Edinburgh's Museum Of Childhood

Edinburgh's Museum Of Childhood is one of those odd little places that I have always intended to visit but never seemed to get around to it. In fact I did try to visit it last year but it was closed for unspecified reasons when we got there. I decided that a drab Sunday afternoon in the middle of January was as good a time to visit as any other and took my daughter along to have a look. The museum is free to enter and looks very small from the outside but consists of five galleries over several floors that are packed with childhood memorabilia from toys, through to baby paraphernalia, fairground attractions and children’s clothes. The collection originates from Patrick Murray, an Edinburgh councillor and collector, and largely consists of exhibits from the middle years of the 20th century when the British toy industry was at its peak.

The pedal cars and trikes are on the ground floor of the museum.

A collection of action men - these appear to have most of their fingers. My Action Men usually looked like they had been involved in some sort of industrial accident if they hadn't suffered death from parachute.

Many of the toys on display were originally manufactured in Liverpool. Meccano is a notable example.

These Dinky models were also produced by Meccano.

No toy collection could be complete without a Hornby train set.

The dolls houses ranged from the simple to this extraordinarily detailed example.

This Russian doll set brought back memories of my grandmothers house where I would happily spend hours taking them apart and putting them back together again.

As well as the toys there are also collections of childhood food and drink items. Some are still familiar today whilst others have not stood the test of time. For example the sweet cigarettes now seem outrageous and the gollywog collectables from the Robertson's marmalade are very much of their time:

It would be interesting to see some later exhibits, possibly the electronic toys that became more prevalent from the 1980s (after Murray’s death) but it is a fascinating collection and well worth a visit if you are in Edinburgh.