In 1893, W. Britain was founded by William Britain Jr., a British toy manufacturer, who was following in the footsteps of his father. The Business of Britains Limited , incorporated on December 4, 1907 had been initiated some sixty years earlier by William Britain (1828 - 1906), an ingenious toy maker from the Midlands. Prior to 1893, Willaim Britain had produced a number of mechanical toys with varied success.

Then, as now, the toy trade was a fairly risky business and there was strong competition in mechanical toys, which were produced both in Great Britain and on the continent of Europe. In the early 1890s, William Britain and his sons sought a specialty which would give them a positive advantage over their rivals. One idea they considered was toy soldiers, in which there was a substantial import trade from Germany.

William Britain Junior (1860 - 1933), the eldest son, is credited with having invented the hollow casting process for manufacturing toy soldiers. Hollow parts were already used on a number of existing Britains' toys and, doubtless, this experience helped enormously. However, applied to the manufacturer of toy soldiers, hollow casting was totally revolutionary and gave the Britain family the sort of competitive edge it had been seeking.

Hollowcasting was the process where molten lead was poured into a figure mould and before the entire figure could set some of the molten metal was poured back out again. What this process achieved was the lead would form a skin on the inside of the mould, but by pouring the molten lead back out again it would leave the figure hollow in the centre.

In 1883, when the Britain family put it's new toy on the market, the younger generation consisted of two daughters, Emily (the eldest) and Anne, and five sons. William Britain Junior followed by Alfred, Frederick, Frank and Edward. In the early years, they all took part in the business, although later, when success was assured, the daughters and the two youngest sons went their own way.

Until 1893, German toy makers dominated the miniature metal soldier market and it was difficult for any new type of model to establish a commercial foothold. No doubt William Britains' connections with the toy trade stood him in good stead and, after an understandably slow beginning, the problem soon became how to produce enough models to satisfy the demand - a new experience for the company, since it had previously traded in a small way.

Albert Gamage and his celebrated store in Holborn, London - then one of the largest outlets for toys in the country and especially renowned for it's Christmas displays - played a crucial part in Britains' success. Gamage immediately started to stock the new Britains' lines. Following his new policy, he sold the toy at well below the recommended price at ten pence halfpenny instead of one shilling. As Britains extended its range, Gamages continued to buy, reducing it's stock of German imports, and by 1906 the toy soldiers featured in Gamages' catalogue were virtually exclusively manufactured by Britains.

A notice at the top of the first page devoted to toy soldiers in this 1906 catalogue stated: "English made toy soldiers - we hold a stock of 500,000 soldiers of all nations but owing to the exceptional demand at Christmas time, customers are urged to give their as early as possible to prevent any possibility of delay."

In this same year, 1906, Britains introduced giant display boxes, which were an immediate success.

Another quotation from the same catalogue indicates a second and equally important reason from Britains' success:

"All of our soldiers are made exact to scale, that is a Foot Soldier is the same as a Horse Soldier, and Horses are in proportion to men; whilst the Uniform and Colorings have been most carefully considered and will be found perfectly correct in all details."

From the start, the soldiers were standardized on a scale equivalent to the most popular size of toy train at that time, which was known as gauge! This meant producing a man 54mm (2.25") tall. It is a measure of the influence that Britains had on the entire toy and model soldier market that this measure is still known as the standard scale: all toys and models are measured in millimetres as the height of an ordinary infantry man without headgear. Britain also manufactured a smaller size measuring 43 mm (1 7/10"), a little smaller than the "0" gauge trains for which they were intended. In 1912, the height of these smaller models was increased by 2mm so they'd conform exactly with the 0 gauge trains.

With regard to the uniforms, the company went to great lengths in order to obtain accuracy and, on the whole, proved immensely successful - in sharp contrast to the German sets, which had been on sale through wholesalers throughout the 1890s.

