[Taking A Close Look At...]
[CULTURES]

Children's Toys



"Whose boys were playing in a barn last Sunday instead of being in Sunday-school?" [Aurora, 19 December 1883]

"WORDS OF WISDOM FOR CHILDREN
Children should be taught to use the left hand as well as the right.
Coarse bread is much better for children than fine.
Children should sleep in separate beds, and should not wear night caps. Children under seven years should not be confined over six or seven hours in the house, and that time should be broken by frequent recesses.
Children and young people must be made to hold their heads up and their shoulders back while sitting, standing or walking. The best beds for children are of hair, or in winter, of hair and cotton.
Young persons should walk at least two hours in the open air.
Young ladies should be prevented from bandaging the chest. We have known three cases of insanity terminating in death, which began in this practice.
The more clothing we wear, other things being equal, the less food we need..."[Casket, 7 October 1852]

" TOYS All descriptions of Toys At Less than Half the Prices formerly paid for these Goods The Latest Novelties, which are sure to please the Children.
Engine and Top, ........... 7 cents
Tops,.............................. 3 cents
Beautiful Wax Dolls, Dressed and
Undressed,...................... from 7 cents up
Jack-in-the-Box,................ 7 cents
We cannot begin to give a List of the Toys and Articles Suitable for Gifts to Children. Let Mothers call and see them now, for they are all new, and oh, so cheap." [Casket, 17 December 1896]


Supporting Evidence



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Item: CHILDREN'S BOOK, THE CHILDREN'S WREATH
Date: 1877
Dimensions: approx. 20.3 cm x 25.4 cm

Comments: This picture story-book is filled with beautiful illustrations and stories promoting love, religion and morality. The print is large for easy reading and the paper thick and of high quality. It has all the signs of wear and tear that come with both age and regular use. The stories, poems and prayers in The Children's Wreath all convey the same sugar-coated messages: be kind to people and animals, respect your elders and love God. The illustrations also reinforce these themes as exemplified by one picture of a pretty girl gracefully feeding a baby deer from her own hand.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, children's books were largely ABC books or collections of sermons. Well into the 19th century, juvenile literature tended to be school books and religious tracts rather than imaginative fictional literature. The Children's Wreath clearly fits within this tradition. This particular copy was originally owned by an 8-year-old girl, Helena Cunningham, who grew up in Antigonish.

Sarah Wells




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Item: CHILDREN'S BOOK, CHATTERBOX
Date:1891, published by Estes & Lauriat, Boston
Dimensions:approx. 12.7 cm x 17.8 cm

Comments: This 412-page book was originally owned by 9-year-old Bessie Copeland who received it as a gift from her 13-year-old brother, Arthur. Bessie was the daughter of a local Antigonish druggist and she eventually married into the Cunningham family. This volume, published in Boston, was aimed primarily at young girls. It includes brain-teasers, puzzles, games and mathematical problems for stimulating the minds of young readers. It also includes activities as well as stories that convey didactic messages about goodness, honesty and decency. The book is lavishly illustrated although most of the illustrations are black and white. The images are geared towards the upper and middle classes, for the women and little girls are portrayed as prim, proper, and sophisticated.

This hard-cover periodical was part of the Chatterbox series and was highly representative of the great outpouring of weekly and monthly magazines for juvenile readers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although their quality was often uneven, many of these publications were instructive and educational, encouraging an "impeccable" middle-class morality and epitomizing what is now regarded as "The Golden Age of Children's Literature." At this time, there was little for young girls to read. It is not surprising that they took special delight when the Girls' Own Paper and Chatterbox appeared.

Sarah Wells




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Item: CHILDREN'S BOOK, CHUMS: AN ILLUSTRATED PAPER FOR BOYS
Date: 1899
Dimensions: approx. 27.9 cm x 35.5 cm

Comments: This 800-page book was a journal-type publication aimed at young boys. Chums contains adventure stories about animals, people and sports which encourage boys to be good, honourable, moral and respectable. It also contains cartoons which convey moralistic messages entreating one to "be honorable", "don't quarrel" and "respect your elders". This series thrilled young male readers, and according to Jane Pettigrew, Chums was another good, wholesome and well-illustrated journal that was thought by many to be the best available. It stressed the merits of outdoor activities and incorporated good, solid middle-class values into its stories. Heroes were upright and manly and always triumphant over rotters and cads."

This particular copy of Chums belonged to the Cunningham family. Middle-class homes like the Cunningham's tended to have more books and magazines than lower-class families. But even poorer children avidly tracked down copies of Chatterbox and Chums by "organizing swaps" with their friends.

