Search the collections
Childhood & Youth Collection
Image: Knucklebones (1950s)
Source: Museum Victoria
Childhood is common to all humans, but with all the individuality that this brings. The Childhood and Youth Collection contains objects made by children, which reflect their world views, and collections about children and childhood. It also encompasses photographs, documents and audiovisual material, as well as recording material culture and intangibles such as play lore, experiences and ideas.
The collection was begun in the 1980s, and in 2009 comprised around 2237 objects, including games, dolls, toys, school material, clothing and costumes, domestic items, and information on child-related organisations and issues.
A significant component of the collection is the Australian Children's Folklore Collection (ACFC), acquired in 1999. This comprises over 10,000 card files listing children's games, rhymes, riddles, jokes and superstitions, from the 1940s to the present. The collection contains 500 photographs; extensive video and audio collection; over 300 play artefacts; research files and fieldwork files.
The ACFC was placed on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register in 2004, which recognises collections of long-term and wide-ranging international significance.
Other significant items:
- The Le Forgeron Marionette Theatre collection - a rare surviving example of the travelling marionette/puppet troupes that regularly toured throughout Australia until the 1960s.
- Sterne Doll Company Collection, including Gerry Gee puppet and paraphernalia, and doll-making materials and equipment.
- The Panaroos Playthings Doll and Toy Museum Collection, featuring items made by Australian companies during the 1930s-1950s.
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 1 - 10) 108 items
-
Menu - 'At The Equator', RMS Otranto, Orient Line, 1954
Menu 'At The Equator' published by the Orient Line for passengers travelling on the SS Otranto in 1954 and used for a child's birthday party. It was used by Geoffrey and Hazel Tirchett ...
Images: 3 -
Book - The Children's Mass Book, A.G. Younes, circa 1955
Alternative Name(s): Prayer Book Book 'The Children's Mass Book', published by A.G. Younes, circa 1955. It was used by Italian immigrant Marino Dereani when he attended Mass at Bonegil ...
Images: 6 -
Student Work - 'Firestorm', Black Saturday Bushfires, Healesville Primary School, 2009
Rachel was a Grade 5 student at Healesville Primary School during the Black Saturday bushfires of February 2009. Her artwork 'Firestorm' was created at that time. A year later, Rachel r ...
Images: 2 -
Student Work - 'CFA Helps Wildlife', Black Saturday Bushfires, Healesville Primary School, ...
Jake was a Grade 6 student at Healesville Primary School during the Black Saturday bushfires of February 2009. His artwork 'CFA Helps Wildlife' was created at that time. A year later, J ...
Images: 1 -
Student Work - 'Bushfire Disaster', Black Saturday Bushfires, Healesville Primary School, ...
Dylan was a Grade 5 student at Healesville Primary School during the Black Saturday bushfires of February 2009. His artwork 'Bushfire Disaster', now part of the Victorian Bushfires Coll ...
Images: 1 -
Student Work - 'Bushfires', Black Saturday Bushfires, Healesville Primary School, 2009
Jarod was a Grade 4 student at Healesville Primary School during the Black Saturday bushfires of February 2009. His artwork 'Bushfires', now part of the Victorian Bushfires Collection, ...
Images: 1 -
Student Work - 'Animal Rescue', Black Saturday Bushfires, Healesville Primary School, 2009
Allyson was a Grade 6 student from Healesville Primary School during the Black Saturday bushfires in February, 2009. Her artwork 'Animal Rescue' was produced during that time. A year l ...
Images: 1 -
Student Work - 'Catastrophe', Black Saturday Bushfires, Healesville Primary School, 2009
Emily was a Grade 6 student from Healesville Primary School during the Black Saturday bushfires in February, 2009. Her artwork 'Catastrophe' was produced during that time. A year later ...
Images: 2 -
Student Work - 'CFA is the Best', Black Saturday Bushfires, Healesville Primary School, 20 ...
Rory was a Grade 3 student from Healesville Primary School during the Black Saturday bushfires in February, 2009. His artwork 'CFA is the Best' was produced during that time. A year la ...
Images: 1 -
Student Work - 'The Biggest Fire', Black Saturday Bushfires, Healesville Primary School, 2 ...
Emily was a Grade 3 student from Healesville Primary School during the Black Saturday bushfires in February, 2009. Her artwork 'The Biggest Fire' was produced during that time. A year ...
Images: 1



