Toy rifle, 'space'-style, 'Commando', Mettoy, Great Britain, 1950

Toy machine gun with forward grip and stock, lithographed tinplate, predominantly blue in colour, with red, white and yellow details. The toy is 'space age' in style, with a flaring muzzle and 'ribbed' barrel. There is no pistol grip or trigger, but on the proper right side is a metal handle with a red painted wood knob which, when turned, causes the toy to emit a rapid-fire sound. Just in front of this handle, on both sides of the toy, is a representation of a belt with bullets.

Given by Cheryl St Clair with thanks to her father

Cheryl St Clair (b. 1945) was given this toy in about 1950, it became her favourite childhood possession. She later recalled: 'Did a machine gun influence my later life I wonder! The fact is that I was a complete tomboy from the word go (George in Famous Five an early hero(ine)). I had guns, a bow and arrow, a box of tools, cowboy and indian outfits and more, only ever soft toys as I hated dolls. I liked to play cricket and climb trees, and was often in trouble for fighting with boys (or my sister). My mother did everything she could to dress me in pink and hair ribbons, and generally tame me! Fortunately my father was much more tolerant, and he and his brothers with mainly daughters, happily provided me with the toys I wanted. The machine gun was a real treasure because of the noise it made when I killed people... I'm popular with children at funfairs, because I'm still a pretty good shot!

At 18 my mother saw me as taking a good secretarial job and marrying the junior partner. In despair I applied to university and got in. For once my father stood his ground against my mother and said I should be able to go (boys in our family went into professions, girls got married). Three years at uni and I never looked back. My mother considered it ruined me, but I became closer to my father as time went by, and receiving an MBE was part my thanks to him (needless to say I was tempted to turn it down on principle).

I don't think it was the gun as such, more that I saw from an early age that boys had it better than girls, and anyway my brain was more interested in logic than cooking. Had someone at that age offered me gender reassignment I might well have taken it - but I'm glad it never came up. I had a chaotic period in my 20's, married, divorced, met feminism and had a very rewarding career, ending up as Director of an East End charity working with street homeless and others. I think that part of me understood that many people who are "misfits" have more obstacles to overcome than those who fit in and are happy with their lot as it were.'

It was donated to to the Museum in 2016.

The making of toy firearms for children has a long history, the first miniature muskets appeared in the 16th century. Although many resemble or are based on real guns, a great many ‘space age’ toy weapons were made during the twentieth century.

There was a renewed interest in science fiction after the Second World War, as wartime military technologies, such as innovative new plastics, found civilian applications, sweeping away many traditional, limited resources and making products more affordable. In the UK, social housing projects were conducted on an enormous scale as the country rebuilt its ruined city centres, changing the urban landscape and literally building a new world. However, the euphoria of technological possibility and attempts to forge new social mobility sat alongside atomic sabre-rattling between the east and the west, as the Cold War, at times, heated up. Therefore, the new interest in science fiction was not wholly to do with technology, as wartime developments brought not just wipe-clean surfaces and jet propulsion, but also the spectre of nuclear apocalypse.

Mettoy was founded in 1933 in Northampton by German-Jewish émigré Philip Ullmann. The firm specialised in metal toys, and is probably most famous for their Corgi die-cast toy vehicles, which they manufactured from 1956. The company was dissolved in 1984.

A recoloured version of the Commando was the basis of the first Dan Dare toy gun produced: the Dan Dare Ray Gun, sold by Mettoy from 1953.

This toy machine gun is a good example of a 'boys toy' which was owned and loved by a small girl at a time when such things were far from the norm in post-war Britain. It is a 'Commando' machine gun, made in 1950 by Mettoy Ltd. The toy emits a loud rapid-fire sound when its handle is turned, which the donor recalled she found a particularly pleasing aspect of its design when she was a child.

B.609-2016