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Toytown Building

1920-1930 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

A model police station building of two storeys made primarily of card. The base is made of thick card and the building stands flush with two of the base edges, but inset. The remaining perimeter consists of wooden fencing painted white which has one gateway. The outside base area is covered with green felt upon which sawdust has been sprinkled. Between the gateway and the door is a rectangular paved path made by sticking irregular shapes of paper onto the card base. Within the fencing stands a notice board of wood, card and paper.
The inside of the building is hollow with a floor of plywood. The outside is painted cream with brown edging pieces. The door and window frames and sills are all painted white. There is a doorstep, a lantern with blue cellophane and a large sign saying Police with an illustration of handcuffs, all at the front of the building. There are five windows, three are latticed, two on the ground floor, one on the first. The other two are multi-paned, the ground floor one has shutters and the first floor is a gabled window. The roof is sharply pitched and has a red tile effect made by a regular pattern of small rectangles of paper. There is a chimney made of card painted cream with extra rectangles of card stuck on to give a brick effect.


Object details

Object type
Materials and techniques
Painted and glued plywood and card
Brief description
Painted wood and card building, Toytown Police Station, made by S G Hulme Beaman in the 1920s
Physical description
A model police station building of two storeys made primarily of card. The base is made of thick card and the building stands flush with two of the base edges, but inset. The remaining perimeter consists of wooden fencing painted white which has one gateway. The outside base area is covered with green felt upon which sawdust has been sprinkled. Between the gateway and the door is a rectangular paved path made by sticking irregular shapes of paper onto the card base. Within the fencing stands a notice board of wood, card and paper.
The inside of the building is hollow with a floor of plywood. The outside is painted cream with brown edging pieces. The door and window frames and sills are all painted white. There is a doorstep, a lantern with blue cellophane and a large sign saying Police with an illustration of handcuffs, all at the front of the building. There are five windows, three are latticed, two on the ground floor, one on the first. The other two are multi-paned, the ground floor one has shutters and the first floor is a gabled window. The roof is sharply pitched and has a red tile effect made by a regular pattern of small rectangles of paper. There is a chimney made of card painted cream with extra rectangles of card stuck on to give a brick effect.
Dimensions
  • Base measurement length: 30.5cm
  • Including chimney height: 32.5cm
  • Base measurement width: 25.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
POLICE (On the front of the building; painting; paint)
Credit line
Given by Betty Billett
Object history
One of Hulme Beaman's own original Toytown buildings that he used for scene-setting prior to writing and illustrating his stories and plays
Bibliographic reference
Hulme Beaman, S.G. The Book of Toytown and Larry the Lamb, London: Harrap, 1979
Collection
Accession number
B.33-2000

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Record createdNovember 16, 2000
Record URL
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