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William Boyd Childhood Collection
Image: Locomotive - Royal Scot
Source: Museum Victoria
The William Boyd Childhood Collection includes most of the childhood possessions of William (Bill) Boyd.
Most of us have a few treasured mementoes from our childhood, but Bill Boyd had over 700 of them. His mother Lillian carefully preserved mementoes of his childhood in Maryborough, in central Victoria, in the late 1940s and 1950s. Bill suffered ill-health as a child, and his long hours in bed encouraged him to also become a collector.
The collection was passed onto Bill after his mother's death. He eventually donated it to the Museum of Childhood at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. When the Museum of Childhood closed it was transferred to Museum Victoria.
Encompassing toys, books, clothing and other items, the William Boyd Childhood Collection is rare in its comprehensiveness: even ephemera such as the back of a Cornflakes box is included. The Collection demonstrates a range of prominent themes in the lives of postwar Victorian children, such as the ability to 'make do' under austere circumstances; the shift in toy manufacture towards plastic materials and mass production; the continuing cultural influence of Britain; the increasing embrace of American popular culture; the prominence of gender roles; and the popularity of transport and war themed toys for boys.
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 81 - 90) 216 items
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Clicker - Cicada
Toy cicada clicker. Used and owned by Bill Boyd in the 1950s. The William Boyd Childhood Collection includes most of the childhood possessions of William (Bill) Boyd, who was born in 19 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 1 -
Clicker - Cicada
Toy cicada clicker. Used and owned by Bill Boyd in the 1950s. The William Boyd Childhood Collection includes most of the childhood possessions of William (Bill) Boyd, who was born in 19 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 2 -
Jacket - Cream Viyella, late 1940s
Alternative Name(s): Top, Coat Worn by Bill Boyd in the late 1940s. The William Boyd Childhood Collection includes most of the childhood possessions of William (Bill) Boyd, who was bo ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 2 -
Costume - Red Indian, Hessian, circa 1950s
'Red Indian' costume, home-made from hessian Colonial Sugar bags. Used by Bill Boyd in the 1950s, probably for playing 'Cowboys and Indians'. The costume was made by Bill's mother Lilli ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 3 -
Cow - Green Plastic, circa 1950s
Green plastic cow. Used and owned by Bill Boyd in the 1950s. The William Boyd Childhood Collection includes most of the childhood possessions of William (Bill) Boyd, who was born in 194 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 3 -
Cow - Yellow Plastic, circa 1950s
Yellow plastic cow. Used and owned by Bill Boyd in the 1950s. The William Boyd Childhood Collection includes most of the childhood possessions of William (Bill) Boyd, who was born in 19 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 3 -
No Image Available
Cupboard - Yellow
Yellow painted wooden cupboard. Used and owned by Bill Boyd in the 1950s. The William Boyd Childhood Collection includes most of the childhood possessions of William (Bill) Boyd, who wa ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 0 -
Doll - Blue Plastic, circa 1950s
Blue plastic doll. Used and owned by Bill Boyd in the 1950s. The William Boyd Childhood Collection includes most of the childhood possessions of William (Bill) Boyd, who was born in 194 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 3 -
Doll - Green Plastic, circa 1950s
Green plastic doll. Used and owned by Bill Boyd in the 1950s. The William Boyd Childhood Collection includes most of the childhood possessions of William (Bill) Boyd, who was born in 19 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 2 -
Doll - Green Plastic, circa 1950s
Green plastic doll. Used and owned by Bill Boyd in the 1950s. The William Boyd Childhood Collection includes most of the childhood possessions of William (Bill) Boyd, who was born in 19 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 3
