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    Pedal pony made by F Roebuck & Sons and Cyclops c1940, and a size 3 rocking horse made by F Roebuck & Sons c1965-1972.  Roebuck Family Collection. Photo © Jamie North for Sydney Living Museums

    Toys through time

    From peg dolls to spacemen

    Museum of Sydney

    Toys Through Time

    About the exhibition
    Image gallery
    Related stories
    Step through the toyshop doors and enter a world of whimsy, nostalgia and fun.

    From peg dolls to Barbie, tin soldiers to spacemen, come and see over 200 original toys and treasures that capture the spirit of play and the creativity of Sydney’s unique toy story. 

    Take a fascinating look back at the beloved toys of generations of Sydneysiders and discover the stories of our city’s toy manufacturers and famed toy sellers. With an absorbing mix of the familiar and the forgotten, the exhibition promises a captivating trip down memory lane for people of all ages.

    Let your imagination fly as you follow the kids' trail through the exhibition to the play space, where you can play traditional games and make your own toy to take home.

    You’ve never seen such an amazing collection in all your life! Toys of every kind to thrill and delight you – quaint old toys, brilliant new ones, strange toys, familiar toys, wonderful toys… an attraction for young and old! 

    Menu from The Children’s Restaurant, Farmer & Co Department Store​, 1930s.

    Past exhibition

    Past
    28 March 2015 - 9 August 2015
    Sydney Museums Map

    Museum of Sydney

    Major partner

    Sydney’s toy stories

    Discover just a few of Sydney’s toy stories by clicking on the photos below.

    This is a photograph of a silver and mother-of-pearl rattle with bells and intricate markings on the silver top.
    Rattle
    This is a photograph of a silver and mother-of-pearl rattle with bells and intricate markings on the silver top.
    This is a photograph of a silver and mother-of-pearl rattle with bells and intricate markings on the silver top.

    Rattle

    This silver and mother-of-pearl rattle was owned by Mary Matilda May and was probably given as a christening present shortly after her birth on the island of St Vincent, West Indies, in 1827. She brought it to Australia when she arrived as an adult in 1863 and it has been enjoyed by successive generations of her family.

    1823, made in Birmingham, England. Collection of Mollie Lenthall, great-granddaughter of Mary Matilda May. Photo © Jamie North for Sydney Living Museums.
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    This is a colour photograph of a small wooden box with a colour graphic on top and containing red and white wooden tiles with individual black letters
    Hill's Alphabet Blocks
    This is a colour photograph of a small wooden box with a colour graphic on top and containing red and white wooden tiles with individual black letters
    This is a colour photograph of a small wooden box with a colour graphic on top and containing red and white wooden tiles with individual black letters

    Hill's Alphabet Blocks

    These wooden blocks were owned by Kathleen Rouse (1878-1932) who grew up in a privileged family at Rouse Hill House & Farm, west of Sydney. Hill's was one of the earliest companies to mass-produce blocks in the USA on a commercial basis.

    S.L. Hill, c1880-90, made in the USA. Rouse Hill House and Farm Collection. Sydney Living Museums. Photo © Jamie North for Sydney Living Museums.
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    This is a black and white photograph of a little girl in a short white dress standing against a wall with a teddy bear and stuffed dog to her left
    Miss Beggs
    This is a black and white photograph of a little girl in a short white dress standing against a wall with a teddy bear and stuffed dog to her left
    This is a black and white photograph of a little girl in a short white dress standing against a wall with a teddy bear and stuffed dog to her left

    Miss Beggs

    Companion, confidante, protector, bedfellow, playmate - toy bears hold a special place in the hearts of many children and adults. Changing little since their first appearance in 1902, teddy bears were quickly very popular, existing in the everyday world of the child and in the land of whimsy, fairy tales and classic stories such as Winnie the Pooh and Paddington Bear.  

    Photograph Ruth Hollick, c1928. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
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    This is a colour graphic of a young boy standing in front of a blue curtain with a large range of toys behind the curtain
    Playthings catalogue
    This is a colour graphic of a young boy standing in front of a blue curtain with a large range of toys behind the curtain
    This is a colour graphic of a young boy standing in front of a blue curtain with a large range of toys behind the curtain

    Playthings catalogue

    Walther & Stevenson was originally established as a saddlery in Sydney. By 1930 the company had introduced toys as a sideline to their business, and by the end of the decade toys became the mainstay. Walther & Stevenson ran a bustling mail order trade for rural customers, and no visit to Sydney was complete without a trip to this two-level toy wonderland.

    Walther & Stevenson, December 1939. State Library of NSW: 688.7207405/1.
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    This is a colour photograph of three toy red train carriages on some track in front of a red box with a picture of the same carriage style train travelling across the Sydney Harbour Bridge
    Red rattler train set
    This is a colour photograph of three toy red train carriages on some track in front of a red box with a picture of the same carriage style train travelling across the Sydney Harbour Bridge
    This is a colour photograph of three toy red train carriages on some track in front of a red box with a picture of the same carriage style train travelling across the Sydney Harbour Bridge

    Red rattler train set

    Unable to purchase train sets for their children at Christmas in 1947 due to postwar shortages, brothers George and Bill Ferris, along with their cousin Jack, expanded their radio manufacturing business to include the production of toy train sets. One of their first and most distinctive lines was modelled on the suburban electric trains of the New South Wales Railway, known as ‘red rattlers’. The company stopped producing the toy trains in 1958.

