Welcome to The Wonderful World of Rosbro!
I recently uploaded my Valentine's Day Podcast Episode, on Living a Vintage Life Podcast, which is below if you haven't already listened, but Ed and I talked a little about Rosbro. I hadn't even heard of this company before this podcast, so as a plastics lover I wanted to investigate more. As it turns out I had indeed come across their toys before, but never paid attention that it was them. I'm sure you have too, if you love vintage plastics as much as I do!
Simply put, they made quaint little molded plastic toys, from little duck baby rattles, to vintage bunny rabbit candy containers for Easter. You may find unusual picks that would have went into a flower arrangement or into a cake as a decoration. They did a lot of candy containers, sometimes you will find a little dutch looking boy and girl couple, with indents to hold the candy. All of their items are so cute, and so vintage looking.
Here's why finding them gets a bit confusing. The Rosbro company was a family owned company owned located in Rhode Island originally started in 1946, so most of these candy containers and toys that I am mentioning here are indicative of 40s to 60s designs. Rosbro was owned by Harris Rosen, who owned the School House Candy Company and the E. Rosen Company! I am truly unsure if this is the same Harris Rosen who is involved in hotels? Does anyone know? I am certain sooner or later a reader will tell me. A side note: many old vintage Valentines Day cards are also marked with an artist named Rosen, and I am unsure if this was also a division of their creations! Ephemera found by searches has listed the EE Rosen Company in Providence RI, yet their molding machines as stated by Beregar below, were circa 1998 in Pawtucket. If you are familiar with Rhode Island, simply put Pawtucket is in Providence County, but if in fact these were two difference places, such as a corporate office and a factory, you are talking a distance of 5-6 miles maybe not a huge stretch.
Although the structuring is a bit confusion, it is not uncommon for many companies with owners who created parent companies. I am unsure if this was done for marketing purposes or because as a plastics molder they wanted to keep the candy division separate. The information I see specifically states injection molding and blow molding, which encompasses these toys.
According to a report by Bill Bregar, the molding factory (was then in Pawtucket R.I.) was closing in 1998 and at that time had employed 53 people. Later I found filings in 1997 about Rosbro, but the reports showed inactive. I lost them after that.
This Rosbro Pull Horse is featured in Etsy shop Life Hearted Vintage.
What About the Toys?
They molded them in a lot of various colors, mostly pales or brights. They did a lot of Valentine's Day, Easter and Halloween, even small plastic pumpkins. As of early 2022, prices are subjective, Etsy and Antiques experts know what they have found and you can expect to pay anywhere from $25-$200 for a mint set based on condition and rarity colors. Ebay is loaded with Rosbro waiting for your high bid, and smaller more popular Easter Containers sometimes can be had for $10-$15 if you are lucky.
As for the more rare and coveted of toys I've even seen pull toys which seem to be a bit more pricey, such as a pull toy horse with cord, which was also a candy container! There is even mention that this molder did banks such as the rare Old King Cole bank for a different company, Harret Gilmore. It is not uncommon for molders of to run plastics for a customer, and the molder's name will not be on it, but only the customer's name who commissioned the item. Therefore, finding these specialty items are rare. Expect to pay $50 easy for a toy bank, and upwards of $60 for pull toys. These prices are what's trending in February 2022 and not indicative of what may happen when more and more of these toys become obsolete. I can only imagine they will be coveted by holidays collectors as well as plastics collectors and candy collectors!.
Big G Design on Etsy has this lollipop ephemera which clearly states it was MFD for the E. Rosen Company in Providence. RI.
How to Identify:
For identification, know that most pieces are not marked, but the characteristics are there and once your eye is trained to see and identify Rosbro, you will start to notice.
They will be
1) older looking plastics mostly hard molded plastic
2) pale or bright colors
3) have visible seams on some small containers
4) sometimes have visible glue where people have fixed them
5) have simple features, such as one color dots in the eyes, or outline of one color on the mouth. Example: red plastic horse with black dots in eyes. I don't want to say the word sloppy, but somtimes this is how it looks, albeit does not detract from the cuteness.
6) are simplistic and sometimes only one color\
7) Tags or packages say EE Rosen, Rosbro, or School House Candy Company
I truly love Rosbro and hope to add a few pieces to my ever growing plastics collection. For the rest of you, thanks for visiting Melmac Central where I try hard to put free information out there for the reader, at no charge. You can thank me by listening to my vintage podcast to keep me talking and writing!
Happy Collecting!
You may enjoy my Vintage Valentine's Day Collecting Podcast
References:
ROSBRO-CLOSING-IN-JUNE | Plastics News
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