Toy designed for Charlie Chaplin exhibited at Istanbul Toy Museum

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

The plaything was specially designed for Chaplin and produced in the United States in 1914 as a single toy. AA photo

The Istanbul Toy Museum has added to its collection a toy which was made for Charlie Chaplin’s “The Tramp” (Charlot) character and presented as a gift to him.

The founder of the museum, Sunay Akın, held a press conference on March 6 to tell the story of the toy.
He said the plaything was specially designed for Chaplin and produced in the United States in 1914 as a single toy and given as a gift to him.

“Then it was auctioned to get revenues for the establishment of a nursery school in 1920 and bought by William Morris for $500. After Morris’s death, the successors allowed the toy to be displayed at the Saranac Lake Library. People who visited the library to see the Chaplin toy also borrowed books and it brought good income to the library,” Akın said.

He said the toy was given to a charity institute in the 1970s and an auction was organized for the toy last year in Texas. “I asked my friend to buy the toy for whatever it cost. In the 100th year of the toy, it is on display at the Istanbul Toy Museum.”