ARCHIVES INVITES: EARLY TOYS & TRADITIONAL FOLK GAMES

A sharing by the founder of MINT Museum of Toys at the National Archives of Singapore on 23 August 2024.

MINT Museum of Toys at the Archives Talk

‘Archives Talk’ is one of the programmes curated by National Archives of Singapore as part of All Things Singapore (AT SG) 2024, held in conjunction with Singapore Night Festival. In 2024, the topic for the Archives Talk is related to Singapore Night Festival’s theme on ‘The Art of Play‘. The MINT Museum of Toys was specially invited to share about the history of Singapore toys and traditional games due to the museum’s vast vintage collections between 1840s to 1980s from over 40 countries and the speaker of the talk was its very own founder – Mr Chang Yang Fa.

Mr Chang shared insights about a series of childhood toys and games he, his community and children of the early 1950s era made and played with in the past. Through this sharing, he aims to share with the general public more about the museum’s depth of research, curatorial works and efforts to preserve and conserve vintage toys and collectables for generations come to learn of the past, present and future.

The museum has a collection dedicated to ‘Early Toys and Traditional Folk Games’ under the exhibition ‘Collectables’, you can find out more about it here.

About the Collection at the Museum

In Level 2: Collectables, the exhibition explores the wide array of vintage toys beginning from the collection of early toys and traditional folk games between 1930s – 1970s which evokes a huge sense of nostalgia for many.

The toys and games we have come to know today are often embedded in digital devices. However, during our grandparents era, many were wrought out of pure imagination. Since most of the working-class were unable to afford industrial-made imported toys, children would often create their own games using household items. Today, these toys and games are fondly remembered as ‘kampong games’. 

Featured above is a ‘Gasing’ top made in Singapore in the 1950s with the word ‘Singapore’ engraved on. In a glance, the gasing top’s material looks like ‘metal but in fact, it is actually wood with gold paint.

Discover more about Early Toys and Traditional Folk Games with a Guided Tour

To find out more about early toys and traditional folk games in Singapore, visit our museum today and opt for a Around the World in 60 Minutes guided tour which is sure to give you a in-depth understanding of the museum and its collections.

You may also read about 4 key vintage toys with old school charm here.