Established | 1987 |
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Location | Fisher-Price Campus (636 Girard Avenue, East Aurora, New York |
Visitors | Thousands/yr |
Director | Gary Grote |
Website | www.toytownusa.com |
The Toy Town Museum is located on the Fisher-Price campus in East Aurora, New York. It was conceived by a group of local citizens in East Aurora and Western New York to help celebrate the toy making heritage in the area. There have been over 100 toy companies throughout Western New York over the past 100 years [1] and the museum's exhibitions attempt to educate and entertain visitors.
As of May 2009 [update] , the museum is no longer open to the public or located on the Fisher-Price campus, but is seeking a new location.
The Fisher-Price Archive Collection - This collection chronicles the history of one of the world's most loved toy companies from its beginning in 1931 to present.
Savings Bank Collection - A private collection of promotional savings banks.
Miniature Herschell Carousel - A handmade reproduction of an Allan Herschell Company carousel.
Carousel Horses - Two beautifully restored carousel horses from the early 1900s.
The Brownies - A collection of small elf-like little creatures created by Palmer Cox in the late 1800s based on a Scottish folktale.
The Jane Kelsey Doll House - A fully furnished 12 room doll house.
Erector Set Display - A working display of one of the most popular building toys of all time.
A Pez Collection - The popularity of the candy was surpassed by its packaging as shown through this collection of Pez dispensers.
Our Junior Collector Case - A testament that anyone one can be a collector and highlighting our young collectors of today.
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East Aurora is a village in Erie County, New York, United States, southeast of Buffalo. It lies in the eastern half of the town of Aurora. The village population was 6,236 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 2015, East Aurora was rated the third-best town to raise a family in New York State by Niche. According to the National Council of Home Safety and Security, it is also among the safest places to live in New York State.
North Tonawanda is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 31,568 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is named after Tonawanda Creek, its south border.
A carousel, roundabout, or merry-go-round, is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The "seats" are traditionally in the form of rows of wooden horses or other animals mounted on posts, many of which are moved up and down by gears to simulate galloping, to the accompaniment of looped circus music. This leads to one of the alternative American names, the galloper. Other popular names are jumper, horseabout, and flying horses.
A dollhouse or doll's house is a toy home made in miniature. For the last century dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children, but their collection and crafting is also a hobby for many adults. North-American English-speakers commonly use the term dollhouse. In the UK the term is doll's house.
Helen M. Schelle was co-founder of the toy manufacturing company Fisher-Price. Schelle was born in Piqua, Ohio and moved to New York as an adult, where by the middle of the 1920s, she had become owner and manager of the Penny Walker Toy Shop in Binghamton. This role saw Schelle established as a prominent and connected figure within the toy industry and in 1930, she was asked by financier Irving Price to join him as a partner in a new toy company he was starting. Alongside businessman Herman Fisher and Price's wife, Illustrator Margaret Evans Price, the Fisher-Price Company was formally established later that year in East Aurora, New York. Schelle undertook the role of secretary and treasurer. She resided in a cottage just outside the town, and also owned a farm.
Disney Princess, also called the Princess Line, is a media franchise and toy-line owned by The Walt Disney Company. Created by Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney, the franchise features a line-up of fictional female protagonists who have appeared in various Disney franchises.
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art, design, and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the museum grounds. It is located on 45 acres (18 ha) near Lake Champlain.
The Farmers' Museum is located in Cooperstown, New York, and is one of the best-known attractions in the town.
The New York State Museum is a research-backed institution in Albany, New York, United States. It is located on Madison Avenue, attached to the south side of the Empire State Plaza, facing onto the plaza and towards the New York State Capitol. The museum houses art, artifacts, and ecofacts that reflect New York’s cultural, natural, and geological development. Operated by the New York State Education Department's Office of Cultural Education, it is the nation's oldest and largest state museum. Formerly located in the State Education Building, the museum now occupies the first four floors of the Cultural Education Center, a ten-story, 1,500,000-square-foot (140,000 m2) building that also houses the New York State Archives and New York State Library.
