As we well know, toys are as old as time –
- A Timeline of the History of Miniatures: From Ritual and Religious Object to Plaything and Collectible
- The History and Psychology of Toys
But toy photography, my research topic of choice, cuts out the human owners from the scene. Symbolic depictions of me are in all my work, but not my actual face or body. And in researching the history of toy photography, I can’t help but come across these historic photos of toys with the children and adults that held them dear. There’s even images, like the featured one here, of a girl taking a picture of her doll. If only we could see the image she made.
So here’s every person + doll and toy image from the Library of Congress’ online archive from 1840-1950. The images of just toys are on the path to different posts.
Do note, I’m not making any commentary on these images, as there’s always room for in any historical discussion, but that’s for future posting as well.
Also see – A Toy Photograph from 1894
Click on an image to see it in a larger gallery carousel. More information at the links in the caption of each photo.
