw-tooth roof which meant there was no insulation in the hot summer months or cold winter months. There were other lesser issues as well, such a lack of letter boxes.
As predicted, the ruling went against the complainant and for the defendant, and the building remained without a letter box and without sarking and Nazzareno without compensation. He was disappointed that he didn’t heed Frank’s advice and was considerably out-of-pocket because of the failed action.
Frank C. Kirkpatrick, Jnr passed in 1993 and will always be remembered as a true gentleman and friend to the Bonaretti family.
The Sydney Morning Herald building, now know as the Wales House, on the junction of Pitt, Hunter and O'Connell Streets, Sydney.
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Wales House (left) is a heritage-listed former newspaper office building, bank building and now hotel located at 64-66 Pitt Street. It was built between 1922 and 1928 by the architects Manson & Pickering.
These are two excellent websites relating to the building on that site: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/building/old_sydney_morning_herald_building#ref-uuid=e628dc41-0ca6-45b5-a99f-4938fbb37578 and https://dictionaryofsydney.org/building/64_66_pitt_street_sydney |
205 Oak Road, Kirrawee, NSW, 2232, the residence of Mrs Ebe Bonaretti from 1997 to 2005
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ACCOUNTANT
W.J. Ragan, Accountant, 18a Station Street, Kogarah 2217 Mr. Bill Ragan was engaged as the Bonaretti accountant from at least 1959 when his offices were in Pitt Street. His bookkeeper, Miss Anne Martin, a tall, thin, no-nonsense woman of middle-age, whose stern countenance belied a warm and nurturing disposition, would come along every week to write up the ledgers and submit tax returns for the company. Group Tax [1] was payable by the 7th of each month and Sales Tax [2] by the 21st of each month. Later, Payroll Tax [3] was added to the returns. A double-entry ledger system was used for both debtors and creditors using Kalamazoo ledgers. All transactions were totted up at the end of each month using an Olivetti calculator. No computers, then. When Jim’s eldest daughter joined the Bestoys workforce in 1965, Miss Martin taught Susy bookkeeping. Once suitably proficient Susy became the fulltime bookkeeper and Miss Martin’s services were no longer required except for sorting out the odd mistake. The accountancy firm was retained for many years until Mr. Ragan retired and sold his business to Mr. George Cooley. Mr. Cooley remained the Bonaretti family accountant until Ebe passed away in 2005. |
WJ Ragan listing in the 1954 edition of the Sydney Telephone Directory
1960s Olivetti Summa PRIMA 20
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[1] Group Tax was the monthly remittance of income tax deducted from an employee’s wages by the employer and had to be sent to the Taxation Office by the 7th of each month. At the end of each financial year, a Group Certificate would be issued by the employer to each employee stating the amount earned from that employer, the income tax deducted and any other union fees deducted. The employee then submitted this certificate with his income tax return for that financial year.
[2] (Wholesale) Sales tax was a federal tax introduced in 1930 and levied on the wholesale price of merchandise sold in any particular month. Bestoys was a manufacturer which sold to wholesalers. Wholesalers, because they would be selling to retailers or consumers, could apply for a Sales Tax Exemption as they would be applying the relevant sales tax rate when they on-sold the goods. This was unlike the present (2022) system of GST (Goods and Services Tax), introduced in 2000, where every transaction at every level of sale is taxed at 10%. The amount of tax being debited and credited at each transaction until the final amount of tax levied is equivalent to 10% of the final sell price. Calculating GST without a purpose-built computer programme is far more complex than calculating Sales tax, which was applied once only and at the wholesale level.
However, applying the Sales Tax rates could be a little confusing. In the 1970s, there were three rates of Sales Tax plus one exempt category. While Bestoys didn’t apply Sales Tax to its invoices as practically all of its customers were Sales Tax Exempt, the Bestoys catalogue and price list did indicate which Sales Tax rate should be applied.
Items such as the Kangaroo Commode Chair, were exempt of Sales Tax being considered a necessary item; items of ‘nursery furniture’, such as tables and chairs, desks and stools, bookshelves, were taxable at 2½%; general toys at 15% and luxury items at 27½%.
This is a good website to have a general understanding of the history of the Australian taxation system: https://treasury.gov.au/publication/economic-roundup-winter-2006/a-brief-history-of-australias-tax-system
[3] Payroll tax was a Federal Tax introduced in 1941 and handed to the states in 1971.
