Toy Story

Posted by Angeline under Exhibitions, Hobbies and Toys, Lifestyle, Museums/Heritage Galleries, Reflections, Traditions
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It was like going back to childhood times as I stepped into the tiny yet extensive museum that houses more than 50,000 precious pieces of vintage toys and childhood memorabilia. Yes, I am talking about the Mint Museum of Toys that is coolly situated opposite the bustling Raffles Hotel.

At this 5-storey museum, you get to find a multiplicity of rare toys that ranges from all-time favourite, Mickey Mouse to handmade dolls from Shanghai and even propaganda toys during the Cultural Revolution period. Among the collection of toys, there are some which are so rare that museum curators believe that they are the only ones in the world!

Sifting through the mass collection of toys, take a closer look at this rare collection of “Door of Hope” dolls which are carefully protected behind glass shelves at Level 3 of Childhood favourites. The history behind these hand-made dolls go as far back to 1901 in Shanghai where a Christian mission called Door of Hope was established to help Chinese women who faced prejudice and abuse. Under their protection, the women were able to study and learn sewing to earn their keep.

These Door of Hope dolls are dated between 1920s and 1930s and each of them are handcrafted and sold by the women so that the sales proceed can continue to fund and educate more women. These dolls are carefully handcrafted and all of them are completely different and magnificent in carvings and costuming.

Within the same level, there are also another series of dolls which deserves to be mentioned, that is, these dolls which were made in the 1940s to 1990s by Mr Michael Lee.

Mr Lee was a humble doll maker who could have had the opportunity to live in luxury and comfort by mass producing his dolls. Instead, he employs only refugees from the Hong Kong refugee camps to help him make his dolls and gave out most of his income to donations. A very enlightening quote he once gave was that “I heard about some Quakers who had gathered during the night at a baseball park in the United States. Each carried an unlighted candle. It was pitch black. At a given signal, all the Quakers lit their candles at once. Bright light illuminated the dark night.” He added, “I can be one candle. If I can help, and you help, and you help, then there are many candles.”

Moving down to level 2, there are even more Chinese toy collectables which you should never miss. All the shelves are chock-full of toys that you need to scrutinise each shelves carefully in case you miss out something fascinating.

Right at the focal of the glass shelves filled with toys, there is this portion of propaganda toys from the Cultural Revolution era that caught my attention. Apart from Mao-suit-clad dolls, there are also toy trucks and sedans with political themes and picture cubes with propaganda scenes on it…

After making this trip down, it was like a trip into China’s history, through the toys that dated as far back as the 1920s. I was very impressed at how the toys were so organised and carefully protected. What is even more deserving is that the toys have educated me about the social and cultural environment of the period of time when the toys were made. So if you haven’t been to Mint Museum of Toys, then you would have really missed out on a lot of ‘Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys’.

Mint Museum of Toys
Address: 26 Seah Street, Singapore 188382 (Next to Raffles Hotel)

Opening hours:
Mint Museum & Mint Shop- 9.30am to 6.30pm
Mint Café- 9.30am to 10.30pm

Website: http://www.emint.com/

Tags: Mint Musuem of Toys