Fisher-Price is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers, and children, headquartered in East Aurora, New York. Fisher-Price has been a subsidiary of Mattel since 1993.
Toy museums are museums for toys. They typically showcase toys from a particular culture or period. These are distinct from children's museums, which are museums for children, and are often interactive – toy museums may be aimed at children or adults, and may have interactive exhibits or be exclusively for display.
The Southtowns is a region of Western New York, United States, that lies within the snowbelt or ski country. It includes the southern suburbs of Buffalo, New York. This is the common name for the southern part of Erie County, New York.
A Star Wars Pez is a Pez candy dispenser themed after the Star Wars movies, and is one of the company's most prominent merchandising deals. Over fifty types have been released on the market from 1997 to 2019, among the many collectibles spawned by the franchise.
The Circus Building is an exhibit building at Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont. It houses a collection of circus posters, Gustav A. Dentzel Carousel animals, and elaborately carved miniature circuses, including those by Roy Arnold and Edgar Kirk.
Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum is a historic carousel factory building located at North Tonawanda in Niagara County, New York. The factory complex was constructed between about 1910 and 1915 and consists of six primary structures and five contributory additions. The primary structures are: the Mill Building, Carving and Pattern shop, Paint Shop and Storage Building, Roundhouse, Machine Shop (1915), and Assembly and Testing Building (1915). Also on the property is the Number One Special Three Abreast portable carousel, built in 1916.
Hove Museum and Art Gallery is a municipally-owned museum in the town of Hove, which is part of the larger city of Brighton and Hove in the South East of England. The museum is part of "Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton and Hove", and admission is free. Opened in 1927 by the Hove Corporation, the museum is located in a late 19th-century villa originally known as Brooker Hall.
Traditional Mexican handcrafted toys are those made by artisans rather than manufactured in factories. The history of Mexican toys extends as far back as the Mesoamerican era, but many of the toys date to the colonial period. Many of these were introduced as teaching tools by evangelists, and were associated with certain festivals and holidays. These toys vary widely, including cup and ball, lotería, dolls, miniature people, animals and objects, tops and more—made of many materials, including wood, metal, cloth, corn husks, ceramic, and glass. These toys remained popular throughout Mexico until the mid-20th century, when commercially made, mostly plastic toys became widely available. Because of the advertising commercial toys receive and because they are cheaper, most traditional toys that are sold as handcrafts, principally to tourists and collectors.
Wheaton Regional Park is a public park and county-designated protected area, located in Wheaton, Maryland. It is operated and managed by Montgomery County Parks, a division of a bi-county agency, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M–NCPPC), which serves both Montgomery and Prince George's counties in the Washington, D.C. suburbs of the state of Maryland. The park was established in 1960, incorporating several large parcels of land into one of the county's largest parks, at the size of 538.7 acres.
Lourinda Bray is an American restoration artist and historian with a specialty in carousel animals. She is also the owner of Running Horse Studios, a 7,000-square-foot carousel animal restoration warehouse. Her collection exceeds 400 and spans animals created throughout America, Mexico, and Europe from the mid-19th century to the present day. In addition to carousel figures, she has collected and restored other parts of carousels such as decorative mirrors, placards, base boards, and benches. Her collection also includes carousel-themed toys, postcards, and miniatures. The collection is sourced from numerous carousel carvers from the Golden Age of carousels such as Herschell-Spillman, Charles Carmel, Charles Looff, E. Joy Morris, M.C. Illions & Sons Carousell Works, Philadelphia Toboggan Company, Dentzel Carousel Company, C.W. Parker Amusement Company, W.P. Wilcox, Josef Hübner, D.C. Muller Brothers, J.R. Anderson, Stein & Goldstein, Charles W. Dare, Orton Sons & Spooner, Daniel C. Muller & Bro, Bayol Carousel Company, Limonaire Frères, Carl Müller, and Daniel Hegereda.
Coordinates: 42°46′21″N78°36′45″W / 42.772442°N 78.612519°W