Miss Elaineous: MISS ELAINEOUS VISITS THE V&A MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD...

Okay, this place might be called the V&A Museum of Childhood, but I always refer to it as the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, as that's where it's at. By the way; myself and the Victoria and Albert Museum are not friends- for some time now, they have have not been positively responsive with regard to my applications to work for them, in various guises. Mind you, most of the jobs I've applied for involve curating, which would be nice to do, but what I really want to do is writing. If a job doing this kind of thing but for them comes up, then I'd better be granted an interview at the very least... Just saying...

Anyway, it's not the first time I've been to this museum but I absolutely love it, as it's a real treasure trove of goodies and often a very pleasant trip down memory lane. Oh, and it's also free entry. For a big kid like me, what's not love? 😃

The entrance...

I absolutely love zoetropes, but it might have made sense for me to wait until this top had stopped spinning before I took a photo of it. Duh!

Flash photography is allowed inside the museum but I only found this out after getting back home and Googling the fact. I could have asked someone but... you know me- I'll avoid interaction with another human being if I can.

Here are some spinning tops...

Mind you, the flash would bounce of the cabinets and cause a glare anyhow, depending on how I positioned myself...

This section is dedicated to the moving image.

I loved the Mr. Men (and Little Miss) series.

Here they are, along with my shadow...

Here's a PDF I pulled up of Little Miss Trouble, whom my partner associates with sweet and innocent little me... He CANNOT be serious... can he?! 😉

Scalectrix were not just for boys, you know. I used to love playing with my friend's brother's set...

Train set. The detail on this is fascinating.

A robot...

These puppets looked a bit freaky...

Pulcinella is a classical Italian character who originated in the 17th century...

Punch (as in Punch and Judy) is his more violent British alter ego...

These Japanese puppets were beautiful but downright scary.

This is an installation by Rachel Whiteread, and it features 150 old dolls' houses. They are empty and suggest a powerful sense of isolation. It is certainly evocative.

Foreign puppetry stage shows, which possess a strange beauty...

Chinese rock gardens...

Russian dolls. I have always loved these.❤

Teddies...

Paddington Bear features twice in the exhibition. Or maybe he's real and sneaked upstairs just to get into another photo...

Doll cabinet. I owned the ballerina Sindy and absolutely loved her...

I also loved my Barbie, although mine didn't come with this swimsuit outfit...

The same friend whose brother owned the Scalectrix also owned this 1970s Tree House. She could be trying- but it made it worth my while going round to see her! 😉

Darth Vader. I was never into Star Wars and found it boring.

As I was not a sci-fi fan, I didn't see the film E.T. until it was over 10 years old! But it was very good and even managed to move me. Here is E.T. and he's a bit blurry as I blew the photo up and lost detail.

Batman. Forever associated in my mind with Del Boy and Rodney...

As a little girl, I adored Wonder Woman and wanted to be her...

Chess...

A golly is often considered racist nowadays. In fact, one little girl was captured burning her golly, in a racist demonstration with her father. Well, I owned a golly and if you'd ever have burnt him then I'd have burnt you! My dolls and teds were like family to me. I've mentioned this before, but I once said to my mum, 'Dolls are not just dolls... They are little children that have died...' My mum said it was the creepiest thing she had ever heard!

The Snowman, Dogtanian, Sooty, Sweep and Soo, with a couple of Care Bears...

I've mentioned this before, but there is no Bagpuss at the museum. My mum wanted to make me one but couldn't find the right material. Hamleys started doing them for £27. Then I found my version, for £2.50 in a charity shop. Here he is...

I had a little desk like this...

Here I am sitting at it. It was Christmas and I was 6. Note the double-strap shoes. Oh yes, I was into my footwear even then...

Cute cat...

Cats are my favourite animal and I think this chair is really cool...

I owned a knitting machine like this...

I think I also owned a sewing machine like this, but it wasn't long before I was experimenting with my mum's traditional Singer. I also owned a Petite Typewriter- again, it wasn't long before I was tapping out work on my mum's Imperial (she was a secretary).

I didn't own this Holly Hobbie Cookery Set, but I did own the doll Hollie Hobbie, as well as Amy Hobbie and Mandy Hobbie. God, I'm coming across as a spoiled brat, aren't I?

Hours of fun to be had with jigsaws...

A rocket. It's significant, because with my surname a lot of piss-taking occurred. One of my nicknames was NASA! I'd get teased and called this, along with the countdown!😂😂

Upstairs were cabints dedicated to both dressing up and traditional children's clothing. Here's a Vain Old Tart photo, take right by a skirt I want, want, WANT!

Rocking horse and carousel. I owned a smaller version of the latter, based on The Magic Roundabout (another of my favourite programmes as a kid). Yes, I think maybe I was a bit spoilt. Thank you, parents. And brother. And auntie and uncle... In the background, to the left, you can see the edge of a sand pit that's there for children to play in.

The pirates display is mainly for kids, but it was fun having a wander through...

We came to a section given over to historical childhood objects, and here's a traditional bassinet...

Pram...

These banana bottles are now known as Murder Bottles, as they were the perfect device for breeding bacteria, and contributed to childhood deaths during the Victorian age.

Elaborate dolls houses. My mother briefly worked as a school cleaner, and I inherited one the school didn't want. It was nothing like these, though, and I had to create the furniture myself!

I loved playing with friends who owned toys I didn't (Gawd, I sound like such a using little cow!😁) One owned a swing, a climbing frame and a Sindy House, and another owned a swing, paddling pool and a Sindy Cooker, rather like this one...