Welcome to the Victorian Underground Project

Mr Baker wasn’t blind but he was a toymaker technically speaking. He got the name because of his unique approach to designing and making toys. They were intended for children, but research suggests that no child ever played with them. Instead wealthier Victorians purchased them as ornaments which only came out on Halloween.

Mr Baker was very wealthy as a result of this, but right until his death, he was oblivious to the fact that no child ever saw or played with his toys unless their parents wanted to give them a fright.

The toys in this collection are owned by a private collector who allowed us to see them and capture some photographs. They were a sight to behold. The combat wounded veteran in a wheelchair (photograph #3) is a personal favourite. If you remove the soldier’s trousers, you can see his knees are smashed in.

You might recognise a possible theme emerging if you look at photograph #2, photograph #6 and photograph #8. These are all knitted toys based on The Gentlemen’s Moth Appreciation Society of England. Mr Baker’s intention was that members of the society could purchase them for their children and try to instill a love of moths. This is why we love the Victorian era.

But perhaps the creepiest of all is photograph #9. We have many images of Mr Baker’s dolls which we will be uploading in due course. It appears that Mr Baker had somehow managed to invent a way of allowing his dolls to decompose over time, eventually becoming a porcelain skeleton. We have no idea how he did it.

Have a splendid week everyone and we will be back soon.

TVUP