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Thursday, May 24, 2012

CULTURE

Remember Your Cabbage Patch Kid? Shop for Vintage Toys for the Holidays.

Marlene HochmanThe holidays always conjure nostalgic feelings and happy memories both old and new. That’s why this year, we're searching for holiday gift ideas that are filled with personal meaning.

Vintage games, dolls, and other playthings are fun and sentimental gifts for children and kids at heart. Why? For one, vintage toys and games can hark back to the recipient’s childhood, or allow grown-ups to share hard-to-find favorites with their own children. Plus, vintage toys can also be affordable. And the rare examples can appreciate in value, both as collectors' items and as personal treasures. Who better to ask about buying antique toys than Marlene Hochman, the founder and executive director of the Toy Museum in New York City ?  

(Marlene Hochman, left, founder of the Toy Museum of New York)

Marlene Hochman, author of several books on collectable dolls and teddy bears, launched the Toy Museum in 1999 when she realized that despite New York’s many museums, the city didn’t have a public gallery dedicated to historical toys. Her initial idea was to offer a place where children could learn about culture, social studies, theater, and language while playing with a variety of toys.

In 2000, she operated the Toy Museum in borrowed spaces in two Brooklyn schools, PS 32 and Middle School 142, both in the idyllic Brownstone-lined neighborhood of Carroll Gardens. Four years later, the budding New York toy museum’s collection of classic items, such as American rag dolls and plastic animal figurines, expanded to the point that the organization outgrew the two schoolrooms. So Marlene Hochman began curating traveling exhibitions of vintage toys, including a show called “Dolls of the World,” featuring more than 50 international dolls, to showcase the collection.

Today, the Toy Museum consists of more than 5,000 pieces. And earlier this year, Marlene Hochman opened a dedicated site for the Toy Museum on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. “I am determined to create a world-class toy museum in New York,” Hochman said.

Toy Museum

children playing at the Toy Museum

Toy MuseumTaking into consideration her experience as a collector and her knowledge of buying vintage toys, we asked Hochman what the toy museum’s criteria are for selecting pieces that are historically valuable. “We consider toys [to be] antiques if they are over 100 years old. We consider a toy important if it had some impact on history,” she told us. “Popularity is very important. We look for toys that really made an impact and connection in people’s lives."

“For example, lots of our visitors remember trying to get a Cabbage Patch doll when they were kids, and how they kept it long after they had grown too old to play with it,” Hochman continued. “It was more than just a toy. It was an entire experience for kids when they were trying to ‘adopt’ the dolls.”

We also asked Marlene Hochman if there are any specific toys that visitors to the museum seek the most. “People love to see the classics toys like Shirley Temple dolls, Monopoly board games, and toy soldiers,” she said.Toy Museum

Dolls from the Toy Museum

The non-profit Toy Museum is continuing to grow and is in the midst of a fundraising campaign. The organization is planning on launching a Children’s Theater soon, and Marlene Hochman is working on creating a branch of the museum in the town of Southampton on Long Island. Hochman hopes to be able to share her knowledge and passion for toys as playthings, educational tools, and historical objects for years to come. She encourages toy enthusiasts of all ages to follow their passions, too—the most effective way of building a cohesive and interesting lifelong toy collection. “Collect what you love first and build a collection around it,” she said. Gift-givers take note: pay attention to what recipients already own, and select pieces that complement what they’ve amassed for a truly special gift.

(images courtesy of the Toy Museum of New York)

On eBay, there are over 58,000 listings for antique toys. Here are a few that Hochman and her staff say would make great holiday presents this year…and for many more in the future.

  • Howdy Doody Doll

    Howdy Doody Doll

    (buy it now price, $15)

    “The first Howdy Doody shows aired almost 65 years ago, and we believe there will be some celebrations in 2012,” says Hochman.

  • Dollhouse

    Dollhouse

    (buy it now price, $85.98)

    “Although dollhouses take up a lot of space, decorating a dollhouse is a wonderful hobby for all ages,” advised Hochman.

  • Vintage Monopoly Set

    Vintage Monopoly Set

    (buy it now price, $6.99)

    Visitors to the Toy Museum can’t get enough of items related to this iconic board game.

  • Toy Soldiers

    Toy Soldiers

    (buy it now price, $10)

    Some of the most popular pieces at the Toy Museum are toy soldiers from different historical eras. Recently, the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation hosted an exhibition featuring examples from the Toy Museum’s collection.

  • Shirley Temple Dolls

    Shirley Temple Dolls

    (buy it now price, $199.95)

    Hochman says many visitors to the Toy Museum seek out these likenesses of the 1930s child star.

  • Vintage Hand Puppet

    Vintage Hand Puppet

    (buy it now price, $11.99)

    Hochman herself has been researching vintage hand puppets. “We want to bring theatre into the Toy Museum experience and are launching a children’s theater,” she said. They also can make wonderful nostalgic gifts. This Lamb Chop puppet from the 1960s could bring back happy memories to adults who watched this character on TV.

  • Simon and Halbig Doll

    Simon and Halbig Doll

    (buy it now price, $595)

    Hochman gives antique toys, such as a 19th-century doll similar to the one pictured here, as special gifts. “I bought a friend one of her favorite types of old dolls, by Simon and Halbig,” she said.

  • Cabbage Patch Kids Dolls

    Cabbage Patch Kids Dolls

    (buy it now price, $19.99)

    Other toys sure to have both sentimental and historical value are Cabbage Patch Kid dolls. Hochman says Toy Museum fans of both genders often share happy recollections of first buying these toys as kids in the 1980s and then holding on to them to share with their own children today.

  • Teddy Bear Collector’s Record Book: A Guide to Managing Your Collection

    Teddy Bear Collector’s Record Book: A Guide to Managing Your Collection

    (buy it now price, $9.24)

    For the Teddy Bear enthusiast, Hochman’s book on collecting these cuddly stuffed toys could be a helpful gift.

 

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ab3eba39-2cda-40a6-9505-e72447ca7065 Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:20:17 PST Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:20:17 PST
Stefan Gheorghe
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