A pinching wanderings into the childhood

The history and development of humanity can be traced by studying of the childrens' toys. Young people become adults and toy airplanes replace a real ones. And its good if they are civil and not military.

The Kyiv  toy museum does not make a serious competition to a historical museum now, but there are some pre-conditions for it. Foremost is the worthy age of the exhibits – for example the doll made in 1870, the first artificial fir-tree made from a chicken peer, – 1905, pre-revolutionary Christmas tree decorations.

A museum is a heir of a constantly functioning exhibition of child's toy created in Kyiv in 1936 at PCE (Public commissariat of education) of Ukraine. During 70 years over 10 thousand exhibits were collected here. Ukraine was the republic that produced the biggest number of toys and supplied them with them almost the half of Soviet Union. About 450 of Ukrainian enterprises worked  for pleasure of children. Presently, unfortunately, almost all of them are closed – our producer is not a competitive. In shops there are child's toys from the whole world – beautiful and unusual. But...a presence of tradition, folk creation and folk-lore is the most valuable in toys.

Eyes of boys and girls sparkle when they see a straw figurines which seem to be almost dancing if you touch them. It's quite another matter if we compare them with a robots with a batteries inside. And there are toys made of from cheese! They are made only in Ukraine. Here children see such native things that you can not by in the shop.

  – All, that was left in our inheritance, tested with time must be propagandized, – considers Tetyana Przhehods'ka, a main keeper of museum's fund. – In our museum children meet with a knot doll. Traditionally it was knitted in the Ukrainian villages. From heathen times reached to us the shape of doll without a face. We have a lot of toys with the use of a traditional materials – flax, vine, straw. Here are the examples of musical instruments from the Chernigov musical factory: it's hard to believe but only twenty percents of children recognize a bandura. And before dulcimers and bandura were for a sale in any toy shop. Give a glance on the ten dolls dressed in clothes of the different regions of Ukraine. For example on  Ternopil' region people embroider with a diagonal, Kyiv region - black-red pattern, Poltava region – white on white. Each region has its elements and with maximum exactness they were copied by masters of embroidery, dressing these little beautiful women. All is lost, currently dolls are not made because the equipment of line for a production only of a unit of such commodity costs about 30 thousand dollars.

– Our small enterprises do not have a possibility inlay so much money now, – Tetyana Oleksandrivna says regretfully.  Every day museum is visitsited by 120–150 persons. Age of visitors – starting from two years, just trying to make a first steps. Fashions and fashion influenced the production of toys. Post-war dolls with a heavy cheeks –  a replete child was then considered pretty at that times. And with the change of the party leader priorities also changed. During the Khrushov's thaw appeared a thin dolls-sportswomen: a new masters, new tastes in  art and culture.The history of way of life is also reproduced in toys: irons, in which utillized coal, sewings typewriters, – from "Zinger" to "Chayka", projector which worked with a candle, operating model of fountain and steam-engine, washing-machine. A wooden  transformer of the forties,  waved to masters by industrialization, when an "iron horse" changed a rural horse – it is possible to make a horse of tractor and vice versa. A wooden  power-shovel of 1940 moves, works, as though real, and alongside a mechanical merry-go-around which twirled and played 18 melodies. An author of these toys is an artist Babins'kiy.

The display in a museum changes constantly. In winter we show Christmas tree decorations. Come alone and with your children. You will remember as you met  New Year and hanged up  a glass cosmonaut on a fir-tree, cucumber, fish and swan. However, presumably, and pigling.2007 is coming up...

Kateryna Karol'