Traditional Toy Box 1

 TRADITIONAL TOY BOX I 

This is a smaller version of a real washboard for children to play with. It dates to 1930. Toys that are smaller copies of adult tools, domestic utensils etc. have always been very popular. Just as today children might play with a Dyson toy Hoover or a plastic hammer, children in the past acted out adult activities.

A dog, a plate, a toilet, a wolf in a bed, and a coal scuttle(coal for the fire in the house would have been kept in a coal scuttle). These are part of a collection of household furnishings from a dolls house that was used by a family from 1910 to the 1940’s.Dolls houses are interesting because they reflect changes in design, style and technology.

This is an example of a simple wooden home-made toy. It used to be common for children (or their parents) to make their own toys from materials at hand like wood, screws, spare material, feathers, shells etc. This toy truck is made simply with wood and screws and then painted. Children could have a toy plus the fun of making it and the sense of achievement of making something from nothing.  Transport has been and still is a popular theme for toys.

Tinplate toys were widely available from street traders or toy shops and were also given away free with other products. This car came free with ‘Nelson Lee’ cigarettes. There were many different types of tin toys. Some were ordinary like cars, boats and animals. Many clockwork tin toys were made like walking animals or moving cars. Some were amusing or odd like swimming ladies, dancing skeletons and jumping frogs.

Tinplate toys are no longer sold to children because of their sharp edges.

The game of playing with simple objects by picking them up and catching them is ancient. Games could be played with nuts, stones, bones, clay and jacks. There are different versions like 5 stones, jacks and knucklebones. It is known that the Egyptians and Greeks played such a game.

This is an example of a home-made toy. It is an old fashioned wooden peg made into a little doll. It used to be common for people to make toys at home rather than buy expensive toys from shops.
Girls, with the help of their mother sometimes would use sewing skills to make rag dolls, spoon or peg dolls. Boys and their fathers would make toys like simple cars and boats from wood and other spare materials. Children could have cheap toys, learn skills like sewing and carpentry and enjoy making the toys themselves.

The earliest known dolls house dates to the 16th century. It was made for the Duke of Bavaria and was a copy of his house.
Up until the 18th century, dolls houses were not toys to be played with. They were perfect miniature homes to be admired and to show off the wealth of the owner. They were very expensive and only rich people could afford them.

In the 19th century, dolls houses became children’s toys as well. They are still popular with both adults and children today. Dolls houses are hugely varied. Some dolls houses were very expensive and elaborate. Mass production in the 20th century meant that dolls houses were affordable for ordinary people too. Some dolls houses have been home-made from spare materials. They could also be bought in kit form.

Animals are an ever popular theme for childrens toys. These pigs are part of a collection of other wild and farm animals.

They came from Sandhurst School in Gloucester, which is now closed.They are made from the metal lead. Toys now do not have lead in because we know it is poisonous.

Dinky toys were a range of metal vehicles, like tanks, cars, lorries, fire engines and other commercial vehicles.This tank is from the 1950’s. Can you see DINKY SUPERTOYS printed on the base of the tank? We know that this range was introduced in 1947.

The following are reproduction toys:

KALEIDOSCOPE
Another example of an optical toy. The kaleidoscope was patented in Britain in 1817.

DRESS-UP DOLL
This simple toy has never lost its appeal. It has been endlessly updated with changing fashions in dress. Its origins go back to at least the 18th century. It seems to be an English invention, paper or card dress-up dolls were known as ‘English dolls’.
Even poor families could afford these dolls or they could be easily home-made.

WHIP-AND-TOP, YOYO AND CUP-AND-BALL
All age-old games for you to play with. Have a go! There are also more reproduction toys made by a professional toymaker.(See full list below).

Items from the collection
Washboard / Peg doll / 5 stones / 3 lead pigs /  Dinky toy tank /
Noah’s Ark + 6 animals /  Doll’s house furniture /   plate /   dog / coal scuttle /   wolf in bed
toilet / Tin car

Reproduction toys
flick book / dress-up doll / yoyo / kaleidoscope / cup & ball / zoetrope / spinner / jacobs ladder / Toys from Cyril Hobbins the Toymaker billoquet(cup & ball) / bartholomew baby / bear and blacksmith / Also / Information folder / Shire book ‘Old Toys’

This loan box will give you a flavour of toys from the past.
The information provided will help you identify and talk about the toys.

Original toys from the museum’s collection
- these must NOT be passed around for children to handle. These should be handled by the teacher or another adult, who should then show the toys to the children. This will preserve the life of these objects. Note; the tin car has sharp edges.
- please handle these toys gently.

Reproduction toys
- these may be passed around amongst the children and they are allowed to handle or play with them.
- please watch that the children are not too rough with the toys.

Tudor Box| | Victorian Box 1| | Victorian Box 2| | Victorian Box 3| | Victorian School Box|

World War II Box| | Interpretation Box| | Reminiscence Box|

Traditional Toy Box 1| | Traditional Toy Box 2| | Individual Items| | Victorian Costumes| | Book On Line|