Name: The House on the Hill Toy Museum
Rating: 5.0

The House on the Hill Toy Museum

House on the Hill Museum, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex CM24 8SP, England, UK

1-99 Years

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Welcome to The House on the Hill Museum One man's collection – One man's dream. Alan Goldsmith, owner and curator of the House on the Hill Museum, was born during WWII, during a time in British history when so many sacrifices were made for the war effort in every walk of day to day life; toys were one of these sacrifices.

Alan’s passion for toys was ignited with the purchase of a small toy train when he was just seven. From that moment on he was hooked, over the years he has amassed an amazing collection of toys from every corner of the world dating from Roman times – simple wooden dolls – up to the 1980’s when modern technology in games took off with computerisation.

Price starts from £18.00 for Adults and £14.00 for Children. If you are looking for Best place for day out with kids and families then this is the perfect destination offering fun, adventure, and unforgettable memories for everyone.

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Host birthday parties: No

Features

Barbie: Born in 1959, Barbie is one of the world’s best-loved and well-known dolls, along with her rival Sindy. Over 700 million Barbie dolls with the enviable “hourglass” figure have now been sold and each day somewhere in the world, two Barbie’s are bought every second.
Annuals: Children’s’ Annuals have been published now for more than 150 years and collected for almost the same length of time. Collecting began in earnest in the late nineteenth century when publishers of periodicals such as “Boys’ Own”, “Chums” and “Chatterbox” stockpiled each issue and then published them in bound volumes prior to Christmas each year.
Coin Operated Amusement Machines: In the late 19th century, coin-operated machines began to appear in shops and on railway stations in Britain selling sweets, stamps and postcards and although these were good sources of profit, it was realised that much more money could be made from amusement machines where no prizes were offered.
Dolls: Man has made images of his own likeness for well over 1000 years, so it is impossible to tell the whole “doll” story on just a couple of pages; what we have tried to do is give a brief summary of the main developments.
Farm Toys: Farm toys have long been collected, especially within rural communities; the most prominent manufacturer of agricultural machinery, farm animals and related items in late Victorian times was the William Britain Company.
Games & Board Games: It is recorded that Roman Soldiers at Hadrian’s Wall played a number of games, including dice and ball games, but these were probably mostly gambling-based activities.
Hornby Trains: One man was responsible for the creation of Hornby Trains – Frank Hornby who was born on May 15th, 1868. He started work as an employee of one of the many shipping companies in Liverpool.
Puppets & Toy Theatre: Manuscripts from the Middle Ages make reference to “puppet shows”, although very little is known about the shows, except that they were exhibited by travelling fairs in a “Punch & Judy” format.
Robots & Space Toys: Undeniably, the favourite toy of the 1950’s was the Robot. Strong, with X-ray eyes and fire-shooting chests, Mr Atomic, Robby and Mr Mercury could take on the forces of evil.
The Teddy Bear: No-one could have predicted that the world’s most enduring and best-loved childrens’ playmate over the last century would have been something modelled on a ferocious wild animal, the bear.
The Tinplate Story: Some of the finest, expensive and most sought-after toys today are made from tin. The range is hugely diverse, covering pull-along, clockwork and battery-operated items – cars, trains, planes, boats, animals – in fact manufacturers were enormously enterprising in the variety of toys made.
Tins: If we were to ask someone today to describe a biscuit tin they would probably reply by describing a fairly plain tin with either a flower motif on the side or with a picture of a rather cute, fluffy cat!
TV Related Toys: The advent of television brought with it a few (black and white) programmes for children such as Muffin the Mule, Bill and Ben, Andy Pandy, the Wooden Tops and Archie Andrews, but there was not the wealth of merchandising to accompany these early series, so any items related to these are now relatively scarce and, therefore, sought after by collectors today.
D-Day 80th Anniversary Exhibition: Step back in time and immerse yourself in the pivotal moments of World War II at our D-Day Display. This special event offers a unique opportunity to explore the bravery and sacrifice of those who participated in the historic Normandy invasion.