Step back in time to the enchanting world of toys from yesteryear and let your imagination run free. No batteries. No tablets. Just play.
It started with one exquisite 19th century French doll from the House of Bru. Too precious for its original recipient, then aged two, it nonetheless sparked a love affair with antique toys that has spanned over half a century of careful collection.
Tucked away in a little old house in the middle of the sleepy village of Xaghra, Gozo, is a delightful museum of toys offering a nostalgic peep through the ages of how children decades, or even centuries ago, used to play.
Sue and Edwin Lowe started their toy collection practically by accident. “I started collecting toys in Devon in 1965, when my two year old daughter was given this very old beautiful French doll from the House of Bru. A few weeks later she was given a lovely German doll. As they both had bisque heads, we put them out of reach till she was older,” she reminisces.
“We were second-hand booksellers, and eventually I became interested in old toys. When a friend commented on the collection that I had started building up, we decided to display it in our book shop.”
A memorable holiday in Gozo inspired the Lowes to bring their toy collection to the sunny island. “We thought the toys might like it too!” Sue points out, and Pomskizillious opened its doors in 1992.
And it seems to me, the name of the museum fits perfectly. Such a diverse and intriguing collection could only be gathered under the umbrella of the most original adjective ever coined to describe the island which became its home. It was British artist and writer of nonsense verse Edward Lear who created the word to illustrate the Gozitan landscape “being as no other words can describe its magnificence”.
Pomskizillious today is a collection of cabinets of curiosities featuring everything from 18th century rarities to personal toys owned by Sue and Edwin as children. But you can't pin Sue down on a favourite! “I love them all for so many different reasons,” she insists, “but one doll I was so pleased to acquire because I had wanted one for such a long time is the German Kathe Kruse boy doll.”
Among the most curious toys is a French knitting cotton reel which belonged to the late rock 'n roll singer-songwriter Ian Dury, who used to play with it while recovering in hospital from polio as a child. The museum also owns a watercolour painting of dolls painted by Ian Dury’s grandmother for an art exam in Dublin.
Keep an eye out for the smallest doll in the world, all one inch of it, made in Holland out of wood, with moving arms and legs. And take a moment to admire the intricate detail of the miniature market stall showing off its wares, including mini drums, gloves, prayer books and pen knives. The inscription on its base reads 'Last of the treasures I manufactured in the dear old drawing room, 1832'. But who was the creator?
“When you think of the minute size, the age they were made in and probably working by candle light, it’s remarkable,” enthuses Sue, clearly still as passionate about her collection as ever.
Most of the toys hail from the main toy producing countries of the 18th and 19th century, namely France, Germany, Italy and the UK, but there is also an old Maltese doll dating back to the 1790s. It is believed to have belonged to a family from Zebbug, in Malta.
Among the exhibits are items of a more personal value. The Dinky toys belonged to Edwin as a boy and the toy fort was his much longed for Christmas present in the late 1940s. The Chad Valley bear was Sue’s own soft toy.
But what do today’s children think of these antique toys? “Children are interested to actually see some of the old toys, as often they have done projects at school about them or they’ve heard their grandparents speak about such toys. We like to show them a 100 year old French acrobatic doll that is still performing and a Vivescope from 1889 with paper patterns, which is really a forerunner of film,” explains Sue. A far cry from today’s iPad, but what endless imagination it unleashed!
Opening Hours
Pomskizillious Museum of Toys, 10 Gnien Xible Street, Xaghra, Gozo
January: closed
February and March: Saturday mornings only 10:30am - 1pm
April and October: Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10:30am to 1pm
May to September: Monday to Saturday 10:30am to 1pm
November & December: Saturday only 10:30am to 1pm
Entrance Fee: Adults €2.80; OAPs €1.80; Children/Students €1.50; Groups of 4 - 12 people €2.20, €1.40, €1.20; party admissions of 12 or more people €1.80, €1.20, €1.00