Toys draw interest for their stories
GAZİANTEP - Anatolia News Agency
The museum, which is the fourth toy museum in Turkey, displays 591 toys dating back to the 1700s and 1970s with various stories. AA Photo
Toys being displayed at the toy museum, which opened in a historic house in Bey neighborhood of the southeastern province of Gaziantep a month ago, attract attention for their interesting stories.The museum, which is the fourth toy museum in Turkey, displays 591 toys dating back to 1700s and 1970s. Some toys, including the first baby doll and the first tin toys, have interesting stories.
Among them are toy soldiers that Adolf Hitler distributed to children before the war. A battlefield is featured with the soldiers, tank cars and a ruined building. The note on the showcase of the toys wrote: “Historians say World War II started on Sept. 1, 1939 when the German army entered Poland.
But Hitler first occupied the world of children with these toys. The children who were playing with these toys turned into these toys when World War II began. They left tears, melancholy and broken toys behind.”
Real hair of needy women, ugly Mickey
The hair of a 1900-dated German doll is real hair taken from needy women, who had to have their hair cut to get money. The 1930 version of Mickey Mouse, which was ugly and scared children, is in the museum as well as 1880-dated German-made tin box named “Laterna Magica,” which inspired the making of the cinema machine made in 1895.
Other interesting toys in the museum are the “stubborn donkey,” which was made by Paul Lehman and has become a brand in the world of toys and a 1950-dated U.S.-made toy featuring Noah’s Arc.
Also, real life-size children who are playing hide and seek are placed by the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality on the street of the museum and figures in Aladdin and the Magic Lamp enliven the museum.
Gaziantep Mayor Asım Güzelbey said children’s plays were also told in the museum. He said the museum was realized around the dream concept of Sunay Akın, who opened Turkey’s first toy museum in Istanbul. “The museum does not only display old toys, but the reflection of the development of the civilization can be seen in the toys in the museum,” he added.
The mayor said children had become the slaves of computers in technological period and the Toy Museum was important for children to see what their parents played with when they were children.
“Not only children but also adults can find something interesting in the museum. Even their grandfathers and grandmothers can visit the museum.”