    Ferris, c1947-1958, made in Sydney. Private collection. Photo © Jamie North for Sydney Living Museums.
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    This is a colour photograph of three barbie dolls in various costumes standing in front of a 1950s style pink miniature wardrobe
    Barbie 'fashion queen', 'after five' and 'solo in the spotlight' with wardrobe
    This is a colour photograph of three barbie dolls in various costumes standing in front of a 1950s style pink miniature wardrobe
    This is a colour photograph of three barbie dolls in various costumes standing in front of a 1950s style pink miniature wardrobe

    Barbie 'fashion queen', 'after five' and 'solo in the spotlight' with wardrobe

    Barbie was developed by Mattel’s Ruth Handler, who based her design on the successful German Bild Lilli doll. First released in 1959, Barbie went on to be the world's most successful doll. For collector Jean, her fascination with Barbie was less about her doll’s looks and more about her doll’s fabulous fashions. Jean was given her first Barbie at age 7 and collected a range of glamourous dolls, stunning clothes and accessories. Jean’s mother eventually bought her a wardrobe to house her Barbie fashions. Safely stored in the wardrobe and forgotten in her teen years, the vintage costumes and dolls reemerged years later when Jean had daughters of her own. She now has over five hundred Barbies and fashion accessories in her collection.

    Mattel, 1961-1964, made in the USA. Private collection. Design © Mattel, Inc. Photo © Jamie North for Sydney Living Museums.
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    This is a colour graphic of a morse code signalling set toy box with a space man at the controls of his space ship
    Space Station Morse Code Signalling Set
    This is a colour graphic of a morse code signalling set toy box with a space man at the controls of his space ship
    This is a colour graphic of a morse code signalling set toy box with a space man at the controls of his space ship

    Space Station Morse Code Signalling Set

    On 4 October 1957 the USSR launched Sputnik I - the world's first artificial satellite. The space race was on and the world's attention turned skywards. Popular culture soon followed, stretching the imagination and realm of possibilities as we ventured into the unknown. A flurry of toys emerged in the golden era of space flight, and Australian children were not immune. With the Parkes Observatory in NSW, colloquially known as 'The Dish', used to broadcast live images of the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, space really was beamed directly into living rooms around the world.

    W Toys, c1950-1965, made in Hong Kong. Private collection. Photo © Jamie North for Sydney Living Museums.
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    This is a black and white photograph of six young girls and one boy standing in a line in the street with dolly prams and tricycles
    Children playing , Kepos Street, Redfern
    This is a black and white photograph of six young girls and one boy standing in a line in the street with dolly prams and tricycles
    This is a black and white photograph of six young girls and one boy standing in a line in the street with dolly prams and tricycles

    Children playing , Kepos Street, Redfern

    1950, photographer unknown. City of Sydney Archives.
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    This is a colour image of young girls and boys playing with tricycles, scooters, doll prams and pedal cars dressed in western costumes
    'The healthiest play is outdoor play!'
    This is a colour image of young girls and boys playing with tricycles, scooters, doll prams and pedal cars dressed in western costumes
    This is a colour image of young girls and boys playing with tricycles, scooters, doll prams and pedal cars dressed in western costumes

    'The healthiest play is outdoor play!'

    Sydneysider John Heine began manufacturing flat-framed tricycles in 1913. By 1926 Heine's company, Cyclops, was supplying wheeled toys such as doll's prams and pedal cars to stores across Australia. In the 1950s Cyclops was acquired by British toy conglomerate, Lines Bros, but continued to operate from their Leichhardt factory until 1985. In 1992 Cyclops returned to Australian ownership and bicycles are being still being manufactured under the company name today.

    Cyclops advertisement, Australian Women’s Weekly, 30 July 1952, p11. Courtesy John Hunter, Managing Director, Hunter Leisure Pty Ltd. National Library of Australia.
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    This is a colour photograph of a tin plate rocket ship toy and a small illustrated book about heroic comic character Buck Rogers
    25th Century Rocket Ship and The adventures of Buck Rogers book
    This is a colour photograph of a tin plate rocket ship toy and a small illustrated book about heroic comic character Buck Rogers
    This is a colour photograph of a tin plate rocket ship toy and a small illustrated book about heroic comic character Buck Rogers

    25th Century Rocket Ship and The adventures of Buck Rogers book

    The futuristic space adventurer Buck Rogers, created by writer Philip Francis Nowlan in 1928, starred in comics, radio serials, movies and television series and featured on a range of toys branded with the Buck Rogers name and image. This rocket ship and book are on loan from the Leuralla Toy & Railway Museum, located at Leura in the Blue Mountains. The museum houses the Southern Hemisphere's largest collection of toys, trains and associated memorabilia. To find out more visit Leuralla Toy and Railway Museum.

    Louis Marx & Co, USA, c1934 (rocket ship). Philip Francis Nowlan, illustrations by Lt Dick Calkins, Whitman Publishing Co, USA, 1936 (book). Leuralla Toy & Railway Museum. Photo © Elizabeth Evatt.
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    Black and white photo of children playing on equipment.

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    The tall tale of Dick Whittington and his adventurous cat reminded children that good deeds and generosity will ultimately lead to great fortune. So listen up kids, goodness will be rewarded.
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    This is a black and white drawing of toy soldiers with English bearskin hats under fire from projectiles

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    Patsy doll head with eyes open

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    This is a colour photograph of an open white picket gate with a stately home surrounded by lawn and tall deciduous trees

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    A cropped image of a hand drawn rocking horse

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    If you have visited our Toys Through Time exhibition you’ll know that we ask visitors to draw or write about their favourite childhood toys.