One of my favourite films of all time is Big with Tom Hanks. If you have not seen it – do it today. It tells the tale of a small boy who comes across a wish-granting ‘Zoltan’ machine on deserted pier and, frustrated with the limitations and rules of childhood, makes a wish to be big.
Big always comes to mind when I see toys shops crammed with games, dolls houses and fairy wings. I’d like to find that hocus pocus machine and use it to become small. Just for a couple of weeks, preferably over Christmas. There would be a few things on my Father Christmas shopping list – go-cart, rocking horse, Cinderella slippers – but I’d be more than happy spending my second-childhood playing with mice.
These ‘mouse in a matchbox’ cuties have been catching my eye in gift shops and on Instagram for a while now. When a colleague had a baby girl, I used this as the perfect excuse to travel to Sticky Fingers in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, to pursue their adorable mouse collection (soft toys, not an infestation). On buying a little baby mouse and matching cot (don’t ask about the price; let’s just say you need a lot of wedge) I discovered they are Mailegs.
Maileg (pronounced My’lye which I know doesn’t help) is a Danish company. Mention Denmark and you know it’s a matter of time before I connect Maileg with the concept of hygge (pronounced…who knows?). Hygge and Maileg go together like Ikea and meatballs. Hygge means snuggling up on a cold winter’s day in your elegantly furnished log cabin. While the adults watch 12 hours of non-stop knitting on Slow TV, their perfect children sit quietly on the faux elk skin rug playing with their Mailegs.
Maileg describe their miniature toy output as; ‘A world in which matchboxes can be beds for mice; princesses make perfect teatime companions; and adventures can be found on a friendly forest walk. It is a world where cats and mice are friends. Ours is a world of childhood imagination.’
Which is Danish designer-speak for ‘we’re too cute’.
It feels like this magical world has been around forever but Maileg was formed by Danish illustrator and graphic designer Dorthe Mailil and her husband Eric in 1999. Dorthe was studying art and design in France when she created a cute pixie out of clay – much to the delight of her fellow students. One pixie became a family, the clay became fabric and a company was born combining Dorthe and Eric’s surname Mailil with ‘leg’ (the Danish word for Play).
Two grown-up fans are sisters Carla de Reyes Mezbur and Bekka McCarthy, who founded Sister’s Guild; an online boutique and shop in Frome, Somerset. The sisters are constantly trying to find ‘design classics for the new generation’ and Maileg toys feature on their list of child-friendly heirlooms.
“”Our girls insist that the mice are private creatures that live in wardrobes and cupboards where it’s quiet and safe,” Carla writes on her blog.
“I cannot count the times I’ve laughed aloud when I’ve discovered them hiding along with tea sets and miniature furniture where they’ve set up house. It is as though they are the mystical creatures that live alongside us.”
Bekka tells me they also appeal to grown-ups; ” In the Frome shop it’s my favourite thing to see people of all ages come and squeak with delight over the mice,” she laughs.
“One 50-something couple starting singing the Bagpuss mice song and couldn’t resist buying a Matchbox Mouse for themselves.”
But let’s leave the children out of this story for one moment. I am not ashamed to say I have taken delivery of Maileg twins in my house and there’s not a child in sight. The reason Maileg mice have become so popular with BIG people is because they burrow straight into the heart of women of a certain age who love modern Scandinavian design and wish to sprinkle a bit of Nordic whimsy around their homes.
In short, the children may get their hands on some Mailegs for Christmas…but only if they are very, very good.
To browse the whole collection visit Maileg.
To wallow in Maileg gorgeousness then visit Maileg Magic on Pinterest (see left). It’s the place where Maileg lovers of the world unite…
Find Sticky Fingers at 12 Church St, Ashbourne DE6 1AE.
