Toyshops, Shelves & Shopelves

You could buy Sasha Dolls at Tridias in South Kensington, which was a great toyshop of the 1960s/70s. I believe the last reincarnation of the business has recently been taken over/closed down. When we were researching for the Mini Me exhibition I became interested in Paul & Marjorie Abbatt's Toyshop, designed by Erno Goldfinger in 1936, situated in Wimpole Street, W1.

They made educational toys and the shop looks like a modernists dream. Goldfinger's house in Hampstead, 2 Willow Road is open to the public and is currently showing an exhibition of his toys that he made for his children and the Abbatts. I found out about the show from shelf appeal, "a blog about things, anything you can put on a shelf" which appeals to the shopkeeper in me.....and the Shopelves.

Ossie Clark & Sasha Dolls

Celia Birtwell kindly lent us her sons gold biker jacket actually made for him by his father Ossie Clark. We also exhibited original Biba kids' clothes and another 60s/70s toy icon - the Sasha Doll. Designed by Swiss artist Sasha Morgenthaler, they were first produced in the 1960s. These ones exhibited were lent to us by manager Simon. He also put on a small exhibition of them with Emily Dyson at her Notting Hill Shop, Couverture. He is currently on a beginners computer course so that eventually he can bring you his own doll blog because we've got other things to talk about here, but for any doll lovers it will be worth seeing (when it happens!)