Tokens From The Foundling Museum - Give Away Draw

It has been a while since we had a give away and the truth is I was waiting until I could offer you a copy of a new book from the Foundling Museum in London. So here we go.

The Introduction to the Tokens at the Foundling Museum is authored Janette Bright and Gillian Clark and is an excellent, revealing and touching guide to some of the tokens left with children at the Foundling Hospital two and a half centuries ago. I was taken by this fish as I have seen some very similar and I always took them to be thread winders, since they turn up more often than not in antique needlework baskets. But these fish were originally chips! Gaming chips.

You cannot get more basic than a simple hair pin for a token and this could only be paired with the child's record because of its distinctive impress over time in the record book. Humphrey Joyce is one of the happier stories, since he survived until adulthood and became apprentice to a needle maker.

The story of coral as a prophylactic against childhood ailments such as stomach aches, fevers and poxes was also new to me, which puts me in mind of those elaborate coral teethers children are often depicted holding in old portraits.

And these are just a few fascinating snippets from the book - there are many, many more, together with stories of the children and their parents. To enter the draw just click the flying angel below. The winner will be announced next week, 31 October. Good luck!