Another good website relating to taxation in Australia: https://atotaxrates.info/individual-tax-rates-resident/historical-pre-2010-tax-rates/
[2] (Wholesale) Sales tax was a federal tax introduced in 1930 and levied on the wholesale price of merchandise sold in any particular month. Bestoys was a manufacturer which sold to wholesalers. Wholesalers, because they would be selling to retailers or consumers, could apply for a Sales Tax Exemption as they would be applying the relevant sales tax rate when they on-sold the goods. This was unlike the present (2022) system of GST (Goods and Services Tax), introduced in 2000, where every transaction at every level of sale is taxed at 10%. The amount of tax being debited and credited at each transaction until the final amount of tax levied is equivalent to 10% of the final sell price. Calculating GST without a purpose-built computer programme is far more complex than calculating Sales tax, which was applied once only and at the wholesale level.
However, applying the Sales Tax rates could be a little confusing. In the 1970s, there were three rates of Sales Tax plus one exempt category. While Bestoys didn’t apply Sales Tax to its invoices as practically all of its customers were Sales Tax Exempt, the Bestoys catalogue and price list did indicate which Sales Tax rate should be applied.
Items such as the Kangaroo Commode Chair, were exempt of Sales Tax being considered a necessary item; items of ‘nursery furniture’, such as tables and chairs, desks and stools, bookshelves, were taxable at 2½%; general toys at 15% and luxury items at 27½%.
This is a good website to have a general understanding of the history of the Australian taxation system: https://treasury.gov.au/publication/economic-roundup-winter-2006/a-brief-history-of-australias-tax-system
[3] Payroll tax was a Federal Tax introduced in 1941 and handed to the states in 1971.
Another good website relating to taxation in Australia: https://atotaxrates.info/individual-tax-rates-resident/historical-pre-2010-tax-rates/
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RAW MATERIALS
Just as any company cannot function successfully without good employees or competent support services, nor can it without good suppliers and quality raw materials. Jim Bonaretti was very aware of child safety even before legislature prohibited dangerous products to be sold. He specifically sought out lead-free lacquers, primers and inks, and made sure that anything that rocked with a child in it wouldn’t tip over. Bestoys dealt with reputable raw materials suppliers and manufacturers, some very small, some very large, and had a good rapport with all of them, building his own reputation on honesty and keeping one’s word. When times were difficult, suppliers would extend credit to Jim, knowing he would pay when promised. For Jim, integrity was a commodity upon which all else stood; lose that and all would be lost. As mentioned in the History of Bestoys, listed among the earliest suppliers of raw materials were Burnie Board and Timber Pty Ltd of Tasmania, Masonite Corporation (Aust) Pty Limited, which later merged with CSR (Colonial Sugar Refining Co Ltd), Hardboards Australia, Laminex, Formica Plastics Pty Ltd and Corinthian Door’s “Corinite” laminated boards. High on the list was H.H. Cush & Co Pty Ltd, timber merchants, who supplied almost all of Bestoys’ radiata pine timber needs. Other wood items, such as wooden dowels, were sourced elsewhere. In the post-war years and early days of Bestoys, finding lacquer paint that was lead-free was difficult but perseverance paid off and long-term relationships were formed with Phoenix Lacquers, Mirotone Pty Ltd, St Marys Thinners, Pylon Chemicals, Pajor Paints, Feast Watson & Co Pty Ltd and Ascot Chemicals among many. Jim was highly skilled in woodworking and cabinet-making and, while woodcraft was his passion, cutting costs and speeding up production was more important in a business setting. It was time-consuming to cut, sand, undercoat, spackle and sand again and finally apply the finishing coat of paint to the legs of desks and stools and tables. To free his employees from these long and laborious production processes, he developed a range of nursery furniture that featured tubular steel legs. The close proximity of NAMCO Furniture Pty Ltd (National Art Metal Co Pty Ltd), and the employment of ex-NAMCO factory workers, may have provided Jim with the kernel of inspiration to do this. A length of ¾” tubular bright steel bent in a simple inverted “U” with two pre-punched flanges welded to the top formed one pair of legs for a desk. Two of these and two shorter pairs made the desk and stool complete. All that was needed at the Bestoys factory was to dip these legs in black polymer paint and add swivel ferrules to the ends. Much time was saved and eventually, all desks and stools had tubular steel legs, available in black polymer paint, brightly chromium-plated or the more elegant ‘gold’-plated. Much of this plating was carried out by Junction Plating. Central Foundry, now at Mascot, also provided various metal products and is still operational: https://www.centralfoundry.com.au/. Tables and chairs, too, were converted to ⅝” tubular steel frames. All that was required for these was for the seats and backs to be attached to the chair frames. Assembly of the table legs to the table top would be carried out by the end-user or retailer. They, too, from time to time, were available in black polymer paint, chromium-plated or ‘gold’-plated.
