January 2007

TOYS

Undoubtedly some toys arouse memories and nostalgic feelings from the past. For many of us, the images take us back to the wonderful magic world of our childhood. These toys which were main parts of our play time, with the years with their beauty and charm, design and mastery they were made with , have, in many cases, ended as exhibition pieces in museums.

Some of these childhood toys have been depicted in stamps in previous issues and this year once more, eight different ones feature in this Toys series depicting pieces from the following museums:

PORTADA JUGUETES

From the Museo de Juguetes de Albarracín comes a tricycle. This museum was set up on initiative of private collector Eustaquio Castellano. The pieces date from the XIX to the XX century and were made in several European countries and Spain and amongst them all there are many educational toys. From the Museu del Joguet de Catalunya de Figueres , comes the bus, picked out amongst more than 4000 pieces that make up this museum. It was inaugurated in 1982 and enlarged in 1998. It was founded by Joseph Maria Joan Rosa and has a large variety of toys as well as games for the blind. From the Museu de la Joguina de Sant Feliu de Guixols, where the Tomas Plá collection is kept, comes the train. The oldest pieces here date back as far as 1870 and the most recent come from 1980. The Museo dels Joguets in Denia is represented by a bowling set. The pieces of this museum are form the beginning of the XX century and go as far as the sixties and serve as promotion to the toy industry of the city. The Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares de Sevilla, in the Pabellón Mudejar was set up in 1872 and displays a vast selection of furniture, pottery, embroidery etc.. the stamp depicts a pram from one of its collections. The plane featuring in another stamp belongs to the Fundación Raquel Chaves de Vigo. The little printing machine comes from the Museu de la Jugueta de Sa Pobla which has around 4000 handmade and industrial pieces from the XIX and XX centuries. From the Fundació Museu Valencia del Joguet d’Ibi, is the fireman truck loaned to the Museum by the Payá family. Most of the pieces are made out of tin.