Grace Semaan: For my SREF project I went to a couple of museums, the Toy making museum and the Beer and October fest museum. I’d like to highlight the Toy museum because it was very cool to look around and experience. The museum itself seemed like it was within a tower of another building, because it was very small and the staircase was a spiral staircase that made me feel like I was in a castle. Once we got to the top of it, we stepped into the first room which had mostly teddy bears and toys made out of various metals. There was also toys made out of paper and some carved out of wood and painted with various substances.
The next level opened up with a large display of original Barbie dolls. There was some very interesting books the Barbie’s had that came with the toys. Some included things about losing weight or how to not eat which now makes me understand how we normalized eating disorders within society. This floor also had a collection of porcelain dolls and new figurines made from a combination of saw dust and caolin so they would last longer.
The last floor had a collection of robot toys, trains, and model boats. Overall it was really cool to see how toys were made and how they progressed since the early 1800’s. I’d definitely recommend going and visiting if given the chance, especially since the admission is so cheap!
Lucas- I really like seeing tin used in so many practical applications. It’s interesting to see how material science has changed what we play with.
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool to see how the material choices in making toys has progressed. I would not have thought of adding saw dust to make toys stronger. I never would have expected them to come with those books though too.
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