The initial suppliers of the tubular steel frames were, not surprisingly. NAMCO, which by the mid-60s had relocated a factory to Botany.
QUALITY WROUGHT IRON Always in search of a better product and a better price, Jim negotiated with a small wrought iron company, Quality Wrought Iron, to make these nursery furniture frames. The young owner, Mr. Alex Grech was very helpful and, over the years, the Bonaretti family and the youthful, hard-working owner became firm friends. Other items were made to specification for factory processes. Row upon row of steel trestle tables made of sturdy angle iron filled the spray room. On these, panels would be laid out, edge-to-edge, and the spray painter – be he, Kass, Celso, Stefano or even Jim – walked up each row spraying undercoat, finishing lacquer, blackboard paint or whatever the need was, and, when the paint had dried, another employee would flip each panel and the process repeated for the other side. Quality Wrought Iron also manufactured tall, multi-layered drying racks on casters for freshly-inked silk-screened panels. On a bigger scale, when Jim purchased a Nissan flatbed truck, he had Alex design and build a steel frame over the tray to form a canopy to which Jim applied sheets of ¼” or ⅝” laminated hardboard. It was maple woodgrain in colour and the roof had a layer of black fabric-backed vinyl glued to it. Jim engaged a signwriter – possibly the same man who put “Bestoys” on the façade of the factory building – to decorate both sides of the canopy with the Bestoys logo. (These were the days before printing self-adhesive vinyl signage.) This was excellent way of having the Bestoys name grab the public’s attention as it would be hard to miss when deliveries were being made to the various wholesalers in an around the city centre.
Bits and pieces - nails, screws, glue, end caps, hinges, knobs, clear celluloid, rolls of vinyl and all manner of extras were sourced from R.S. Upton Trading Pty Ltd and Commonwealth Pulley Company among many.
Fibre Containers Ltd was the main supplier of custom-made cartons for the Bestoys product range, each carton emblazoned with the Bestoys logo of rocket and moon. Publicity was always good to have. The Nissan delivery truck did its bit, as did the shipping cartons to bring Bestoys to the fore of Australian wooden toy and nursery furniture manufacturers. Another method of advertising directly to the public was through TV game show giveaways, predominantly on Video Village, and occasionally on other game and quiz shows during the 1960s and early 1970s such as Temptation. But printed catalogues proved the most successful. Bestoys, through S. Hoffnung & Co Limited, was possibly the first manufacturer in its field to print an all-inclusive, descriptive and fully illustrated booklet that detailed its range of products. Through the decades, Jim Bonaretti engaged various printers to carry out this important task. Among those remembered are W.C. Penfold & Co. Pty. Ltd. of Sydney; Pratten Bros. Pty. Ltd. of Sydney; Alliance Printing Co. Pty. Ltd. of Melbourne; Walter Williams Pty. Ltd. of Burwood, N.S.W.; Grant & Walker Pty. Ltd. and Snap Instant Printing of Mascot, N.S.W. |
Below are images taken from the Sydney Pink Pages, November 1960 edition:
https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-590880643/view?sectionId=nla.obj-610850694&partId=nla.obj-590994484#page/n0/mode/1up and magazine ads from the late 1940s to 1970s:
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Atlas Printery Pty Ltd took care of most of Bestoys’ stationery needs including invoice and delivery docket books. These were the days pre-computer and, in small companies such as Bestoys, everything was hand-written in duplicate books using carbon paper. Later, pre-carboned paper was used that eliminated the need of messy blue or back carbon paper.
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A4 quarter bound book using pre-carboned paper
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Carbon paper, each sheet used again and again and eventually replaced
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Of particular assistance was Atlas Printery’s salesman, Mr. Sandor, who, in 1969 when Jim was looking for a suitable name for his new venture in importing and wholesaling, came up with the name “Alltoys International”. That was exactly what Jim wanted to offer customers through this new company: all types of international toys.
Some Bestoys ephemera from 1967...
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