The Christmas toys of Cork from days gone by

You don’t need special effects to give your little ones hours of fun — as Cork’s toy sellers have known for years, says Robert Hume

It’s tempting to think that toys in the days before electricity — let alone electronics — were tame affairs: Hoops and yo-yos, skipping ropes and marbles, pug-faced porcelain dolls and stiff teddy bears with unfriendly snouts.

Well, eat your heart out Harry Potter Lego, Frozen II fashion dolls, Nintendo Switch 2021, and Star Wars Galactic Snackin’ Grogu Animatronic. City shops sold stunning toys — none swathed in oodles of plastic — over a century and a half ago.

During the Crimean War, “material for Fun during the Holidays” delighted children visiting Varian Brothers’ showrooms at 105 Patrick Street: “Superb Rocking Horses, and Good Magic Lanthorns… Pop-guns and Pistols, Swords, Drums, French Tambourines, Fifes, Small Violins, Games, Puzzles, Nine Pins, Humming Tops… Surprise Boxes, Kaleidoscopes, Dissected Maps [jig-saws]… at extremely low prices” (The Cork Examiner 6 Jan, 1854).

In 1871, Atkins Brothers at The London House, 15 Patrick Street, invited families to view their “really beautiful toys” — while respectfully requesting that children should not be allowed to “misplace” articles.

“Ingenious and Wonderful Mechanical toys”, from sixpence to over a guinea, filled the windows of The Munster Arcade, and James Myles, 109-110 North Main Street, entertained children by working his automatons “at intervals during the day”. At the turn of a key, or insertion of a coin, iron animals, musical clowns and dolls — such as “the wonderful creeping baby” — would spring into life.

For those with an extra few bob to splash, their best bet was Foley’s, 101 Patrick Street, the self-appointed “choicest” toyshop in the city, with its large assortment of “high-class toys” and richly dressed dolls. But if you wanted your doll to talk and cry, better head back to Atkins Brothers.

Many toys were made on the continent. Boxes of conjuring tricks, bellowing bulls and bleating sheep were imported from German toy factories to J.Carmichael & Co. (now Brown Thomas), Patrick Street; “direct from Paris” to T. Lyons & Co. at Queen’s, Old Castle; and “in endless variety” from Italy to R. Montgomery, 36 North Main Street — allegedly “the cheapest house in the City”.

But Robertson, Ledlie, Ferguson in The Munster Arcade continued to sell Irish-made toys, some constructed in Cork itself.

TOY TOWN TREASURES:

Advert for Kilgrew’s, 23-24 Merchant’s Quay, Cork (The Cork Examiner, 2 Dec. 1946).

Magic lanterns

1960s version of the ‘magic lanthorn’, available in Cork from 1854.

Available in Cork from 1854, Atkins Brothers claimed to have the “largest assortment” in town.

Prices ranged from ten pence to two shillings for the machine, and from sixpence for a dozen slides.

Abracadabra!

A Conjuror’s Outfit, 1960s.

Boxes of conjuring tricks “for the admiration and delight of the Children of Cork” lined the shelves at Varian Brothers in 1861. 

Research by University of Hertfordshire psychologist Richard Wiseman demonstrates that learning how a trick works makes children think logically and develops their problem-solving ability. 

Telling a story before an audience and projecting their voice boosts self-confidence.

Model railways

Dublo train set (1950s).

Among its “very special articles” in 1897, Foley’s listed railway stations and tunnels. By adding realism to their train layouts, children can create a whole world from their imagination.

Customers had only to drop a penny into a slot to see model trains racing over viaducts and through cuttings in many a toyshop window.

But wind-up trains wound down, and by Christmas 1956 Roches was advertising more reliable electric sets to satisfy “all would-be engine-drivers”.

Toy theatres

Mr Jackson's pantomime toy theatre: Cinderella (vintage, Pollock’s).

These have a long history in Ireland. A watercolour (c.1910) by WB Yeats’s brother, Jack, depicts a boy playing with a toy theatre similar to the ones he constructed to entertain children.

