Podcast #1: The First Giraffe – featuring Alexandra Loske

Art historian and curator Alexandra Loske is researching her thesis and curating the upcoming Regency Colour exhibition. But she also uncovered the story that I’ve found perhaps most exciting so far.

If you know anything about my music, you may know I’ve had an obsession with giraffes for years – used them in songs, written about them and run photo streams of them. Meanwhile Alexandra, tasked with looking through a collection of old satirical cartoons, discovered several images of George IV including a giraffe, as if it was one of his toys. She started to research this and uncovered the first ever known giraffe in Britain, which was given to King George as a diplomatic gift by the Pasha of Egypt (the same fella who gave Britain the gift of Cleopatra’s Needle).

‘Twould puzzle a conjuror. Print, 1827.

I couldn’t pass it up. I interviewed Alexandra in the recently closed History Centre, to get her to tell this incredible story. It’s a doozy… for me, it felt like the best episode of In Our Time ever, although I do a horrible impression of Melvyn Bragg. What a way to kick off the podcasts.

Here’s a link to the audio podcast via Soundcloud. There will be more – and in the next few days I aim to publish podcasts to iTunes, which will enable you to subscribe – but I’m not quite there yet technically.

Chris T-T, Blogger in Residence

Discovering Dolls

Discovering Dolls

Dolls are among the earliest known toys, and have been made from a variety of materials. Most early dolls were made of wood, but by the eighteenth century, wax, china and bisque were commonly used for dolls’ heads and limbs, in combination with cloth bodies.

These doll parts were often quite expensive to produce, so only the wealthy could afford these professionally made dolls.  Rag, paper, wool and other household materials were used for making dolls in the home.

Advances in manufacturing techniques in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries enabled the doll industry to use new materials and processes.  Doll manufacturers were continually trying to find ways to produce cheaper, lighter, more hygienic and more hardwearing materials.  The formulas they created were often closely guarded secrets.

Traditional materials used in doll making such as wood, china and cloth were replaced by plastics and man-made fibres.  Mass-produced dolls were cheaper and more efficient to produce, and only a few specialists continued to make hand-made dolls.

Today, individual doll makers and artists use traditional techniques as well as using modern materials to create their dolls.  There are still manufacturers of doll parts made in the traditional ways that supply the doll making craft.

Wood

Wood

Early dolls were called stump or tocke dolls. Tocke means block of wood in German. They had no arms or legs and were carved out of a single piece of wood. They were later known as poupards and were said to represent babies.

Early English wooden dolls were intricately carved and covered with a thin layer of plaster and varnish. Later these carvings became cruder and less individual as the dolls became more widely produced.

Wax

Poured wax doll heads were made by pouring molten wax into moulds and pouring off the excess before it sets, leaving a shell of wax. Eyes were then cut out from the mould and hair was inserted. Solid wax doll heads were carved out of blocks of wax or molten wax set in moulds.

Wax-over-composition was a technique that was used to add to the appearance of the doll heads and reduce manufacturing costs. The composition moulds were dipped into molten wax. These dolls often have cracked faces because the two materials have expanded and contracted over time. The wax that is used in this process was usually bleached beeswax with colouring added to it.

Cloth and Rag

Cloth and Rag

Cloth and rag dolls are made in many different ways. Home-made dolls have long been easy to make out of cloth and rag found in the home.

From the 1920s to the 1940s there was a trend for commercially produced dolls made out of felt, velvet and stockinet. Makers such as Chad Valley, Norah Wellings, Kathe Kruse and Lenci produced dolls made of these materials. Stockinet is a finely woven cloth. The material was stretched over a papier-mache base to make dolls. This could then be painted to add the features of the doll.

Paper

Paper dolls or cut out dolls were mass-produced in the nineteenth century following the development of print techniques. They appeared in newspapers and journals and were also often produced as advertisements. Just like rag dolls, they were often made in the home.

Composition

Composition

In the early twentieth century, ‘composition’ became a popular material for dolls, as it was cheap and easy to produce. The basic method involved a pulped wood mixture that was moulded under pressure into the required shape. The mould was then varnished and painted.

As the process became mechanised, it became possible to mass produce dolls. Many manufacturers had  secret formulas for their type of ‘composition’, which sometimes included adding china, cloth or wax.

Glazed China and Porcelain

These dolls were made using a clay mixture that was poured or pressed into plaster moulds of two or three different sections. This was given three separate firings and two layers of paint and glaze. They have moulded hairstyles that followed the fashions of the time.

Bisque

Bisque dolls were made from the same material as glazed china or porcelain. After the mixture was set it was removed from the mould, fired, and then coloured. It was fired again and left unglazed with a matt surface.

Bisque

Celluloid

Celluloid is made from cellulose nitrates and camphor. It was developed in the US in 1867 by the Hyatt Brothers. The mixture was put into two metal moulds of the doll and steam or hot air was applied to melt the mixture so it fitted the shape of the mould. The two halves were stuck together and the doll could be painted once it had cooled.

