Tészabó Júlia - Török Róbert - Demjén Bence: „A Babatündérhez”, a budapesti játékkereskedelem története, 2009. november 20 - 2010. június 7 időszaki kiállítás (Budapest, Magyar Kereskedelmi és Vendéglátóipari Múzeum, 2010)

RESUME

Because the toy industry and toy trade had little impact on the economy there are very few data available on the toy merchants. What we know about them is mainly come from registers, business directories and their newspaper ads, fly-bills and from occasional memoirs. Even the company register cannot be considered flawless, since it was not uncommon that a merchant was listed in a business directory as a toy trader, but was not listed in the company register, or vice versa. Many companies gave up business due to the changes in the economic conditions, and even among the biggest toy merchant only a few was able to compete with the department stores that started to appear from the 1930s. Those toy merchants operating in both retail and wholesale who were able to recuperate after WW II fell victim to the nationalization of private companies in 1949, as did Liebner's company, one of the oldest and longest operating toy businesses in Budapest. The Játékárú Értékesítő Nemzeti Vállalat (national toy wholesale company) was set up in 1949 to operate the strongly centralized national wholesale of toys, but both the retail sale and the supply of toys were lagging. There were not enough Hungarian made toys and the import practically was not existent. The shortage problem of toy supply reached the Council of Ministers. From the early 1950s to ease the shortages the authorities set up small craft industries cooperatives of toy manufacturers. The import of toys slowly started to rev up too from socialist countries with more developed toy industry. After WW II the basic goods of everyday life had priority and all other products - including toys - were much further down the rank among basic services. Shortages and low-grade quality were therefore common in toy trade. By 1949 new national companies were set up on the basis of nationalized toy manufacturing and trading companies. On July 1st 1950 two big companies were merged and the Sportszer- és Játékáru Nagykereskedelmi Nemzeti Vállalat [National Sport Goods and Toy Wholesale Companyl was founded. From January 1. 1955 as a result of another reorganization the "Sport-, Hangszer- és Játék Nagykereskedelmi Vállalat' |Sport Goods, Musical Instruments and Toy Wholesale Company] was established, which took on the name TRIÁL on July 20, 1967. The Fővárosi Bútor, Hangszer, (áték Kiskereskedelmi Vállalat |FŐBUHA - Metropolitan Furniture, Musical Instrument and Toy Retail Trade Companyl was a well known company of the Budapest's commercial network. In 1976 it operated 70 shops in the Capital. At the windup of FÔBUHA another national company, the TRIAL took over the toy and music instrument shops in Budapest. It had more to do with behind the scene personal rivalry than business rational. Practically this raised TRIÁL to corporate giant position. The Sport-, Hangszer- és Játékáru Nagykereskedelmi Vállalat was renamed TRIÁL in 1967. The name TRIÁL became associated with sport, instruments and toy shops. TRIÁL's main business was wholesale trade. It had priority in purchases from home manufacturing industry and in importing, but after the acquisition of FŐBUHA it also operated retail outlets in Budapest. Beside its main line of business, the toys, TRIÁL also put emphasis on the sale of sporting goods and musical instruments. The company had three dedicated musical instruments shop, 13 toy shops and 7 shops sold both toys and instruments. Separately operated shops were the Horgászbolt |Line-fishing shopl, the Bambino pushchair salon and the Hobby shop. The Hobby shop was widely known and very popular among the collectors. The Hobby shop which opened in 1968 was the first TRIÁL founded and designed shop. The Hobby shop built close relations113