This
French toy and infant product manufacturer’s story is almost like a modern day
fairy tale!
Scroll
back to the year 1972 (in the aftermath of the 1968 student protests in France)
and to a group of friends wanting to work together and to build a community, at
the intersection of screen printing, art and crafts. Then picture them all
relocating to a small village called Moulin Roty, on the west coast of France,
renovating an old mill, and you have the workshop’s name which was later
incorporated as a SCOP, that is, a 100% worker-owned cooperative.
But
this company organization, its ideals, and their original headquarters was
never the hot selling point, or what made them really famous in the world
beyond Moulin Roty (the small town). In
fact their original headquarters, including all of their work and the company’s
stocks, were completely burnt down in a fire in 1988.The cooperative is just
their story, and their way of operating, on the principles of solidarity and
respect, ensuring that everyone is happily invested in their work, and that
this work counts for everyone in the company.
What
really made them famous is the extraordinary softness and beauty of the old
fashioned toys that they manufacture with modern flare, exquisite fabrics and
stitching, in color coded lines. The products are also sold in conjunction with
a Doudou (softy) service that promptly expedites a replacement toy to any child
who has lost a beloved Moulin Roty softy toy!
Soft
indeed and super cute, since the company’s first big hit, in 1975, was a small,
foam and fabric covered wooden toy car that rolled around on two small wooden wheels!
Soon after, another softy line was launched with Les Douilletes rag dolls, and
the rest is history: one softer line after another of the cutest play characters,
with the sweetest names and stories, packaged in the cutest boxes and match
boxes, suitcases and pouches, in addition to infant furniture and bedding
Moulin
Roty is now, a three generation, baby boomer tale of toil and toys that has
successfully negotiated the transition from workshop to industrial production,
while retaining a business structure compatible with their original ideals. The
business is now operating with a 12 million Euro turnaround, distributing their
softy toys and infant product lines only to preferred partners in France, and
since 2000 to the US, Australia, Japan, Great Britain and a few other European
countries.
Below you will find the Abstract for FR 2838406, a cute Moulin
Roty invention designed to convert shopping bags into closed gift bags, officially
titled in English: Cover for open top bag converting it into gift wrapper, comprises
strip with aperture for bag handles, scored fold lines and adhesive strips. And you will also find included patent figure drawings of this invention, and images of the Moulin Roty marketed softy
products.
Abstract FR 2838406
The cover, designed to fit over
the open top of a bag made to contain a gift, consists of a strip of rigid,
semi-rigid or supple material such as card, paper or plastic, having an
aperture for the bag's handles, scored fold lines, and adhesive strips
for attaching it to the sides of the bag. It can be made from a variety of
materials and have decorative edges or a motif.
