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Rediscover your inner child

By Vico Lee
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, Dec 28, 2003, Page 17

Chiang Wen-ching, director of Taiwan Toy Museum, shows how to play chicken eating rice, a popular toy in 1950s. PHOTO: VICO LEE, TAIPEI TIMES

Standing at a primitive 1960s pinball machine, Chiang Wen-ching (江文敬) wears the proud expression of the king of the playground.

Though 50, Chiang is visibly most content when surrounded by the more than 1,000 kinds of toys that make up his vast collection assembled over 30 years and which he now displays at his own Taiwan Toy Museum (台灣玩具博物館).

On a recent visit, when a group of visitors is stumped on how to use a stringless top, he eagerly intervenes with a thorough explanation in a tone of affection not unlike a father introducing his child to his friends.

Nearly every visitor to this apartment-sized museum is subjected to Chiang's enthusiastic and detailed guided tour through the history of toys in Taiwan. And despite having opened only recently, and its out-of-the-way location on the edge of Taipei, a non-stop flow mainly of students comes here to test themselves on the traditional interlocked rings and marvel at other old Taiwanese toys most have never heard of.

Old toys are cultural icons of their times. PHOTO: VICE LEE, TAIPEI TIMES

Toys from antiquity

The displays are arranged in chronological order, starting with a reproduction of the prehistoric Yellow Emperor's soccer ball, made of his enemy's skull wrapped in straw, and tou-hu, a prototype dart-throwing game that dates to the Spring and Autumn Period about 2,500 years ago.

Another of the oldest toys on exhibit is a can car dating from the late Qing dynasty. It's simply a tin can attached to a bamboo stick, but has proven to be a hit with visitors of all ages.

Little girls in Taiwan used to play with these delicate dolls before Barbie came along. PHOTO: VICO LEE, TAIPEI TIMES

"Toys from before the 1930s were mostly wooden gadgets or simple structures. At that time, whatever moved, had bright colors and made sound was a toy," Chiang said.

Some of the items are of particular historical interest. Chinese chess pieces dating from World War II, for example, were named after the military titles of that time, while pictures on a roulette table from the 1950s say: "Recover the mainland and eliminate communists."

There's a large number of German iron toy cars from the 1970s and a full set of English matchbox cars, which are now worth thousands of NT dollars each.

An electronic Halloween toy and Russian nesting dolls makes a contrast of what children play then and now. PHOTO: VICE LEE, TAIPEI TIMES

Raised in rural southern Taiwan, Chiang started collecting toys in middle school, just when his friends were beginning to abandon theirs. "The economy was bad, so throwing away toys was wasteful. But maybe I just couldn't part with them because they're so much fun," Chiang said between tours for elementary school children.

Chiang has always surrounded himself with toys, taking his first job as a salesperson at a Matchbox car manufacturer's Taiwan branch and later working for a Japanese toy-model company. He later opened a convenience store, which, he said, sold more toys than food.

German iron toy cars were fashinable in the 1960s. PHOTO: VICE LEE, TAIPEI TIMES

Lost for good

Old toys are disappearing fast, even at the flea market under Taipei County's Chung-xin Bridge, where Chiang acquired the bulk of his collection. Recently, he's turned to China as his new toy-hunting ground.

"It's hard to estimate how many kinds of toys Taiwan has had over the years, because people used to make their own toys. Maybe some inventions we'll never find again," Chiang said.

College students having fun with old toys at the Taiwan Toy Museum. PHOTO: VICO LEE, TAIPEI TIMES

"There have been several elderly visitors who described to us the toys they used to play, but we have no idea what they are," said Chiang's wife, while busy assembling "cherries," a toy composed of two cherry-colored wooden balls connected by a string, which Chiang built from memory. By holding the middle of the string and pulling it in the right way, the two balls collide repeatedly, making a pleasant rhythmic sound.

This 1960s manga poster is a rare collectible. PHOTO: VICO LEE, TAIPEI TIMES N

"In the past, anyone could make toys with found objects, and they never tired of playing with them," Chiang said.

New-fangled toys ruin the fun

A revolution in the history of toys came in 1969, Chiang said, with the advent of the three wireless TV channels. Imported cartoons and foreign toy commercials changed people's tastes and before long Barbie and Mickey Mouse had replaced homelier straw human figures and plastic flying discs.

The wife of Chiang Wen-ching, director of the Taiwan Toy Museum, plays a toy accordion from the 1950s. PHOTO: VICO LEE, TAIPEI TIMES

"Since then toys have become merchandise. You don't make your own toys. You pick a Snoopy or a Winnie the Pooh from store shelves. I used to take apart my toys to figure out how they work, but with Mickey Mouse, the educational function of toys was lost," Chiang said.

To revive interst in old toys, Chiang is looking for video game designers to work on on-line games based on old toys. Old toys as they are, Chiang admits, are no longer appealing to children. "Since every kid plays on-line games these days, maybe an old toy can be reborn in this new form."

Traditional Chinese folklore characters were commonly seen on old toys. PHOTO: VICO LEE, TAIPEI TIMES

Believing in a connection between violent games and violent behavior, Chiang purposely left out the fashionable, bloody clawed Kumakikai and horror versions of Be@rbrick from the museum's displays, as well as realistic guns.

Of all his toys, Chiang says one particular toy gave him his best memories -- an 8cm water pistol. With this rubber pouch on a tube, a 10-year-old Chiang won many battles with his friends back in the day.

"I believe lovers of old toys are nurturing their inner child well, because these simple gadgets appeal to something universal. Here, even young visitors who have never heard of these toys have a good time with them. They touch the humanity in us all," he said.

For your information :

Taiwan Toy Museum is located at 159, Jingye Rd,Taipei. (台北市敬業三路一五九號)
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