American Toby Jug Museum 

Charles Dickens thimble set produced by Staffordshire Fine Ceramics of Tunstall, England, circa 1975. Charles Huffham Dickens (1812-1870) is commonly regarded as England's greatest popular novelist of the nineteenth century. With little formal education, the young Dickens spent five months in a factory sticking labels on early Doulton and Watts' pots, a real-life experience that manifested itself through the hero of his 1850 autobiographical novel, David Copperfield. His career in writing began in 1836 with the creation of the immensely popular Mr. Pickwick. Dickens' diverse, colorful characters filled his works with spirited humor and satirical wit, carrying themes which reflected his own experiences and hardships. The characters are: top row, left to right - Little Nell, Charles Dickens, Buz Fuz, Oliver Twist; bottom row, left to right - Scrooge, Fagin, Mr. Micawber, Mr. Pickwick