Play is a universal aspect of childhood, with toys and games found everywhere from prehistoric archeological sites to our living room floors as we avoid stepping on little bits of Lego and Barbie doll shoes. Knowing how children (and adults) played and what they played with paints a vivid picture for me of what life was like in an historical era. I feel a little transported to that era myself. That is the crux of world-building, a skill every writer must have whether they are creating their own fantasy world, or recreating an historical one. So I was thrilled when my most recent project found me writing about a group of children and I had to figure out how to play with them. How often do you get to research toys and get to call that work? What fun!

I was surprised to find that many of the toys and games of the Georgian era would be familiar to children and parents of today. While some have fallen out of common use, many toys common to that period are tucked away in playrooms, bedrooms and living rooms of our own homes today. Our ancestors would either make toys and games at home, or, as became increasingly common into the late Georgian era, purchase them at a knack shop or a nicknackatory. I love that name!

The production of consumer goods vastly increased during the 18th century meaning a much greater variety of toys were available to children and their parents, beyond the simple wooden dolls, miniature animals or hobby-horses of earlier periods. Moreover, parents of this era did not commonly subscribe to the early philosophy of making children into miniature adults, but rather allowing them to be children and amuse themselves accordingly.

While toys were often expensive, poorer families could buy cheaper ones made out of paper – soldiers, dolls, rooms with figures to put in them, all to be cut out and made up by the children at home.

Indoor toys

Although mothers and nursery maids may have wished for it, children could not always play outside. When play took them inside, many of their toys bore a striking similarity to toys we ourselves have played with.

Rocking horses, then as now, were a staple of nurseries everywhere. My boys had one they loved for years. It is hard to imagine childhood without one!

Toy soldiers for the boys and dolls and doll houses for the girls populated houses with children as well. Initially, most toy soldiers were made in Russia, Germany, Prussia or Turkey. They were stamped and painted pewter figures. The ‘flats’ were sold by the pound and were cheap enough that small boys could amass an impressive force of troops.

Dolls with changeable clothes and houses for them to ‘live’ in first appeared on the marked in the mid-18th century. Dolls could be made of paper, papier-mâché, rags, wax, wood, ivory or porcelain. Elaborate clothing and furniture for dolls could be made or purchased for a little girls most beloved companion.

Toy theaters complete with doll house like stage and backdrops and metal or paper characters were also comments. Children could act out familiar stories for their playmates or their families. Creative children might write their own stories or even draw or paint their own characters for their miniature stages. These remind me a great deal of some of my favorite toy from my boys’ childhood. They played with a castle complete with knights and jousting horses and a dragon and a pirate ship with pirates, an island, treasure and a giant ogre defending it. Shhh, don’t tell, but I never got rid of those!

Speaking of my favorite things, in 1817, one of my all-time favorites was invented, the kaleidoscope. I’m sure children of the era found it as endlessly entertaining as I do!

Spinning toys have always been popular. I remember a period when buzzers and tops were always underfoot in my kitchen, where the hard floor was more conducive than the carpet. Whirling toys made their appearance in English Literature as early as 1686 while at least 5 kinds of tops were known in the 15th century. Both boys and girls played with tops and buzzers, apparently noisy, dizzy things have a universal appeal.

Similarly, the clacking, inexplicable Jacob’s Ladder constructed of wooden blocks and ribbons fascinates today’s children as much as it did yesterday’s. I’ve lost track of how many of these I have purchased through the years as gifts.

Bilboquet was another favorite toy. I remember the very first one of these ball and cup games I got as a kid. How hard I tried to get the knack of getting that little ball into the cup. I never did get very good at it, but it was a good way to occupy a dreary afternoon. No doubt many Georgian mothers and nursery maids thought the same thing. The game could be made easier with a larger up in which to catch the ball, or could be made more challenging with a small cup or worse still, a tiny pin on which to catch the ball.

For more on Fun and Games in Jane Austen’s World click HERE

References

Davidoff, Leonore & Hall, Catherine. Family Fortunes: Men and Women of the English Middle Class 1780-1850. Routledge (2002)

Grose, Captain (Francis) Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1811 edition Ikon Classics (2004)

Lydia Maria Child. Girl’s Own Book (1833)

Manring, Lynne. Children’s Amusements in the Early Nineteenth Century. Memorial Hall Museum Online, American Centuries. Martin, Joanna. Wives and Daughters. Hambledon Continuum (2004)

Rendell, Mike. Sir David Brewster, the man with kaleidoscope eyes. Georgian Gentleman. December 11, 2013.

Selwyn, David. Jane Austen and Children. Continuum Books (2010)

Selwyn, David. Jane Austen & Leisure. The Hambledon Press (1999)

Stone, Laurence. The Family, Sex & Marriage in England 1500-1800. Penguin Books (1979)

Toys and Games. History lives.

Waldock , Sarah J. Toys and games of Jane Austen’s time. Dec 13, 2011

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