Friday 3 December 2010

Christmas Past

Wooden Toy with turned boxwood handle attached to the ball with string, 19th century.

 If you share my passion for vintage toys and are interested in the festive home decor of days gone by, I'm sure you'll enjoy the Christmas Past Advent Calendar created by the Geffrye Museum in London.

Click on Day One to discover this 1940's Santa Claus Snow House novelty gift housed within a gas mask box and Day Two to reveal Bruss, one of the many thousands of teddy bears made by the German company Steiff and sold at shops in Edwardian England.



 The Geffrye Museum's current exhibition "400 Years of Seasonal Traditions in English Homes" (23 Nov - 5 January 2011)  offers visitors a fascinating insight into how Christmas has been celebrated in English middle-class homes from 1600 to the present day. Each of the eleven period rooms is decorated with authentic decorations providing the perfect setting for visitors to explore the origins of some of the rich and colourful traditions of Christmases past.

 A living room in 1935
Credit: Geffrye Museum / Steve Speller

If you do get chance to visit, don't miss the mini exhibition of vintage Christmas Posters from Heals dating back to the early part of the 20th Century. 


  
If only I still lived in London...


4 comments:

  1. great post fantastic museum. live in france so not possible to visit, oh how i miss my home town, london...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, I adore vintage toys. This advent calendar is lovely, I can't wait to see the other toys!

    Love,
    Camila F.

    ReplyDelete
  3. lovely posters (I used to work at Heals)!

    ReplyDelete
  4. sounds like a wonderful Exhibition. Im going to be in London at Christmas, and I'd love to check this out.thanks Deb xo

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear your thoughts so please leave me a message and brighten up my day. Merci!