TOYS OF OTHER DAYS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 79, 27 December 1928, Page 12

TOYS OF OTHER DAYS

Children have, naturally, always played a big part in the history of mankind —from the time of the primitive races before the dawn of civilisation, till now in the first half of the twentieth century. Something had to be contrived to amuse these sportive creatures, so toys came into being, fashioned to reflect the various interests and passing fashions of the moment, says the “Melbourne Age.” Children in early days, that now seem as strange and fantastic as cloudland or dreamland, played with rudely-made toys, moulded out of pink clay, shapeless little birds and animals of no particular species. Egyptian children were very much more fortunate, and were provided with delightful models of various objects most familiar to them —lions with movable jaws, wooden horses, which actually ran on wheels, and fishes, cats, hedgehogs and cows, attractively made in brilliant purple and blue pottery. Greek children played with models of rabbits, rams, birds and dogs, and had fascinating toys such as warriors on horseback or swanback, fish riding on mules, and dolls and toy carts.

In Rome many toys were fashioned out of bronze, and games were played with balls covered with cloth or hide, and stuffed with feathers, hair or fig seed. They also played many games

with nuts, and to “renounce the nuts” was symbolical of giving up childish things. Children in twelfth-century England possessed dolls, spinning tops, toy horses, whips, and numbers of models made in wood. _ One very attractive model was that of two jointed wooden soldiers dressed in armour. Their feet were weighted with lead, and they were jerked backwards and forwards by a cord passed through the middle, each end being held by a boy. They must have caused much fun by their strutting and prancing. In Tudor times there were dolls which were often known as “Bartholomew babies,” being purchased largely at St. Bartholomew’s Fair, and wonderful lambs made of white wool spangled with gold, a composition head with cheeks painted red, and black spots for eyes. Their legs and horns were made of tin, and they wore a piece of pink tape for a neckband. Besides these cuddlesome toys there were drums, hobby horses, popguns, with clay pellets to fire from them; hoops and kites. The children of “Merrie England” seem to have enjoyed a large range of playthings, and to have had a happy and varied existence.

In the eighteenth century picture books of a fairly cheap variety first came into existence, and all the old tales that children still love so dearly were printed in little cheap books with gaily-coloured prints—Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots, and many other favourites. Children of those days played games with toy parachutes, shuttlecocks, and marbles. Many beautiful toys were miniature replicas of the full-size thing, and made, by regular craftsmen. Tea and dinner services were made by great china makers, and even Sheraton and Chippendale made wonderful little sets of furniture. Dolls’ houses reflected the type of architecture common at the time, and were really charming models. Rocking horses were known to ths eighteenth century child, lead soldiers, paper soldiers, and, later, at the close of the century, cheap mechanical toys.

Since those days have come in almost bewildering profusion, exquisite dolls, gollywogs, and woolly beasts of every description, including the muchbeloved Teddy bear. The younger fry of to-day enjoy their models of motorcars, engines, aeroplanes, and we arc introduced to such novelties as the optimistic and athletic Felix and Dismal Desmond, the pessimistic and ungainly hound. Wonderful models of all kinds abound, and each succeeding year seems to outvie the other in the costliness and beauty of its toys. Still, for all that, many a child would not give up her homely and battered doll for all the Lend babies in the world, and who does not recall the intense affection bestowed by little Charles Stuart on an inanimate block of wood?