Toy Story

by Meredith McGovern, Art and Culture Collections Manager 

I promise this is the last blog post I will write about the Indiana State Museum photograph collection (for now). You can see my other posts here: Date this Photo and What a Beautiful Baby Boy … Ooops, I mean Baby Girl. I just couldn’t resist showing you these sweet portraits of children. Even though they were taken in different decades by different photographers, each child poses with a favorite toy. Click on the photos to see larger images.

This mid-19th century image of a little boy depicts him standing on a chair with his hand resting on a table. Nearby is a horse pull toy. Perhaps his mother brought the toy along to calm him or to record a favorite “friend” from that period in his life. It’s possible that the photographer kept the toy handy as a prop for his youngest customers. Regardless, it increases the cuteness factor!

Here’s a hand-colored photograph made by Greencastle photographer J.O. Cammack in 1913. The little girl clutches a toy lamb to her chest. Doesn’t it remind you of the horse pull toy from the previous photo? It, too, has wheels! She probably tugged it along behind her during playtime.

Siblings Richard and Carolyn Schum display their Christmas haul, on the front porch of their home in the mid-20th century. Carolyn hugs her dolly, Richard holds the string attached to his truck, and booties, a dog with cart, and a small play set are spread at their feet.

 

Darling, right? I just think there’s something sweet about the common thread that is woven throughout these photographs of children taken over a span of 100 years — toys! Which toys appear in your childhood photos?