Things were different in my day. How often did you hear that phrase growing up?
I’ve lost count of the number of instances I’ve taken for granted those very words uttered by my elders.
To really appreciate how times have changed, the V&A’s Museum of Childhood is exploring how childhood has transformed in Britain during the period between the London Olympic Games of 1948 and 2012.
Charting 64 tumultuous years in history, Modern British Childhood explores issues surrounding education, health, family, entertainment, fashion and play.
From a pair of 1950s children’s NHS prescription glasses to the 2005 Teddyfone (designed for under fives) the exhibition gathers together objects – exceptional or everyday, public or private – that dramatise the huge changes that have occurred in children’s lives.
Clothing, toys, books and childcare items will be shown alongside television and film footage and photography.
As part of the exhibition, poetry and prose by writers’ group 26 and by local children from Rushmore Primary School (working with Hoxton-based Ministry of Stories) will also be on display, inspired by some of the objects on show.
Modern British Childhood will be on display at the V&A Museum of Childhood, Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, until April 14.
Details: 020 8983 5200, www.museumofchildhood.org.uk
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