Sarah Wells




Supporting Evidence

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Item: TEDDY BEAR
Date:c. 1920
Dimensions: 30 centimetres high

Comments:This is the first known teddy bear in Antigonish. Originally it was given to Cedric Griffin, but he in turn gave it to the boy next door, Charlie Archibald. Griffin was born around 1912 or 1913, so it is possible to estimate the age of the bear to this time. The bear shows considerable wear, even some exposed stuffing. It is filled with wood shavings and appears thin rather than fat. It is a light tan colour, has long jointed arms and a pointed snout; the claws and mouth are embroidered with thread and the paws covered with beige cloth.

Both the United States and Germany take credit for the first teddy bear. One version suggests that this celebrated child's toy first became popular in 1902 after President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a helpless bear cub on a hunting expedition in Mississippi. Later, a cartoon appeared in The Washington Post drawn by Clifford Berryman depicting the incident. This cartoon was seen by Morris and Rose Mitchom, owners of a Brooklyn candy store. They decided to make some plush bears with movable arms and legs and button eyes. The concept was an instant success, and the Mitchoms soon established the largest teddy bear factory in the United States, the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. They requested permission from Roosevelt to call their stuffed bear "Teddy's Bear". These bears ranged in price from ninety-eight cents to twelve dollars. Many factories began to make sweaters, jackets and vests for them. Although the Roosevelt story is colourful, evidence suggests that a Germany company, Margarette Steiff, started producing bears in 1897 and marketing them in 1903. By 1907, the Steiff Company manufactured almost a million toy bears due to widespread world demand. The teddy bear in the Antigonish Museum has many of the hallmark features of a Steiff bear. These include the black boot button eyes, long sharp muzzle, well-stitched nose, long, ungainly arms, and toes and claws outlined in black wool stitches.

Vintage bears were filled with straw, sawdust, cork, cotton or wool and were thin rather than fat. Although the bears at this time were generally light in color, there were red, black and dark brown bears available. They had long arms, pointed snouts, humps on their backs and glass eyes. Their claws and mouths were embroidered in black thread with pads of leather, felt or leathercloth. These bears ranged in size from two inches to several feet high. Most modern bears are mass produced, varied in colour and made of man-made plush fabrics. They are usually stuffed with foam rubber, plastic pellets or numerous fibre fillers. Their appearance has also changed. Instead of having a pointed nose, they now have a ball-like nose. Over the past century, the teddy bear has retained its classic appeal. It was probably one of the first soft cuddly toys produced for children.

Michelle Arseneau







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Item: DOLLS' TEA SET
Date: c. 1900
Dimensions: approx. 3 cm high and 3 cm wide

Comments: This child's tea set (teapot and two cups) was purchased at a local yard sale. The decorative paintwork is predominantly gold, but the main motif is an open bible, painted in blue, with golden rays. The words "Made in Japan" are clearly printed on the bottom of the teapot, pointing to the date of manufacture as post-1894. Admittedly, the biblical motif seems a peculiar choice of design for a child's toy. However, it is possible that it was manufactured to appeal specifically to those who supported or participated in the missionary movement in Asia.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Canadian children had many sources of amusement to while away their time. There were outdoor games such as skipping, hopscotch, hide and seek, leapfrog, jacks, peg tops, and crack-the-whip. The affluent Victorian household also included "scores of moral or educational board and card games, and miniature versions of adult artifacts, such as carpentry sets to develop manual skills in young sons and diminutive tea sets to foster domestic instincts in little daughters." The general idea was that these toys, and board games like Snakes and Ladders or Teetotums, would prepare children for their future roles as adults.

Until the late 18th century, most toys were entirely handcrafted. By the 19th century, toys were increasingly mass-produced and metal began to replace wood. Therefore, mechanical toys--especially automata, train sets and model armies--became common. In 1897, the first electrically-powered train sets were introduced to the United States, and railway systems with stations, signals, carriages, passengers, baggage, etc., took over many a nursery. Model armies with lead soldiers appeared in Britain in 1893. The soldiers were sold in sets. By 1907, more than one hundred different military units were offered containing tents, guns, tanks and forts. For young girls, there was the popular dollshouse, often resembling a cottage, town house, mansion or the child's home, which most parents hoped would instill good housekeeping skills. Dolls were also popular toys in the 19th century. Wax was the most common material used in making dolls at this time. Their bodies were made of muslin and filled with straw. By the early 20th century, porcelain dolls were the favourite commodity. The first of these dolls were fitted with porcelain heads produced in Germany and sawdust-filled fabric bodies. Eventually, white bisque replaced porcelain. The dolls began to be flesh-coloured, and had fashionable hair styles and jointed arms and legs. Even as toys became more sophisticated, traditional toys like blocks retained their popularity. Some blocks were decorated with letters, or pictures which formed simple puzzles. "Jacob's Ladder" was popular in the 1800s. It was made of several flat wooden surfaces connected with ribbons.






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