The Robert E. Lee Boyhood Home Virtual Museum

CHILDREN'S TOYS

Put down your Game Boy. Turn off "Sponge Bob." Let's have a look at the toys that delighted the child of Robert E. Lee's day. In those days there was no industry devoted to making toys for children. Indeed, children were left largely to entertain themselves and to find amusement and learn from things of everyday life. Made toys consisted of whatever their parents could make for them from whatever they had around the home. They were often simple in design and the material available to work with depended on the geographic location and the wealth and talents of the child's family. The Lee children were comparatively well-off and undoubtedly had some toys like those described below.

For The Student:

Would you have liked to have lived in those times?
Do any of these toys appeal to you?
Do you think there are any advantages to making your own toys?
Have you ever made a toy for yourself?
How did making your own toy make you feel?

Our youngest docents illustrate toys at the Lee Boyhood Home.
Pictured: Left, a monkey on a trapeze. Center, dolls and a cradle.
Right, "Jacob's Ladder" (from the Bible).
Thanks to docent Eileen Morehouse for her pictures and her help. Toys similar to these are for sale in Colonial Williamsburg, VA.

APPLE HEAD AND CORN-COB DOLLS: Some people used a dried apple for a doll's head, making the eyes and nose and mouth with inverted rose tree thorns. You could also make a corn-cob body, but that was not necessary. Everyone had their own way of doing things so there could be all sorts of ways to make the basic doll different. TRAVEL DOLL: This doll which has no arms or legs, could be taken on those long coach rides to the relatives homes. There was very little room to move around in the coach and not much room for toys. A small doll was about all that was allowed. It did double duty in that it served as a pillow when the child was tired.
TURN-OVER PUPPET: Another popular pastime was a puppet show. The turn-over puppet enables one person to operate two or three puppets at once. This was very important because your friends did not just pop over after school like today; your playmates were what ever other children there were in the family. Each child had to take several parts at once so that there would be enough characters. It also helped with compact storage of toys for the mother SAMPLERS: There were no dress stores with ready-made clothes to be found. Mother made all the clothing for the family, sometimes with the help of a seamstress. Little girls practiced their stitches on samplers (i.e. sampling their abilities) and when they became proficient they moved on to the real thing, The sampler always had a variety of stitches so that they could learn the decorative work also.
DOLL HOUSE: One story doll houses were also popular, if your family had the where-with-all to make one. Furnishings were hand-made little tables, stools, etc. which were decorated with fabric scraps, dried flowers, and corn-husk people. Crocheted rugs, needlepoint items, etc. were also used. RAG DOLLS: These were exactly what they say: made from rags or fabric scraps for a dress. The eyes, nose, and mouth were stiched on with left-over thread; the hair from left over knitting yarn or crewel thread.