The first years of hollow cast production, between 1893 and the turn of the century, were characterized by rapid changes in models, unstandardised box labels and a relatively low level of production. The new century brought expansion and greater standardization. The original house in Lambton Road was extended and then the house next door was acquired and another extension built. However, even that was to prove insufficient and the houses were pulled down and replaced by a factory, warehouse and office complex occupying the entire side of a block with a floor area of 36,000 square feet. Some 300 people were now employed on the site.

From 1900 to 1916, the year the factory was converted to war production, standard dated figures were introduced and kept in production. Export trade to the USA and continental Europe was developed and a consistent product range was established. Fred Whisstock was appointed to design the box labels in a single style.

Normal production resumed in 1918, at the end of the First World War. The Britains farm series was introduced in 1921 in response to the prevailing popular mood which turned aside from the horrors of war. In retrospect, the 1920s can be seen as a period of consolidation and preparation for the astonishing performance of the 1930s.

A new factory, known as the North Light Building and of no less than 20,000 square feet, was designed and erected in Walthamstow. North East London and in 1931 the entire production of the Home Farm Range was moved there. Exports were increased, especially to the USA, and production facilities expanded.

In the 1930s, Britains survived economic depression by developing every money generating product it could think of. New types of diecast models proliferated including zoo, garden, circus, and motor vehicles. Many different grades of quality were produced. The 1940 range, marketed just before the company had to again go over to war production, was the largest ever.

The return to normality after the Second World War was slow and it was not until 1953 that a reasonable range was offered. Box labels were standardized to a single "All Nations" design. In the 1950s, the introduction of plastic figures from companies such as Herald made Britains sit up and take notice (Britains bought out Herald in 1959). Plastic figures became the mainstay of Britains business with the metal hollow cast figures ceasing production in 1966.

Throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the success of the Britains continued and the brand name was prominently established. From 1966 until the early 1980s, Britains focused on space and agricultural toys as well as plastic military figures. Its range of plastic farm animals and complementary die cast vehicles are worthy upholders of the standards and traditions set long ago. In the 1990s, a new range of diecast metal toy soldiers in the old traditional uniforms started being made to satisfy the expanding die cast toy collectors' market.

In 1984, a small Midlands-based conglomerate, The Dobson Park Group, bought Britains since Dennis Britain wanted to retire and no other family shareholder wanted to take over the company. in 1986, the group changed the company name to Britain Petite Ltd.

In 1997, Britains Petite, Ltd was bought by Ertl Company of Iowa, another maker of die-cast toys. Ertl bought W. Britain primarily for the farm series, not the toy soldier business, as Ertl was already an established manufacturer of farm toys in the USA and thought the Britains farm lines would be a good addition to its company. Ertl however did not hold on to W Britain for very long and in 1999 the entire Ertl company, including W. Britain, was bought out by an even larger U.S. toy company named Racing Champions.

In early September 2005, First Gear acquired W. Britain toy soldiers. The brand now seems to have gone full circle, as what was once started as a small family business is now once again owned by a small family business, the only difference being now the family is American and not English.

In 2006, the company launched half a dozen new ranges with greatly improved sculpting and painting detail, a renewed commitment to the finest quality - from the figures to the packaging and customer service, and authentic, historically accurate figures researched in partnership with world renowned military museums and sculpted by military historians.

W. Britain makes two different size miniature figures. They are:

• A 56mm piece that has a matte finish and is more realistic.
• A 54mm glossy finished piece that is considered the classic Britain. It's the same size as 100 years ago. The lead figures made in this size are considered the classic figures.

Britains recent company timeline is:

• 1984: The original Britain family sold the company to The Dobson Park Group.
• 1986: Name was changed in Britain Petite Ltd.
• 1993: The W. Britain Centenary (collector club) was started and is still in existence.
• 1997: The Ertl Company purchased the company from The Dobson Park Group.
• 1999: The entire Ertl company was purchased by the larger US toy company Racing Champions.
• 2005: First Gear, a small family-owned diecast company located in the United States, purchased the W. Britain company.