Pollock’s Toy Museum
I grew up with Victorian toys. My grandfather had a zoetrope – a wonderful little machine; you put a specially bought strip of drawings or photos into the circular tin holder, and spun it round, and if you looked through the slots in the tin, you’d see the drawings spring to life. Granddad even drew some of his own – little stick men running, jumping, and swimming for their lives.
There was a toy theatre too, a battalion of lead soldiers, and a Punch and Judy show (Old Nick still sits in my study watching me type). But the zoetrope was special.
Imagine my joy when I found out there’s somewhere in London you can see toy theatres and similar old-fashioned toys. Pollock’s Toy Museum, on Scala Street, just off Tottenham Court Road, is piled high with interesting things. It’s not quite a shambles, but it’s like one of those interesting shops where you feel you can find anything if you look long enough. Tiny rooms, creaking stairs – it’s an ‘old curiosity shop’ par excellence. Not a nice sanitised modern museum but a shambolic huge collection for you to rummage around.
For Boing Boing and steampunk readers (you know who you are) there are other delights -” space” toys and robot toys of the past. There’s nothing quite as passé as last century’s view of the future!
Now I find most museums very frustrating. A bit like window shopping. When I see a nice big Egyptian sarcophagus or a fine bit of Roman glass, I want to take it home. No such problem at Pollock’s – in the shop you can buy jumping jacks, toy theatres, and similar retro toys.
Is this one for the kids? I’m in two minds about this. Not all children will enjoy seeing toys in glass cases – being told “Don’t touch” is a sure irritant for many kids. But on the other hand, some children will fall in love with the quaint and unusual toys on show – and can then take something home to play with. And there’s a lot to be said for the way a toy theatre liberates a child’s imagination – compared to the rather limited stimulus of some modern games.
I know that when I was ten or eleven, this museum certainly would have appealed to me!
The Museum is open 10-5, Monday to Saturday. Get there from Warren Street or Goodge Street tube – or walk up from Tottenham Court Road station.
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