Search the collections
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 201 - 210) 216 items
-
No Image Available
Toy Revolver - Red & Grey Plastic, 1950s
Red and grey plastic toy revolver. 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 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 0 -
No Image Available
Toy Revolver - The Mounty, Blue Metal, 1950s
Blue metal toy revolver. 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: 0 -
Toy Submarine - Grey Plastic, circa 1950s
Grey plastic submarine. 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 i ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 1 -
Toy Submarine - Grey Plastic, circa 1950s
Grey plastic submarine. 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 i ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 1 -
Toy Submarine - Grey Plastic, circa 1950s
Grey plastic submarine. 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 i ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 1 -
Toy Tow Truck - Red Plastic, circa 1950s
Red plastic tow truck toy. 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 bor ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 5 -
Toy Wheel - Green, Magnetic, circa 1950s
Green magnetic wheel. 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 i ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 4 -
No Image Available
Tricycle - 1950s
Metal tricycle. 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 1947 ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 0 -
Vest - Blue, Fair Isle, circa 1950s
Blue knitted vest. 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: 2 -
Vice, circa 1950s
Vice. 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 1947 and raised ...
From: Churchlands, Australia Images: 4
