"... Paul Hargreaves, proprietor of Nelson's wonderful toy museum, Toy Toy. Hargreaves, a former creative director in London adland, got the collecting bug the day he visited the Bethnal Green Toy Museum. Beyond the Victoriana he found a section devoted to the collection of psychologist Edward Castle, who'd used toys during therapy to regress his patients. 'I turned the corner and saw what was pretty much my childhood. I left with the aim of getting all my toys back, and more.'"
Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood, historian Gary Cross suggests that the world of toys, once a source of shared enjoyment between generations, has become a foreign land to the average parent.
"Shopping for toys has become saddening, irritating or bewildering for many adults."
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"From inside the library, you can see why historians, scholars and travelers would flock here. A giant, four-volume set marked Musée Français, contained in a standalone, statue-topped wooden case, is believed to be one of only four extant copies. It’s a gift from Marie Louise, the second wife of Emperor Napoleon. (The French emperor is said to have had the rest of the print run destroyed because it contained evidence that certain Louvre treasures had been plundered from Italy.)
