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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 1 - 10) 209 items
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Aeroplane - G-BOAC Comet, Yellow Plastic, circa 1950s
Yellow plastic toy aeroplane. 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 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 1 -
Leaflet - Obstetric List, Items for Mother to Bring to Childbirth, 1947
Printed leaflet listing items to be brought to Maryborough District Hospital by a mother at the time of giving birth. It was used by Lillian Boyd when she gave birth to her son Bill in ...
Images: 2 -
Aeroplane - G-BOAC Comet, Yellow Plastic, circa 1950s
Yellow plastic toy aeroplane. 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 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 1 -
Ashtray - Copper, circa 1950s
Copper ashtray. Made 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 1947 and raised ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 5 -
Baby Blanket - Appliqued & Embroidered, Blue Wool, circa 1950s
Appliqued and embroidered blue wool baby blanket. Used and owned by Bill Boyd in the 1950s. The William Boyd Childhood Collection includes most of the childhood possessions of William ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 2 -
Baby Blanket - Appliqued & Embroidered, Cream Wool, circa 1950s
Appliqued and embroidered cream wool blanket Used and owned by Bill Boyd in the 1950s. The William Boyd Childhood Collection includes most of the childhood possessions of William (Bill) ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 2 -
Baby Blanket - Appliqued & Embroidered, Cream Wool, circa 1950s
Appliqued and embroidered cream wool baby blanket. Used and owned by Bill Boyd in the 1950s. The William Boyd Childhood Collection includes most of the childhood possessions of William ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 2 -
Baby Blanket - Cream Wool, circa 1950s
Cream wool baby blanket. 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 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 2 -
Baby Blanket - Cuddledown, Cream Wool, circa 1950s
Cream wool baby blanket. 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 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 2 -
Baby Blanket - Knitted, Cream Wool, circa 1950s
Cream wool baby blanket. 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 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 2
