The V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green is the UK’s National Museum of Childhood, and the largest institution of its kind in the world. Its mission is to hold in trust the nation’s childhood collections, and by doing so to shed light on the various weird and wonderful toys that have fascinated British children throughout the ages. But toys are tell us much about developments in taste throughout the decades – and none more so than the toys that were once all the rage, but which now look like they could be extras in a Chucky film. In this fascinating episode, Stuart Ashen and Dan Snow take us on a tour of the museum’s creepiest toys across the centuries.
Up Next in Season 1
-
National Museum of Computing
Our new strand, Access All Areas, will take you behind the scenes at top historical destinations. "Like many people my age - some of my strongest childhood memories are of the exciting new devices called "computers" that started appearing in our homes. I spent hours learning programming on a BBC ...
-
Edinburgh Castle
From its position on Castle Rock, Edinburgh Castle dominates the skyline of this historic city and remains to this day the nucleus of Scotland’s capital. Although we remember it predominantly for its involvement in several conflicts during the medieval period, the castle’s history stretches some ...
-
The Postal Museum
The walls of the new Postal Museum house five centuries of stories and secrets – not just about post, not just about stamps, but about the remarkable people who made the Royal Mail what it is today. Stretching back to its birth during the reign of Henry VIII, the postal service has been intertwin...
