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Toy theatres, tin toys and a Polyphon that still plays, in a shopping centre unit in Croydon.
Free
The larger of the museum's two rooms, in a unit in the Whitgift Centre, with the theatres, games and dolls, a Victorian Polyphon that plays for you, and a display of toys made in Croydon's own factories. Most Saturdays there is a toy theatre performance at noon and again at two, or family drop-in activities on the weeks there is not - which of the two depends on how many volunteers turn up. The current exhibition, Whizz, Jump, Spin, Hoot, Flutter and Fly, is about toys that move by breath, wind or gravity.
Pollock's is named for Benjamin Pollock, who printed toy theatres in Hoxton. The things were a Regency craze: a paper proscenium, sheets of characters and scenery to cut out and colour, and a script, so that a child could put on Jack Sheppard or The Corsican Brothers at home. Pollock kept the trade alive into the twentieth century almost alone, and when he died in 1937 a collector named Alan Keen bought everything left in the shop - the unsold prints and the printing plates, some going back to the 1830s - rather than see it thrown out. The museum opened in 1956 and is one of the oldest of its kind in Britain, with puppets, optical toys, tin toys, teddy bears, dolls' houses and folk toys from around the world alongside the theatres. Robert Louis Stevenson, who bought his sheets from Pollock, wrote: if you love art, folly or the bright eyes of children, speed to Pollock's.
Free, Saturdays only. Level access throughout. The other room is in Leadenhall Market and opens Thursdays and Fridays.
| Monday | Closed |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | Closed |
| Thursday | Closed |
| Friday | Closed |
| Saturday | 11:00 – 16:00 |
| Sunday | Closed |
Toy theatre performances most Saturdays at 12:00 and 14:00, subject to volunteers.
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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.