Merry Christmas from the World's Largest Toy Museum. The other evening I was attending a show in Branson and at intermission a gentleman came up to me and suggested I would make a good "Santa." I was hoping he was referencing my white hair and beard rather than my size. In any case, I feel a little like Santa every day when I get to demonstrate toys to folks in our gift shop. It is a real joy to see little eyes light up to see a particular magic trick or hear a favorite tune on a penny whistle or harmonica.
Sometimes the joy is reflected from older faces that have just seen their favorite doll or tractor or cap pistol. One lady came out of the doll section practically floating above the floor. She had seen her favorite doll that she had played with back in the 1920's. She was almost emotional about the reunion.
The joy is not so much in the toy as it is in the memory that it evokes. We call it a toy museum but we could have just as easily called it a Joy Museum. Even my Dad, who was a little reluctant to go through because he said, "I never had many toys growing up," recognized a lot of toys. Of course he would preface it with, "Harold had one of those." or "Bobby had that." Still, there was joy in recognizing the toy and remembering the experiences regardless of whose toy it was.
While it is true that we may have a number of memories from our childhood that are not always particularly pleasant, but usually the ones surrounding toys - either ours or someone else's - are memories of joy filled experiences. We here at the World's Largest Toy Museum want to wish for you a joyous Christmas season for as the familiar carol says, "Joy to the world, the Lord has come."
Rubber Duckie, you're the one,You make bathtime lots of fun,Rubber Duckie, I'm awfully fond of you;
Do you remember that song? While the rubber duck goes back to the late 1800's it was boosted to almost a cult status when Ernie sang the song on Sesame Street in 1970. The song was even nominated for a Grammy in 1971 for "Best Recording for Children."
Check out this video of a Rubber Duckie music box from the early 70's. This music box is in its second generation and is loved by the grand kids too.
While the music box was intended as an addition to a music box collection, it was too much of a favorite (and still is) to play with and as you can see, the poor "Duckie" has been through a lot and has endured numerous repairs.
At our gift shop in the World's Largest Toy Museum & Attractions , we have various sizes and colors (yes, not all rubber duckies are yellow) and they are always a favorite purchase.
It was even reported in 2001 that Queen Elizabeth II had a rubber duck in her bathroom with an inflatable crown. According to the 2007 Guinness Book of World Records, the largest known collection of rubber ducks stands at 2,583 different rubber ducks and that's a lot of quackers.
The Tale
Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol has been a Christmas favorite ever since it was first published on December 19, 1843. It has been portrayed hundreds and hundreds of times in many different forms - countless times on screen, both live action and animated, on stage, opera and even by the Muppets. It has been so popular that it has never been out of print since it was first published a hundred sixty nine years ago.
The Place
At the corner of Post Office and Kempner (22nd) streets in Galveston, TX, sits a building that is a part of the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1914 with the original core of the building dating back to 1870. It is known as Eibands and at one time housed, among other businesses, Eibands Department Store. In days gone by, department stores were a much bigger deal that perhaps they are today - especially at Christmas time. Going to the department store in town and seeing the awesome window displays was always a treat.
The Start
In 1935, Eiband's obtained window displays for their store that were hand-made in New York, which depicted the story of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
At Home in the Ozarks
Anachronism - noun - something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time.
Is a World's Largest Toy Museum blog post an anachronism? Certainly, in our museum we have many toys that go back many years before blogging, before smart phones, before computers, before . . . Well, you get the picture. And yet we want to keep in touch with a world that even though they seem to be hooked on technology, could still benefit from slowing down and thinking about a more relaxed and in many ways simpler time.
We will be posting articles on items and collections we have here in the museum and you might just find some that resonate with you. You may even decide you need to come to Branson, MO, and join the thousands that go through our museum every year.
As I was writing this, a young couple walked by (honeymooners) and I asked them to categorize the museum in a word or two: "Amazing", "It tells a story." Yes, it does tell a story and the interesting thing is that the story is you. You bring your story to the museum and when you see a particular GI Joe, or truck or doll, it triggers that story and you realize that even though you hadn't thought about that story for years, it rushes to the surface and you re-live it all over again.
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