“What more enchanting way of spending the afternoon of Christmas Day than to produce one’s own pantomime at home?” asked the Cork Examiner in 1951. 

Not only was there Blackbeard the Pirate; for five shillings you could share the thrills of a full-colour pantomime production of Aladdin or Cinderella. 

A model theatre, the newspaper continued, is “more than just a toy”: it helps understand scenery, lighting and costume design in the real theatre.

Mega Meccano

Meccano construction kit (1956).

On the market since 1901, these amazing construction kits are usually found in burgundy red and dark green. 

Strangely, the strips and girders were once gold, and the plates blue with gold criss-cross lines on them. 

Meccano is “the finest hobby in the world for boys”, announced Elvery’s, Elephant House, in 1949.

Etch A Sketch

Etch A Sketch (1960).

With its grey screen, red frame and two white knobs to create drawings, this toy was the original tablet. What’s more: no charging, and no cords. “Etch A Sketch is powered by your imagination”, giving “limitless creativity”. 

Launched in 1960, over 100 million have been sold worldwide since. 

For many years, this “Shake it up and start all over again” device featured high on the Toys R Us chart: in 2007 it was voted sixth coolest toy, just below Lego and above Barbie. 

Like any good toy, it “leaves gaps for the child to fill in so that there’s room for imagination and creativity”, explains American psychologist Martha Bronson. “It expands play”.

STEM favourites

Toys at Roches Stores (The Cork Examiner, December 1 1956).

The last decade has seen a move towards S(cience) T(echnology), E(ngineering) and M(athematics) toys with a focus on logical thinking and reasoning. 

Yet some of our traditional favourites, such as Cuisanaire rods (from €24.99), chemistry kits (Clementoni, €16.99), word building games like Scrabble (from €17.99), and puzzles like Rubik’s Cube (from €10.99), have helped do this for years, and are still around to give children hours of fun at a moderate price.

As Roches Stores proclaimed 65 years ago, you can “cheer little hearts at Christmas at so very little cost”.

SHOP LOCAL

Six independent toyshops

Cork: For classics such as Scrabble, Monopoly and Risk, through to Catan, Spirit Island, Hugo’s House of Horrors and all the recent releases, visit J Joyce & Co, 30 Princes Street, one of Cork’s oldest toyshops. Founded in the 1930s, it remains as busy as ever today.

Pinocchio’s, Cork City.

Children “will never regret a trip to Pinocchio’s”, 2 Paul Street, the family-run shop whose toys “encourage individuality”. From The Puppet Company owl (€21.50) and large shark (€36.50), and colourful mobiles (bird flight €26.50, medium rainbow hot air balloon €59.95), to long-lasting wooden train sets (from €36.95) and fabulous wooden “Mademoiselle” dolls’ houses (Janod, €135). Cuddly toy needing repair? “We admit patients of all species and ethnic backgrounds” to our Teddy Bear Hospital, says owner Wyon Stansfeld.

Dublin: The Toy Shop, 2 Main St, Malahide, encourages “learning through play”. Its Stem range builds skills in robotics, computers and natural sciences. Check out: DIY Rainbow Catcher (Klutz, €18.00) and Horrible Science Explosive Experiments (Galt, €24.95).

One of Dublin’s favourite toyshops, Nimble Fingers, Stillorgan, stocks a great range of magnetic construction toys and new Lego Friends sets. Top Picks: Ingenious Paintbrushes that don’t touch the table or roll (Djeco, €5.99), and Folding Art Flexmonsters (Djeco, €6.99).

Other: Out and about Christmas 2021 favourites at Mimitoys in Derryclare, Co Meath, include Doctor Set (New Classic Toys, €28.95). It’s great for role play with its thermometer, syringe, stethoscope and reflex hammer! Architectural Engineering (Thames & Kosmos, €62.95) offers 8-14 year-olds the opportunity to construct arches and domes.

Listen out for Christmas Soundboxes — ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ and ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ (€6.46) at World of Wonder, Tralee, Co. Kerry. Also keep an eye out for their whopping (136 x 96cm), 4,000 piece, family jigsaws (€32.51).