Nana's Toys

Nana's Toys

As a child, Joan Smart (née Oben) adored dolls. When she was 6 months old, her father, the keeper of the Shamrock Hotel in Molesworth St, Wellington, died during the great Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. Her mother, Johanna Oben, took over the lease of the hotel and worked hands-on running the business. Joan spent much of her time alone playing with dolls, and they became very important to her.

A very special doll

In 1921, when Joan was 3 years old, her mother bought the lease for the Martinborough Hotel. The hotel thrived with the patronage of many of the local flax workers, and Johanna was again very busy.

During this period, Joan experienced a defining moment in her love and lifelong passion for dolls. Her mother gave her a particularly beautiful French porcelain doll dressed in the latest French fashions. Joan adored this doll but sadly, one day, it was given to a child of a hotel guest and she never saw it again.

The toy room

The loss of this favourite doll had a lasting effect on Joan - when she became an adult, she kept everything.

One of the rooms in her house became a dedicated children’s toy room. She collected toys for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. One of Joan’s great-grandchildren fondly remembers the room as a place he would ‘happily get lost in for days’. Her great-granddaughter, on the other hand, would never enter the room because all the dolls’ eyes were looking at her from every angle and made her nervous.

This room - so full that the door couldn’t fully open - was also packed with doll’s clothes and furniture, toys, games, teddy bears, jigsaw puzzles, comic books, and books. Joan would always keep an eye out for something to add to her collection, and she often picked up a bargain at a local school gala. She sewed and knitted many of the dolls’ outfits herself.

Generations of toys

Joan’s collection is representative of the types of toys available in New Zealand between 1940 and 2000. Many are commonly seen in the toy boxes of New Zealand children today. Some toys are New Zealand-made, but most were made by large international toy manufacturers like Mattel. Some of the toys reflect the growing influence of film and television, and of mass production.Others demonstrate the continuing popularity of home-made crafts and toys.

The toys in this collection entertained three generations of Joan Smart’s family, but they were also a source of great joy for Joan.