Les Petites Échos

In our ongoing series Highlights from the V&A Museum of Childhood, comes Ellen, 1951. The placard reads thus:

“Ellen was a popular mass-produced doll of the 1950s who came with an array of everyday clothes and smocks.”

What the placard does not say: “In a brilliant piece of psychological manipulation, Ellen’s creators had designed her to look as if she had spent the majority of her childhood on the streets, paying witness to nearly every horror imaginable. Children sensed the depths of her melancholy and so they held fast to her, trying to protect her from an evil they could not name, though it was true that no amount of attention would ever ease her suffering.”

In our ongoing series Highlights from the V&A Museum of Childhood, comes the Action man, 1970-1980. The placard reads thus:

“Toy designers try many different variations with a new toy design. They make changes before they are sure that it is ready to go onto the production line.”

What the placard does not say: “For instance, the designers will see if the child prefers the action man to have flesh-colored underwear, or no head and no arms, or the leg amputated just beneath the knee.”

In our ongoing series Highlights from the V&A Museum of Childhood, comes the Wax Bust of a Boy, 1975. The placard reads thus:

“This was made in England by Nicholas Bramble who was a sculptor. He made several portraits of Elliot, who the son of a friend. Elliot lived in Notting Hill in London.”

What the placard does not mention: that Elliot often wore only a pink turban, resembled a dying mermaid, AND WAS PERHAPS THE CREEPIEST CHILD EVER.