Rag dolls, celluloid, or porcelain, static or mechanical, a football game from the thirties, lead soldiers and others made of various materials, a papier-mâché doll from the late nineteenth century, toy cars and model ships, notebooks and newspapers, rocking horses, the spectacular “dollhouses,” testify to the pastimes of children up to the mid-twentieth century. A snapshot of culture, art, technology, and fashion in the lives of children of a bygone era.
From the beginning, it exhibits about 180 pieces (all owned by the IOCO Association, which manages the museum). Over time, the collection has been enriched by several dozen pieces, donated by private individuals, and the number of exhibited items is continuously increasing. A vast array of antique toys that trace the historical evolution of toys over the past 150 years, almost as if to accompany the history of unified Italy itself. We find ourselves faced with objects once used by our grandparents, play materials perhaps now outdated, but still retaining all the charm and poetry of play.
The toys, varied in composition and origin and belonging to a period ranging from the late nineteenth century to the first half of the twentieth century, now number hundreds of specimens documenting the pastimes and games of children from a time long past. The most delicate are kept inside special display cases.
