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Niantic, CT
Children growing up in the mid 1800's likely would have played with a toy like this. Although the Smith-Harris House has been restored to resemble what it would've looked like back in the mid to late 1800's, none of the furnishings or accents are original to the house. When the city of East Lyme bought the home and property and were considering tearing down the house, they hired someone to clean the house, and haul off all the furnishings to the city dump. So a lot of genuine antiques were sadly lost.
How sad that antiques were sent to the city dump. Likely some great treasures were lost. This toy is a jewel. Never seen one like it. Toys are not all that old. In the 1700s and earlier children were apprenticed to other families, so parents didn't really raise their own children. It wasn't until the late 1700s or early 1800s that a growing middle-class raised their own children and bought them toys. Most interesting photo.
ReplyDeleteThat is an elaborate toy! People who haul things off to the town dump have no appreciation for history.
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