Children’s Toys at the Bailey Lake Duck Club
A surprising number of items associated with children were found during excavations at the Cohn’s Slough farmstead and Bailey Lake Duck Club. Dolls, marbles, miniature tea sets, children’s dishes, baby carriage wheels, and medicine bottles all attest to the presence of children. Many of the children’s items came from one small trash area.
Dolls
Fragments from 38 ceramic dolls were uncovered across the site. Two porcelain dolls were stamped “Germany.” Several ceramic doll feet were found that featured high-heeled shoes which date them to after 1860. Before that year doll feet wore flat-sole shoes. Other doll fragments appear to be from cloth-body dolls.
Marbles
Twenty marbles were found; two were made of glass and the other eighteen were ceramic. Ceramic marbles were most popular between the late 1800s and the early 1900s.
Children’s Mugs
Two children’s mugs were among the most interesting artifacts recovered from an excavated trash area. Both mugs had brown transfer prints of the alphabet on one exterior side, with plants and animals on the other. Mugs like these were produced by various potteries in Staffordshire, England, and were popular in the late 1800s. One of the mugs shows a mother owl with three owlets perched on a branch. The other mug depicts a scene from the nursery rhyme “Who Killed Cock Robin?”
Teething Medicine Bottles
As many as thirteen bottles of Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup were found at the site. Marketed to ease the pain and fussiness of teething infants, Mrs. Winslow’s concoction contained alcohol and morphine.
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