Time travel through the history of toys. The Museum of Childhood's collection spans the ages, from ancient Egyptian times to the 21st century.

Whet your appetite with these five stars of the show:

Pack up your trunk

© National Trust

This miniature Saratoga Trunk contains all the travel essentials that every well-dressed doll desires. Clothes, underwear, shoes, boots, hair care equipment and a toothbrush are all neatly packed inside.

It was bought by Mr Hurst for his daughter Mary Ann on her eighth birthday. The full-sized version became popular in the mid- and late-19th century when it was used by the rich visiting the spas and racetrack at Saratoga Springs, New York.

Home from home

© National Trust

This fully furnished three-storey dolls' house is part of the Betty Cadbury Collection of Playthings Past. It was made around the 1890s.

You can take a close look at this dolls' house and others in the Museum's Home and Toys Galleries.

back to top

The smoking Chinaman

© National Trust	By ingenious means, this dapper oriental gentleman comes to life when a lighted cigarette is placed in the bowl of his pipe. The smoke escapes through his nostrils by a device of tubes and pumping bellows. The smoking Chinaman was made in France in the late 19th century by the automaton maker Gustave Vichy.

On your bike

© National Trust

This clockwork toy is a Trick Cyclist, produced around 1880 in France. The clockwork mechanism drives the bicycle's rear axle, moving the articulated middle section which makes the front wheel turn. When wound up, the cyclist travels admirably fast, all be it in a rather eccentric fashion.

back to top

Star of the screen

© National Trust	This doll is modelled on the beautiful Bollywood star, Priyanka Chopra, who became an actress after winning Miss World in 2000. It was distributed by Spin Master Toys UK Ltd in 2006 and demonstrates how toys increasingly reflect the multicultural nature of 21st-century Britain.