'Africa', monkey toy wearing red and blue outfit, handmade, owned by Richard and Michael Jay Reddaway, British, 1960s

The monkey toy has four long limb and a long tail made from brown nylon. He has two ears on the side of his head, two blue buttons for eyes, and pink stitching to resemble a mouth.

The monkey is wearing a red knitted jumper and blue knitted trousers, held up by a belt made from elastic. He is also wearing a red and navy knitted cardigan.

Given by Richard Reddaway and Clare Reddaway, in memory of Michael Jay Reddaway

The monkeys were homemade by Andolie Luck, a live-in teacher who resided with the Reddaway family in the 1960s. They are dressed in a variety of outfits made from different fabrics, some of which are African textiles. Andolie was born in Kenya in 1920 and had family living there at this time, and it is possible the fabric was sent by her relatives.

These toy monkeys belonged to two brothers, Richard (b.1952) and Michael Jay (b.1956) Reddaway, who played with them throughout the 1960s. The Reddaway brothers had a collection of twelve monkeys; seven were donated to the Museum in 2013 and five more were later given in 2017. The monkeys comprise a king, 'Ando', queen 'Apex' and various extended family members, who ruled an imaginary society. The other members of this society were made up from the boys’ other toys.

Accompanying the monkeys are three exercise books that contain information about the lives of the monkeys. The books, written entirely by Richard and Michael Jay, record the identity and activities of their toys and the workings of the monkey society that they created. Entries are recorded in census-like listings, longer pieces of prose and in photographs. Monkey life involved things like political struggles, religion, school, tests and honours, entertainment and cultural events, and a justice system with fines and punishments.

These toys and books reveal the role of imaginary play in the lives of younger teenagers and boys. Parallels could be made with role-playing games such as 'World of Warcraft' for the levels of complexity and strategy involved in the monkey society. There is also evidence of wider cultural influences on the boys' play, especially in the plays performed by the monkeys and in the political propaganda produced during the monkeys' election campaigns which involved Liberal, Tory and Communist candidates.

The two brothers both attended boarding school first in Cambridge, then in Northamptonshire, the monkeys and the books took up most of their time when at their Totteridge home in the holidays. The family also had a holiday home in Brancaster, Norfolk, where their toys sometimes accompanied them. Richard Reddaway recalled that most of the family's toys were homemade; they also played with sawn pieces of wood as building bricks, and the garden and grounds of their house were the site of dens and outdoor play.

These toys were homemade.

This soft monkey toy is called 'Africa' and he was made in England in the 1960s out of a pair of stockings. He is wearing a red knitted jumper, blue knitted trousers held up by an elastic belt, and a red and navy knitted cardigan.

Africa is part of a set of toy monkeys owned by two brothers in the 1960s. The toys were homemade by a live-in teacher who resided with the family while the boys were growing up. Accompanying the monkeys are three exercise books, written by the brothers, which contain information about an extensive imaginary monkey world that they created during their school holidays. The books have details about day to day life in monkey society, including political struggles, religious views, schooling and tests, cultural events, and the monkey justice system which featured fines and punishments for bad behaviour.

The books and the monkeys give a very unusual insight into the thoughts and concerns of teenage boys in the 1960s. The world they have created is complex in its political and moral structures, showing evidence of wider cultural influences. The books have captured the inner workings of imaginative play, something that is usually intangible and difficult to record, making the objects exciting and important records of modern childhood.

B.173:1 to 5-2013