Teddy Bear Tea Party
The teddy bear gained its name due to an story about the U.S President Theodore Roosevelt.
Mr Roosevelt was invited on a bear hunt by Governor Andrew H. Longino in 1902. After he was unable to kill ...
Carved Shops, of Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre, 1940-1950s
Doctor Chris Giles, (who lived locally), handmade these wooden shops for his children while he was recuperating from a lengthy illness. They were modelled on local buildings in the town centre during ...
Epigrams Upon The Paintings of the Most Eminent Masters, Ancient and Modern. With Reflections upon the several Schools of Painting by John Elsum Esq.
John Elsum wrote his book to detail paintings so that people could ‘see’ or imagine how the painting would look in real life. His book was published in 1700-1705; unfortunately his work is often wrongly ...
World War 1 'Vases'
These brass vases are in fact made of used shell cases.
Spent shell cases were often bought back as souvenirs by soldiers and made into useful items such as vases or ashtrays.
Little Red Riding Hood Doll, 1953
This doll is made using a 'composite' material.
Composite dolls became more popular during the later half of the nineteenth century, as German doll makers in Sonneberg made a cheap material out of glue ...
World War II Evacuee's doll
Baby ‘John’ was an evacuee’s doll belonging to a little girl named Sheila.
She was evacuated to the area to escape the bombs at Tilbury Docks. She lived with a family in Blythe Bridge and went to a ...
Magneto Electric Machine
The Magneto Electric Machine was an early electro-therapeutic device. It was to used to treat 'nervous disorders'. A patient would place their fingers in the metal tubes and an electric current was generated ...
Veedee Massager
Vibration and or massage were thought to have curative effects and to cure anything from headaches to 'female hysteria'. The name Veedee is thought to be a pun of the Latin phrase ‘Veni Vidi Vice’ meaning ...
Laudanum and Neuralgia
During the Victorian period cures for diseases were often more dangerous than the illness itself.
Laudanum is a notable example of the Victorian cure. Pharmacies could prescribe the dangerous drug ...
Peruvian Pot 800 BC - 1200 AD
Peruvian art has its origin in the Andean civilisation, which was based in modern Peru.
Pre-Columbian art thrived between the ninth century BC to the thirteen century AD. Peru had a wide range of cultures ...
Samian Bowl found at Chesterton, 100-400 AD
Samian pottery is the most recognisable and common Roman pottery in Britain. The Romans used this type of pottery for displaying and serving food.
By using a mould they were able to produce floral or ...
Eighteenth Century Slippers
During the 1700s womens fashion went by a simple idea of big and tall, to the extent that arms on chairs had to be taken off to accommodate for the width of womens dresses and some women had such vastly ...
Pocket watch by Cartwright, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Clock-making in the midlands has a long and diverse history, with the earliest known clock to date from 1473.
The area has since been producing various types until the mid nineteenth century. Numbers ...
The Natural History of Staffordshire by Robert Plot
Robert Plot was extremely interested in natural history and consequently became the first Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum and Professor of Chemistry in 1683, after Elias Ashmole persuaded Oxford University ...
D-Day Landing Flag
This flag is from one of the landing crafts used in the D-Day Landings on Tuesday 6th June 1944.
It was given to the youngest member of the crew Eric Heath from Sandyford.
The flag was blackened ...
Part of an Egyptian Wand, c.1850-1650BC
The wand has been been carved with images of a tortoise, a frog, and a sa-amulet (a protective symbol).
The wand was a symbol of office and symbolised the magician’s authority over the animals on the ...
Shabti Egyptian Figures, c.2000-330 BC
A Shabti is a small figurine, usually in the shape of a mummified person that would have been placed in tombs for the dead to re-activate them for servants.
Shabti have evolved throughout Ancient ...
Steele's Shop, Church Street, Audley
Florist's and Seedsman shop with the owner of the shop Mr Steele.