Pollock’s Toy Theatres: The End of an Era
Invented by children in the 1800s and fostered by publishers such as Benjamin Pollock (pictured above), Toy Theater, Paper Theater, or Kindertheater, is very popular still in Europe and Britain, and is also practiced throughout the United States, although by many names.
Long before Television, parents of lucky children in England would take their children to the theater, and portrait cards of actors in character were a favorite treat to paint and decorate. Before long, boys of ten to fifteen were buying, painting, cutting, building, and putting on shows for their families. In no time the printing industry had caught on, and by 1811 the first proscenia were offered. These miniature theaters, complete with playbooks and characters for many, many plays, provided hours of fun and activity for the whole family. Children, together with younger and older siblings (and the odd aunt or uncle), spent feverish hours painting and sewing, cutting and pasting, and practicing for the final performance. Of course, the early theaters were lit by candlelight, and many performances culminated in the unfortunate tendency for the whole works to go up in flames!
Writers of the time remember the ‘Toy Theatre’ fondly, though opinions as to which aspect of the medium were most satisfying differed; Charles Dickens put on shows for his family and friends, and the Yeats brothers and G.K. Chesterton made up their own plays complete with their own characters and sets, whereas Robert Louis Stevenson insisted that the painting was the heart of the matter, and never had the heart to cut them out afterward.
This art form is still flourishing today in its small way all over the world, and as at its beginning, folk’s differ as to which is the best bit. The Museum of Childhood in London features several lovely theaters, a few stalwart publishers are still to be found, and international festivals are hosted in Europe and the United States.
Katie Christman can be reached by email at: toytheaters at gmail dot com