Bateaux Jouets – 

toy boats from Paris 1850-1950 

  A remarkable exhibition currently at the National Maritime Museum presents 100 years of beautifully-made toy boats … a century of childhood for everyone to enjoy. 
  Bateaux Jouets – toy boats from Paris 1850-1950, from France’s Musée national de la Marine, comprises some 200 colourful and imaginative craft. 
  They range in style from simple paper boats to stunning mechanical marvels with the ability to propel themselves across a carpet, a pond or even an open bay. 
  And they are the products of their time, reflecting western Europe’s rapid industrialisation over the century 1850-1950 and the evolution of pleasure boats, passenger liners and fighting ships in that period. 
  “Bateaux Jouets is an exhibition of extraordinary quality,” ANMM Director Mary-Louise Williams said. “It’s all about toys … but it’s also all about their industrial context in the 19th century. And they are charming!” 
  Bateaux Jouets demonstrates that toy boats were among the most popular playthings in the hundred years from the mid-18th century. Interest grew as city development brought new urban parks with ponds suitable for toy boating and families increasingly took to the seaside for holidays. 
  The exhibition looks at toy boats as playthings at home … lead flotillas, figurines, boats to build, boats to play with on the floor, board games, historical dioramas and lots more. 
  It traces the evolution of factory-made toy boats from those made of tinplate by small-time craftsmen in the mid- 19th century through the far more sophisticated metal vessels produced in well-known factories in France and Germany. 
  And it considers the various means of propulsion – from the simple twisted rubber band to clockwork springs, fired-up burners producing steam and battery-stored electricity. 
  But most of all, Bateaux Jouets provides the evidence that toy boats were, and still are dream objects for adventure on the high seas. 
  Bateaux Jouets – toy boats from Paris 1850-1950 will remain at the National Maritime Museum until 17 August. The museum is open daily, 9.30am to 5pm. Information, (02) 9298 3777 or www.anmm.gov.au.