WALKING TO SCHOOL When Britain declared war on Germany on 3rd September 1939, I was an eleven-year-old schoolboy. I was a day boy at the Swindon High School, and walked there and back each day on my own. It was a distance of about a quarter of a mile. I kept mostly to main streets,… Continue reading When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Desmond Morris
Tag: children
Wanda the Walking Doll, 1950s
Advance Doll and Toy Co “My Wanda, a gift from an uncle in America, is made of hard plastic with eyes that open and close, blonde hair, yellow dress, and a mechanism in her body which connects to wheels on the soles of her shoes. When wound, this makes her “walk”. Her arms and head… Continue reading Wanda the Walking Doll, 1950s
When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Alan Lambert
The early morning walks to school that I experienced in the late 1970s have never really receded into the past, as they are revived every time I connect with any part of the Metals, the lanes that run parallel to the railway lines from Dalkey to Dun Laoghaire. As we lived near Sallynoggin, at the… Continue reading When We Were Kings and Queens of the Road: Alan Lambert
Blessed Are The Children, John Kingerlee 2004
Blessed Are The Children, Work by John Kingerlee, 2004. Artist John Kingerlee was born on the 17th of February 1936. Her lives on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork, and is a non-conformist at heart John Kingerlee was born in England in 1936. His Mother was related to Hogan’s from county Cork. In 1982 he moved from the… Continue reading Blessed Are The Children, John Kingerlee 2004
Puppet Show, Seó Puipéad and Dominican School
Christmas 2024 The Museum of Childhood Ireland were at Bloomfields Shopping Centre on December 13th for a festive day with McCormick’s Puppets, featuring seasonal performances between 1:00 and 4 pm! Santa had arrived, but where was Rudolph the Reindeer? And what was Crocodile up to? Plus, we all met Cheeky Monkey and snapped a photo… Continue reading Puppet Show, Seó Puipéad and Dominican School
Walter and Louisa Reid’s Letters at Christmas
Letters addressed to Mrs Reid, 53 York Road, Kingstown ( Dún Laoghaire) in 1872 and 1875 from her son and daughter, Walter and Louisa Reid. The envelope of treasured keepsakes also included and a calendar from 1877. Donated to Museum of Childhood Ireland by K Fahey. Museum of Childhood Ireland Collection, reference number: EC02. Date,… Continue reading Walter and Louisa Reid’s Letters at Christmas
Rediscover Timeless Tales
Rediscovering Timeless Tales: The Enduring Magic of Joan Aiken, Mollie Hunter, and Violet Needham Introduction: An Invitation to Revisit Forgotten Classics I often return to books from my childhood—the kind of stories that offered wonder, excitement, and a hint of danger. It’s like reconnecting with an old friend: comforting, familiar, but always full of surprises. Recently,… Continue reading Rediscover Timeless Tales
International Day of Persons with Disabilities
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3rd 2024 focuses on the theme: ‘Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future.’ The leadership of persons with disabilities is epitomised by the global disability rights movement’s slogan “Nothing About Us Without Us”. It connotes the basic requirements of participation,… Continue reading International Day of Persons with Disabilities
Randolph Caldecott print
Framed, with a red mount by the Neptune Gallery, Dublin in the 1970s for Susan Browne, who was born in New York to Irish parents. Susan returned age 18 years of age in the early 1970s, to study history in Trinity College Dublin. Randolph Caldecott was an English artist and illustrator and the creator of… Continue reading Randolph Caldecott print
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