Hamleys Of London

The huge-eyed kids filling Hamleys today share something very special with our founder. A love of toys. Let's travel back in time to suit him. Growing up in Bodmin, Cornwall, William Hamley might have become a tin miner. Or a fisherman. But William had other ideas. He dreamed of opening the finest toy shop in the world. In 1760, he did, cramming 'Noah's Ark' with every aspect of toy, from rag dolls to tin soldiers. Over the street-sellers' calls and horses' hooves ringing on the cobbles, you could just make out the delighted cries of kids as they approached the window.