Although considered hygienic, easy and cheap, celluloid is also extremely flammable. It was gradually replaced by other forms of plastic, such as vinyl.

Vinyl

Vinyl

Vinyl is an inflammable plastic containing hydrocarbon compounds. The development of vinyl allowed for much more flexibility and was lighter and more hardwearing.

It also meant that, for the first time, hair could be threaded through the dolls head rather than a wig being stuck on or individual hairs inserted. Vinyl is still the most popular choice for dolls being manufactured today.

 

This text was originally published on the Royal Pavilion and Museums’ main website. It has been republished here in order to reach a wider audience.

Toy Timeline

This brief history of toys highlights some of the key toys and developments in toy production.

The word ‘toy’ dates from the 16th century. At that time it was applied to tawdry objects such as buttons and buckles as well as playthings. Many toys as we know them today were more likely to have originated as playthings and amusements for adults.

Marbles, TY000341

Early Toys

Among the earliest known toys are small stone and clay balls or marbles. Marbles were found in a child’s grave in Nagada, Egypt and date from 4000 BC.

Medieval toys were made of wood and included yo-yos, cup and ball toys and tops.

18th Century

Early dolls in England were made of wood. The body and head were turned out of one piece of wood.

Most toys have their origins in the late 18th century. These include dolls, hobbyhorses, stick horses, kites and puzzles.

Doll TY81951

19th Century

Technological advances meant that printing on paper became widespread.

Jigsaw puzzles were made from printed paper which was glued onto wood and cut into shapes.
Puzzles were first seen as an educational pastime, often featuring historic figures such as kings and queens of England.

1820s

Dominoes, playing cards, counters and teetotums were all used to play games in the 19th century but were more popular with adults than with children. These were often ornate, and made of bone and ivory.

Teetotums are spinning tops with numbers on each side and were used instead of dice, which were thought to encourage gambling.

1840s

With the rapid growth of the rail networks in the 1840s, toy trains soon appeared.

1870s

Changing policies in education in the 1870s meant that more equipment was produced to educate schoolchildren. Abacuses are one example.

1890s

As the industrial revolution developed so did mass-produced toys. Toy designs were often influenced by industry.

Hollow cast lead was a technique used in the mass production of lead soldiers. The main manufacturer of these in England was WH Britain. He also used this technique when making more complex toys, adding fabric and clockwork mechanisms.

Early 20th Century

In the 20th century more elaborate toys were produced and, as the motorcar was seen on roads for the first time, the toy car was also created.

Teddy Bear TY000378

Animals had long been an inspiration for toy makers and in the first decade of the 20th century a new toy bear was produced by the German maker Steiff which had jointed arms and legs. Thanks to the American President Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt the toy was given the name ‘Teddy’; this was the result of a cartoon published by an American newspaper, which told the story of how the President had refused to shoot a baby bear while on a hunting expedition.

‘Teddy Bears’ where soon produced as toys in America and the name became synonymous with toy bears worldwide.

World War One

During World War One the toy industry was quick to produce an array of toys reflecting the conflict.
They included a range of toy soldiers depicting a military field hospital, which were produced by Elastolin and Lineol.

1920s and 30s

In the 1920s and 1930s cartoon characters such as Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse had worldwide appeal.

These toy figures were produced as merchandising.

Mid 20th Century

World War Two

During World War Two toy making came to a standstill. Factories and materials were used to make weapons instead. Cheaper toys were made from card or paper such as cut out paper dolls.

1950s

In the 1950s television became a focus of family entertainment. This included programmes aimed at children, such as Muffin the Mule and Sooty.

Coronation Coach TY000383

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 saw the purchase of 100,000 extra television sets, so that people could watch the televised event at home.  Leading up to the event Britains Ltd produced a Coronation coach as a souvenir toy.

1960s

In the 1960s The Magic Roundabout was another popular television programme. With colourful characters, surreal storylines, and a psychedelic vibe, it soon gained a cult status.

In 1969 another huge televised event took place as Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. A variety of space age toys were soon available. Dinky Toys produced a lunar space buggy for a society intrigued by the idea of space travel.

Late 20th Century

In the 1970s the ‘Binatone TV Master’ was produced. It was one of the first interactive TV games. The games used simple black and white graphics, and featured ten different ball games including ‘Pong’, an adaptation of ping pong. These developments in technology would change toys forever.

1980s

The Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980. The AT-AT (All Terrain Armoured Transport), which featured in this film, was released the following year, and was the most expensive toy sold at the time.

1990s

In the 1990s the portable video game system Gameboy was produced by Nintendo Co Ltd.

21st Century

Souvenir toys were produced for the millennium such as the Beanie Baby bear which has ’2000′ embroidered on its chest.

Electronic toys continue to be popular, such as virtual pet tamagotchis and micropets.

This text was originally published on the Royal Pavilion and Museums’ main website. It has been republished here in order to reach a wider audience.