I took a very quick trip to the Museum of Childhood at lunchtime today. It’s about 20 minute’s walk from the LBi office in Brick Lane. I first visited the museum about 25 years ago and hadn’t realised it was so close to where I work. Comfortingly, it has remained exactly as I remember it — big, light and airy, in a huge old glass-roofed building. Rows of slightly dusty old cabinets full of toys surround a large, open central area.
I only took a quick look around today but I’m sure I’ll go back for another visit soon. In the meantime, feast your eyes upon these amazing pictures of one of the creepiest toys I’ve ever seen. So much weirdness going on here. The weird artist’s smock/straitjacket. The weird way that Hugo isn’t just Hugo, he’s “presented” as Hugo with great fanfare. His weird staring serial killer eyes. And the weird, heartbreakingly pathetic tagline,
“easily changed disguises fit you and your puppet…create thousands of pretend friends!”
Presenting Hugo, man of a thousand faces:
