Toy boat
Category
Toys
Date
Unknown
Materials
Stained wood
Measurements
31 mm (Height) x 63 mm (Width) x 65 mm (Length)
Collection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 672284.5
Summary
Part of a construction toy (tug) boat consisting of eight wooden pieces. It has two levels of deck, three extra pieces on the top deck and three pieces of dowel holding all the pieces together and forming two masts and a funnel. This is an extra piece on the upper deck, the 'bridge' of the boat. It is stained light brown and has a straight back edge and a rounded front edge. This edge has a smaller, identically-shaped piece glued on. On the underside is a small hole drilled almost all the way though, which fits on to the small dowel on the upper deck (catalogued as 673384.2). In the centre is a large hole, through which the thickest piece of dowel is inserted as the 'funnel'.
Provenance
Part of a large collection of handmade toys and puzzles donated to the Museum of Childhood in 2019 by Nigel Briggs. They were made by John Doble, father of the donor's wife Hanne. He had worked with Nancy Catford (of the Nursery Schools Association), the designer of the toys, during the Second World War. Together they produced paper patterns that people could use at home as templates for thin ply patterns which could in turn be used to make their own wooden toys. Other toys were made from dowels and empty cotton reels.