I spent the majority of yesterday at a fantastic conference – The Story 2014.

The Story is organised by Matt Locke. The line up this year was just incredible – I’m amazed he managed to pull that many big names together in one room.
Tech proved a bit of an issue throughout the day but it didn’t ruin the content – it just slowed it down a little bit. My phone also played up during the day, so I don’t have a photo of every speaker – which is a shame.

First up was Ben Payne from Ministry of Stories.
Ministry of Stories is a fantastic charity, helping improve literacy in the east end of London.
I’ve actually already been along to the Monster Supplies store – it’s well worth popping along to pick up some canned ‘escalating panic’ or impacted earwax.

Next up was the performance artist Bryony Kimmings.
I’d never heard of Bryony before, but she was one of my favourite speakers on the day.
Her latest piece was inspired by an annual Stamford Uni survey, that asks young children what personality traits they would like to have when they grow up. For decades, the top personality trait has been ‘kind’. But it was recently pushed from the top spot when the children decided they’d rather be famous.
The project, called ‘Credible Likeable Superstar Rolemodel’, is a claw swipe at the manufactured pop industry. Under the watchful eye of her niece she’s created a new popstar called Catherine Bennett, an intelligent feminist with mockney pipes – the idea being that if it’s popstars that children look up to, we need to make sure our popstars are suitable rolemodels. No, Miley Cyrus doesn’t count.

Physical objects fully supplanted by iPhone 4S with retina display:

1) 50 pounds of books (via Kindle, iBooks)

2) Kindle e-reader

3) daily newspaper

4) pocket digital camera (via built-in camera)

5) holga film camera (via Instagram, ToyCamera app)

6) pocket foreign language dictionaries

7) scanner (via Genius Scan)

8) bank ATMs (via USAA’s app, which allows deposits via snapshot)

9) GPS device

10) road maps / printouts from Mapquest and Google Maps

11) reporter’s notebook (I find tapping out notes isn’t any slower than writing them)

12) voice recorder

13) handwritten grocery lists (via DropBox-syncing Plaintext)

14) Nintendo DS

15) iPod

16) radio (via NPR app / Hype Machine / iTunes / Spotify / Pandora)

17) paper comics (via Comixology)

18) set-top box remote (via the Roku app)

19) paper receipt file (via EZ receipts)

Partially supplanted:
20) television

21) business cards (via CardCloud)

Will be supplanted:
22) Credit and debit cards (via app, NFC or QR codes)

23) loyalty cards

Could be supplanted:
24) set-top boxes

25) driver’s license or other forms of ID

26) laptop (via a docking solution)

Compared with the Sherlock Holmes museum, this offered up the fact-finding goods.

It’s a beautiful looking space.

The Order can trace its history back to Jerusalem.
A hospital was founded there in 1080, to care for pilgrims travelling to the holy land.
Known as the Hospitallers, they cared for anyone, without distinction of faith or race.
The Hospital itself was named after St John the baptist.

In 1095, Pope Urban II declared a crusade to reclaim Jerusalem for Christianity.
These crusaders captured Jerusalem, and set up city states within it. Trading routes across the middle East and Europe brought new goods and ideas to the West.
After this first Crusade, the Hospitallers became a religious and military order under its own charter.
They became known as the Knights of the Order of St John.

The Knights lost the Holy land in 1291, and retreated to their lands in Cyprus.
There they owned rich estates, and funded their hospital work with the profit of mass sugar production.
In 1522, 400 ships (under the command of Suleiman the Magnificent, sultan of the Ottoman Empire) forced them to leave and they created a new headquarters in Malta.

As the Order grew, the Knights of the Order were given land across England and Europe.
This land was controlled by Priories in each country – and the Priory of St John in Clerkenwell (where the museum now sits) was the Order’s headquarters in England.

When King Henry VIII became head of the church in 1534, he began to close down religious houses. All of the buildings, land and wealth of these religious communities, like the Order of St John, was transferred to the crown.

Although the Knights no longer had a home here in the UK, the order continued (largely unaffected) in the Mediterranean, until Napoleon invaded their base in Malta and they lost their stronghold in the Mediterranean.

In 1888, a new British St John organisation was set up, aiming to help those in sickness, distress, suffering or danger.

Innovative thinkers, such as Peter Shepherd, helped with the set up of the organisation, who was among the first to give medical knowledge to the public though first aid.

Ordinary people formed a trained network, the St John’s Ambulance Brigade, that were willing and prepared to help the cause.

Various membership grades are offered, and support is rewarded with medals like the ones below.

 

In the late 19th century, they used a litter – a primitive wheeled stretcher – to help their patients.

Now of course, you’re more likely to see them on one of these.

Today there are approximately 30,000 members worldwide.

#1. After the UK Knights dissolution, the priory buildings housed the Office of the Master of Revels (royal festivities.) Thirty of Shakespeare’s plays were licensed on the site.

#2. Christ is believed to be buried in The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, next door to the St John Knights Hospital in Jerusalem.

#3. Charles V offered the Knights the island of Malta as a new headquarters, in exchange for token rent of one falcon a year.

#4. In the 18th century, ‘The Gentlemen’s Magazine’ was published from St Johns Gate. This was the first periodical to use the term ‘magazine’.

35. The youth section of the St Johns Brigade is called the St John Badgers.

Housed in a beautiful old building that borrowed materials from ‘Albertopolis’ is the V&A Museum of Childhood.

Outside it looks quite normal.

Inside, it looks magnificent.

The first thing we did was look through the moving toy section.

First stop – the automatons. Self operating, mechanical toys with the ability to perform complex movements.
Some of these expensive automata were actually build for wealthy adults to impress and entertain their friends.

We saw some fantastic toy cars too.

I love the styling on this one. Like an old Roller or Morgan.

