LURE OF TIN SOLDIERS

Northern Advocate, 1 December 1936, Page 10

LURE OF TIN SOLDIERS

What makes some grown-up, responsible men take out the toy soldiers they put away in their childhood and turn “playing with soldiers” into a serious hobby? A “News Chronicle” reporter went to the first exhibition of the British Society of Collectors of Model Soldiers, held in the Rendezvous Restaurant, Dean Street, to try to find out. Founded a year ago with. 15 members the Society now boasts 80.

“Britain is the last of the big countries,” they said, “to have a society of collectors of model soldiers. M. Herriot has a big private collection. Von Hindenburg had a fine collection, which was used for educational purposes in Germany, and so had the Kaiser.”

But why do men take an interest in model soldiers. Here are some of the answers:

Mr. E. K. Milliken, headmaster of the Lancing House School, Lowestoft, who founded the society:

“I picked up a couple of toy soldiers one day to illustrate a point in a history lesson, and that started it.” To-day he has developed a method of teaching with the aid of models — not only military history, but social history and incidents in literature.

A Jewish fur dealer, who has a complete set of costumes of different periods from ancient times to the Napoleonic era: “It was my love of history.” Such explanations, however, do not cover the case of the insurance agent who makes up model soldiers in imaginary uniforms. He said: “I had about 1,500 soldiers when I was a kid. I kept them, and one day I started painting them.” Some of the collectors are pacifists. One of the exhibitors said:

“When you look at it from the war angle it becomes uninteresting.” He pointed to one of his exhibits — the “Peace Harvest” contrasted with “The War Harvest” —hayricks on one side and stretcher-bearers carrying wounded out of the lines on the other. And then: “Now what could you have more beautiful or more romantic than ‘The Tournament’?" he asked turning to an elaborate mediaeval tableau.

That is perhaps the most significant thing about these collectors; they prefer to dwell on the romantic aspects.