Ilkley Toy Museum facts for kids
Teddy bear standing outside Ilkley Toy Museum
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| Established | 2002 |
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| Location | Whitton Croft Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England LS29 9HR |
| Type | Toy museum |
| Public transit access | Ilkley railway station, Ben Rhydding railway station |
The Ilkley Toy Museum is a special place in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England. It's home to a huge collection of toys from way back in 350 BCE all the way to today! This museum is open for everyone to visit, including families, schools, and other groups. It's a fantastic spot to see how toys have changed over thousands of years.
Contents
Exploring the Toy Galleries
The Ilkley Toy Museum has different areas, or galleries, where you can discover amazing toys. Each gallery focuses on different types of toys, from tiny dollhouses to classic teddy bears.
Discovering Dolls' Houses
On the ground floor, you'll find a wonderful collection of dolls' houses. Most of these are from the Victorian age and come from places like Germany and England. Imagine tiny homes with all their furniture!
One of the oldest dolls' houses is called Stafford House, built around 1830. There's also a unique house from the Georgian era with cool twisted pillars at the front. You can even spot a more modern Sindy's House from the 1980s.
Some of these dolls' houses are actually miniature shops. They have tiny, detailed items on their counters and shelves. You might see delicate glassware, miniature dolls, or even a tiny shopkeeper knitting with real needles! Some shops even have tiny pieces of crochet or tatting as cloths and bags. Look out for the little pet shop too!
At the back of this gallery, there's a working model of an old fairground from the 1940s. It's an automaton, which means it moves by itself! You can put a token in a slot to watch it come to life. There's also a Hornby clockwork train lift here.
Exploring the First Floor Toy Collection
Upstairs, the first floor has even more incredible toys. This gallery features many different kinds of toys, including those made from tin plate and lead.
You can see a Märklin toy stove and many lead figures. There are also games, and wooden or paper toys stored in drawers. Some of these toys are from the Victorian age, while others are from the 1950s.
For fans of action, you might spot boys' dolls that look like villains from James Bond movies. There are also toy soldiers and toy cars from the 1960s, like the famous Corgi Silverstone cars.
In the middle of the room, a glass case holds an Elastolin Wild West display. Near the window, you'll see a collection of flat-metal flotillas. These are models of Victorian warships and boats. There's also an early 20th-century cardboard toy theatre by Benjamin Pollock.
Discovering Dolls and Teddy Bears
The first floor also has a special gallery just for dolls and teddy bears. This is where you'll find some of the museum's oldest and most famous exhibits.
The oldest item in the entire museum is here: an articulated Etruscan ceramic doll from 350 BCE. That's over 2,300 years old!
You can also see early English wooden dolls, like Miss Barwick, who was made around 1750–1760. She even has her own tiny sedan chair! Her face is carefully sculpted from wood and gesso, and her eyes are made of enamel. She even has real hair for a wig. Another interesting doll is the Lady Potter Palmer doll, a Tudor stump baby. There are also beautiful bisque dolls called Tete Jumeau dolls, which once belonged to a Russian family.
Of course, no toy museum is complete without teddy bears! You can meet Blanche, a Steiff teddy bear from 1910. She has an amazing story from World War II and even appeared in a TV show called Trainer.
There's also a Farnell teddy bear from 1920. These bears were very popular in England before World War II. Farnell bears had a special hump on their neck and a "growler" inside their body. When you tipped them forward, they would make a deep growling sound! Other bears in the gallery include Thomas the sad bear and Eddie's Teddy.
