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Playing Grownup

 

Some toys encouraged chidren to practice proper adult behavior while still appealing to their natural tendencies to have fun. Boys could be raucous while "calling the troops to arms" with a trumpet or drum, or riding into battle on a rocking horse. The lucky girl could spend quiet hours caring for or sewing clothes for a special doll.

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Image of "My Mother at Least Can Rest Herself" from The Child's Pictorial Preceptor, 1841
 
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Papier-Mache Head Doll
Possibly made in Germany
Date: 1840-1850
ID: 30.1092.4.1

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Rocking Horse
Benjamin Potter Crandall
New York, NY
Date: 1850-1870
ID: 2001.0.37.3

1840s
1890s
1920s
1930s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s