Category: Toys

Film & TV Toys

Display in BOI, Dún Laoghaire, December 2024 on Toys influenced by Film and TV Shows in the 60s, 70s, 80s. Toys I received as gifts at Christmas “I grew up watching TV and going to the cinema every chance I got. There were plenty of repeats of The Lone Ranger on television in the 60s,… Continue reading Film & TV Toys

Rose’s Red ‘Booboo’ Car

Rose with the red booboo car, and her mother, Berney in their garden in Limerick, 1961 Rose Doyle’s father made this wagon in the 1960s. It’s not a toddler walker, rather, he meant it as a robust alternative to the dolls’ pram, to be pushed or pulled by an older child in the garden containing… Continue reading Rose’s Red ‘Booboo’ Car

Brenda Carey’s Clackers

Photo credit: Clackers: Museum of Childhood Ireland, Músaem Óige na hÉireann Brenda Carey’s story, Dublin 1970s “I was out working by the age of fourteen, but I was still a child.  Clackers came in in the 1970s. I spotted them in a shop on Aungier St, just past Whitefriers St Church, on the opposite side… Continue reading Brenda Carey’s Clackers

Melissa Porter-Nolan’s Toy Iron

“Here is the toy iron. It’s C.1910. and of French origin. The Dublin lady who gave it to me was 84 years old and said she got it when she was about 4 years of age. She recalled ironing alongside her grandmother and receiving it as a Christmas gift. She had no family to pass this… Continue reading Melissa Porter-Nolan’s Toy Iron

The Grubb Family Toys

The Grubb family Cashel, Co Tipperary Toys belonging to Clodagh Grubb born 1938. Clodagh grew up on a farm eight miles from Cashel, Co Tipperary, in a Quaker family. “As it was war time* there were no metal toys available in the shops. Normally these came from England, Germany and Japan – but they needed… Continue reading The Grubb Family Toys

John and Michael’s Toy Garage

“Our father, who was from Co. Cork, met our mother while working in the City of Lincoln Hospital in England in the mid 1950s, and by the early 1960s they had settled in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, where my father was the County Hospital surgeon.  By that stage they had two small boys, myself Michael and… Continue reading John and Michael’s Toy Garage

Model Mangle Toy

A vintage toy model mangle*, made from pressed metal and wood. It is a Butler Series toy, made in England, and in working condition. ‘It’s like Mother’s’ *Mangles, also known as wringers, were a domestic item used in the home in laundry work, to squeeze or wring water out of washed clothes before drying. The… Continue reading Model Mangle Toy

Richard Collier’s Toy Collection

Toy Collecting Growing up, watching TV was a big part of my childhood. Naturally, when Christmas and birthdays came around, I would ask for the toys associated with those cartoons and movies. Many hours were spent browsing toys in Banba Toymaster Dun Laoghaire, hoping that I could get the toys I wanted and those that… Continue reading Richard Collier’s Toy Collection

Anna’s ‘Nenagh’ and Rose’s ‘Clonmel’ doll prams

Anna, in Co Wicklow and Rose, in Limerick, were both the proud owners of beautiful Irish made doll prams. Castle Brand, Nenagh. Irish Aluminium Company. Castle Brand is a tributary reference to Nenagh Castle. Photo credit. Brendan Treacy, Nenagh. With thanks to Tony Tierney.  The Irish Aluminium Company Ltd‘s first factory was established in 1934… Continue reading Anna’s ‘Nenagh’ and Rose’s ‘Clonmel’ doll prams