And I love the sheer size of this one – that’s one spoilt child!

The walls and curtains at the museum were covered with quotes about play.
Sigmund Freud’s words stuck out to me: “There is little that gives children greater pleasure than when a grown up lets himself down to their level… and plays with them as an equal.”

I was amazed to read that children in the late 1880s were allowed to play with real steam engines, made of brass. The escaping steam would have even made the classic ‘choo choo’ sound.

But real steam engines are positively safe, when compared to spirit burning boats (or putt putt boats.)

I’d stopped to have a look at the model railway for quite a while, along with a number of other people, when Wist popped over. I wasn’t sure whether to be insulted when she told me that she could see me getting into making that kind of thing.
The most worrying thing is that I’d been thinking the same thing before she came over. Uh oh.
In the model maker’s defence – it’s stunningly detailed.

Next up were optical toys.

I loved this telescopic view of the Crystal palace at the 1851 Great Exhibition.

I also thought these toy panoramas were interesting.

An extended version of that was the Juvenile Myriorama (or Panaramacopia) from 1820-30.
These are a set of cards, printed in the UK, showing isolated elements of scenery. You can place different cards next to each other and create new landscapes, as each card fits anywhere in the sequence.

Nice to see young professionals starting so early.

Holly Hobbie – great name, awful gender reinforcement…

If ever you need a strawman argument, just annoy this guy…

Interestingly, he was also known as shock-headed Peter.

In 1952, Mr Potato Head launched. Somewhat correctly, the toy box only contained the parts and parents had to provide the potato. Eight years later, a hard plastic potato body was introduced, replacing the need for a real potato. Nothing quite beats an actual potato though.

In 1975, someone somewhere decided that kids needed a more versatile face to play with.
Perhaps Potato head just couldn’t show the breadth of emotion with all of his accessories.
Introducing… Hugo, Man of a Thousand faces.

Action man (launched in 1966 as a British version of GI Joe) has seen a number of jobs, due to public attitudes to war – including space ranger and ‘peaceful adventurer’.

This ‘puzzle cabinet’ from the 1760s used to belong to Royal Governess Charlotte Finch. The puzzles housed in its drawers were used to teach geography to princes and princesses. The maps in the cabinet chart the entire globe. The Royal children would rule a country with an international empire and learn about trade flowing around the globe.

From one cabinet to another. This time, Hamley’s Cabinet of Magic!

These holiday postcards from Gt Yarmouth and Whitstable were pretty kitsch.

Perhaps my favourite two exhibits were nearest the exit – the confiscation cabinets, and ‘Are you sitting comfortably?’

The confiscation cabinets is a fantastic project by teacher Guy Tarrant. He collected all of the items confiscated from children at schools over three decades. In his words, it evidences the everyday actions of school students. The objects in the cabinets highlight mischevious and distracted behaviour played out in the controlled school setting where children spend the majority of their young lives.

They’re hugely interesting – ranging from the depressing to the distressing.

The second exhibition near the exit was called ‘Are you sitting comfortably?’ – an exploration of ‘design at the chalkface.’

It’s been commissioned in response to what the current government sees as a ‘decade of wasteful extravagance in educational architecture.’ The exhibit draws heavily upon a new study by Salford University that states ‘well designed classrooms can improve the academic performance of primary school children by up to 25%.’

The study hypothesises that there are three principles that would most affect a pupil’s brain function.
These were:
1) How natural it felt to be in the room
2) The extent to which the room felt individual to its occupants
3) Whether it stimulated them

The most significant factors for school design are therefore: circulation through the school, colour, simplicity of design, good light levels, natural light, flexibility, ownership, familiarity of classroom and good ventilation.

This isn’t a new argument.

In the first half of the 20th century, many European inventors were tasked with developing a new school desk. Jacob Happel even wrote of ‘the pernicious consequences of unadapted school desks on the physical, mental and spiritual development of a child.’
However, all of these early models with adjustable seats, worktop heights, flexible backs, footrests and arms were rejected as too complex, expensive and inconvenient and soon gave way to the mass production of more basic models.

The exhibit also displayed new layouts from children at Gayhurst Primary school – who had been briefed to design their ideal classroom. Most of the ideas allowed for more physical activity, computers and fresh air.

This futuristic looking classroom layout was designed by a 6 year old at the Wood School in Manchester. The furniture has been created from sawn branches.
Whilst we were there, there were loads of people that wanted to climb into it, play in it, sit in it.
I’m not sure you could say the same about a grimey old terrapin hut around the back of the assembly hall…

The V&A Museum of Childhood is a great day out – worth a visit to Bethnal Green if you have a spare afternoon.

FIVE FACTS
#1. In 1840 confectioner Tom Smith introduced to Britain the bon-bon – a sugared almond wrapped in paper. In 1847, inspired by a crackling log in his fireplace, Tom hit upon the idea of making his bon bon snap. With this new noise, the bon bon evolved and became the christmas cracker.

#2. The circus trapeze was invented by a performer called Jules Leotard. The tight costume that he wore was subsequently named after him.

#3. The first electric toy car was invented in the USA in 1899. A quick turnaround to miniature form, when you consider the first car was invented in 1886.

#4. Tamagotchi roughly translates as ‘Egg Watch’

#5. The 1978 release of Space Invaders in Japan was so popular, it was responsible for a nationwide coin shortage.

Off the back of the Sherlock museum, we went on the hunt for the location of the BBC series Sherlock.

We found it just off the Euston Road, on North Gower Street.

As we walked up to it, we noticed there was something near the door.

Ah yes, some uberfans before us have left messages to Sherlock, from Moriarty.

Haha.

Loved these old tomes:

And this old fella:

Also quite a big fan of this wallpaper – nice:

Every man needs a desk like this: