American Toby Jug Museum 

Home Guard character jug modeled by Stanley J. Taylor and produced by Royal Doulton of Burslem, England, in a 1991 limited edition of 9,500 celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Local Defence Volunteers founded in May 1940. During World War II all able-bodied British men were conscripted into the armed forces creating a shortage of manpower on the domestic front. This gap was ably filled by those too young, too old, deferred from service on medical grounds, or those in reserve occupations. These brave men were a part of the Local Defence Volunteers. Among them was the Home Guard, which was formed in May 1940, when the British government realized that Germany was overpowering France. The Home Guard was prepared to intercept the enemy should they invade the homeland. With the war in Europe well in hand and the Nazis in retreat, the Home Guard disbanded on November 1, 1944. A sten gun and hand grenade form the handle of the jug.