SREF Project- Kaitlynn

 For my SREF project, I went to both the Munich toy museum and a beer-making museum. However, I will just be talking about the toy museum in this article. 

The museum was very charming upon arrival, as it is housed only in the tower pictured above. There were multiple floors with toys spanning from the 13th century up to the present day. I really enjoyed how each type of toy had a different description of why it was popular at that time, so you could really picture the technology present that would have made it possible to produce them. It was interesting to see when the industrial revolution would have taken place by looking at the toys because they quickly went from unique and hand-made to identical and mass-produced. Also, one can see a switch from a monotone color palate to a very bright and vibrant palate with the newer toys.

One of the first toy cases we looked at contained a variety of different carved wooden toys. These were by far the most interesting thing to me because you can tell how much detail was put into them and what skillset was needed to make them.

Then, we got to see a vast collection of different dolls. You can tell that by this point, these dolls were not being made in the home, but rather by a skilled craftsman or a small factory setup. However, you can see the primitive nature of the design and that most of the clothing was still hand-made.

Lastly, we saw toys that were closer to the present day, which included some Barbie dolls and electronic toys. At this point, one can see how uniform everything looks, especially with the Barbie dolls. Additionally, with the new technology that was invented, electronic toys were introduced to the market, allowing for a whole new perspective on what a toy could look like. Overall, it was very interesting seeing the development of toys and how different technological advancements could change the public interest in what toys were deemed "popular".