John Hill & Co, also known as Johillco, was a British toy soldier company founded around 1900 by George Wood, a former employee of W. Britain. The company specialized in producing hollowcast metal figures, which were more affordable than their solid-cast competitors, making them popular with the working class. Johillco figures were known for being sold individually and featured a wide variety of subjects like cowboys, American Indians, and historical and foreign troops, often depicted in more dynamic poses than those by Britains. The company continued manufacturing after its London factory was bombed during WWII, reopening in Burnley in 1946, but eventually transitioned to plastic figures before ceasing operations in the early 1960s.
Johillco Gallery
One of the more unique medical sets made by Johillco is a military stretcher party from the Italo-Abyssinian War (1935-1936). The box, which I’m still looking to find, is labelled “Abyssinian Red Cross Unit”.
N Joplin. The Great Book of Hollow-Cast Figures. New Cavendish Books, 1993.
