Toys, Christmas Gifts and Consumption Culture in London's "Morning Chronicle", 1800—1827 (2013)
Wachelder, Joseph (Author)
Icon: Journal of the International Committee for the History of Technology
Volume: 19
Pages: 13-32
Publication date: 2013
Language: English
Toys were, and still are, pre-eminent Christmas gifts for the young. This paper focuses on the period where this connection was established. It is argued that, in the same period, a transformation occurred in the meaning of a 'toy', in Christmas rituals as well as in advertising and consumption patterns. This conclusion is based on a meticulous, qualitative study of the occurrence of 'toys' and 'presents' in the London newspaper, The Morning Chronicle, from 1800 through 1827. Juvenile libraries and publishers took rational toys, which referred to knowledge and/or scientific developments, on board, initially emphasising their moral virtues, but increasingly underlining their merits for instruction and amusement. Specific attention is drawn to (1) a change in the gender connotations of rational and technological toys, (2) the appeal to visual spectacle of many new toys, and (3) the impact of titles of specific toys for the establishment of a consumption and commodity culture.
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