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LIKE Christmas, child-
hood was invented by the
Victorians, says Ian
Beavis, the curator of
Tunbridge Wells Museum.
He explains: "They created the cult
of a carefree childhood, and an
upwardly mobile middle class
found mass-production meant more
people could enjoy toys than ever."
The museum's collection was
born out of that sudden explo-
sion in toys in the Victorian
age. The great clearing out
of stately Victorian houses
in the town in the 1950s
lead to attic-loads of old
toys being offered to
the museum.
"Toys had always
been there for the
upper echelons of
society � you see
them in the
homes of the
Egyptians and
the Romans � but
there was no toy
industry, they were
simple things, like
rag dolls, made in
the home."
It is also true that but
for the richest sections of
society, childhood, as a
time of endless leisure and
play, was extremely brief.
Those who survived childhood ill-
nesses would have been expected to play
their part helping around the house and
with their parents' work. Child labour, in
the fields or later in the factories, left
precious little time for play.
And, just as the Victorians
imported their idea of Christmas
from Germany, so also they brought
their toys from there.
Germany had a craft tradition of
making carved, jointed wooden dolls. They
were collected up by merchants and sold
around Europe. These primitive, and not very
huggable dolls, known as Dutch, a corruption
of Deutsch (German) dolls are well represent-
ed at the museum.
Made of wax or pottery, dolls remained dis-
tinctly uncuddly until the beginning of the
20th century.
"Children had to be very careful not to leave
the wax dolls too near the fire in case their
faces melted, or to not drop their china dolls,"
Ian Beavis explains.
Dolls houses were originally the expensive
possessions of the richer households.
The ability to mass produce small scale
objects saw them become increasingly popular
under Queen Victoria, and gifts of miniature
tea sets, replica pets and bedroom furniture
were excitedly received.
Barbie, it seems, was not the first doll-sized
adult to be produced. The Victorians had their
own dolls busy looking for love.
The curator points out one dressed to the
nines and clutching a Valentine's Day card.
Mass produced soft toys are first seen
around 1900, with the teddy bear soon becom-
ing one of the most popular.
The Georgians were most particular that
toys and games should be educational and
morally improving. One example � that would
be totally incomprehensible to a child today �
is the Fruit Basket. Produced in 1822, it is a
real soap opera of a board game, pointing out
in great detail the rewards of virtue, and the
consequences of vice. It was obviously too rich
a fare even for Georgian children, and the
toned down successor, Snakes and Ladders,
dropped all reference to behaviour.
Sundays were given over to worship, and
any games had to have Biblical significance,
which explains the popularity of the Noah's
Ark, even if, like the museum's example, the
makers were taking their images of exotic
species such as the elephant from fairly inac-
curate prints.
The jigsaw puzzle was first invented in 1760,
as a teaching aid in which maps were printed
onto wood, cut up, and given to a child to help
them learn their geography lessons.
For an early classroom prop it has remained
remarkably popular.
Building blocks have also stood the test of
time. The simple home-made wooden blocks
gave little stability, but the Victorian invention
of artificial stone meant far more elaborate
models could be built.
And the invention of Meccano in England in
1907 (now produced in Calais) introduced an
era of pottering and tinkering which some say
led directly to the male obsession with garden
It wasn't always child's
Find out more
� Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art
Gallery, Civic Centre, Mount Pleasant,
Tunbridge Wells, call 01892 554171 or
www.tunbridgewellmuseum.org.
� Victorian and Albert Museum of
Childhood at Bethnal Green, call 020
8983 5200 or go to www.vam.ac.uk.
THINGS CHANGE: Dolls houses were originally a toy for the upper classes until mass
production became possible, whilst cuddly toys did not appear until the 1900s
GEORGE WARD takes a trip to Tunbridge Wells
Museum to examine its toy collection and look
at the changing face of some classic stocking
filler favourites
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