img. Loading box wagon with livestock container. CC-BY CODA Museum, via Europeana.

From the curatorial effort of the EU project 1950s in Europe Kaleidoscope, every week on Friday there’s a new set of carefully selected photographs to be explored on the project’s website.

Today we present “Land of imagination, toys from the baby-boom era”.

As World War II temporarily obscured any prospects a young couple might have had, many postponed their plans to get married and start a family until the 1950s. When peace also brought prosperity, a substantial surge in population ensued. The baby-boom generation would come to count tens of millions of people, who throughout subsequent decades would highly impact cultural and societal phenomena – such as fashion, political activism and urban development. The colorful and often wonderfully simple toys gathered in this collection point back to this momentum in social history, when Dinky Toys, wooden trains and curly teddy bears sufficed to keep little hands busy.

Visit! http://fifties.withculture.eu/home/collection/5df10a354c74791c94096ab7