3-004-005 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Toy theatre, 1861. 'As it is ordained that no pleasure - scarcely a sorrow - should he enduring, it is not to be wondered at that even "Christmas holidays'' should have their hours of tedium, and that little people should often desire "something to do, mamma." As it is the pleasant mission of the Illustrated London News to supply amusement and instruction to the family circle, we, in our Christmas Supplement, always endeavour to interest the youngest of our readers, and to aid them in making the holiday time pass cheerfully. With that view the following games have been constructed and are now submitted, we hope, to kindly criticism, for there are few tasks more difficult than the production of such "nothings." The first game we call a Doll Drama, to be played by young children after the preparation of stage characters and scenery by older heads and hands. The Stage should be a simple frame of wood with a solid bottom, so that it may stand firmly on a table, and with movable bars of wood at the top, to which the scenery is to be attached. It must be draped and closed at the sides thus: [see diagram]...The scenery is painted upon pasteboard the width of the stage and may be made also from prints and engravings'. From "Illustrated London News", 1861.