TOYS OF OTHER DAYS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 420, 1 February 1909, Page 3

TOYS OF OTHER DAYS.

The "Ladies' Pictorial" reviews with admiration a book by Mrs.' Nevill Jackson about the toys of othor days, a book which has cost a great deal of work. ' "No apology," Mrs. Jackson writes in her admirable introduction, "is needed for introducing the old playthings of the world as a subject for study; we see sidelights in the like of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome in looking at their toys; the linen doll stuffed with papyrus grown on the- banks of the Nile, or tho ball of twisted rushes may have been the playthings of Moses himself. "In tho toys of the Middle Ages and of the Renaissance we find the same fine workmanship which characterises all, the handicraft of the period. There were no special toymakers in those days; toymaking had ,ho Bpecial guild; the workmen, whether in gold, silver! leather, or wood, who made articles for adult use, would sometimes make a miniature replica iot a child's toj', ■ so that wo find.toys amongst the other objects in the cabinets of connoisseurs all over Europe, and it is.possible that Cellini "may have carved silver toy soldiers, and that Chippendale may have finished doll's house. . . ." Later we read:— t "There is undoubtedly a pathetic interest in old toys. They have inspired the games of men and women long passed away. They are the instruments of-play .which ..is the life-, work of chijdhood. To what degree they have' biased thertaste, imagination', .and: character of their little owners we can only giiess." In Mrs. Jackson's work nothing appertaining.to .toys has, apparently, been forgotten, aud'the illustrations are numerous and oxcellent. In the various chapters we find mention of curious customs, some of which "have come-down to the present day. For instance, in the time of Catherine de Medici dolls were dressed, in tho newest fashions' in order to serve as models for the modes of the period." We find these "fashion puppets," as they'tyere called, in the shop windows of today, 't "In the inventory of the belongings of Cathorrae des Medici, made after the death of her husband, eifjht of these , fashion dolls were dressed in elaborate mourning garb; their cost appears as an entry in her ac-count-book." There is not a dull or unnecessary line in this volume. '