Top Shelf
Modern Classics – Star Wars was such an iconic movie when it launched in 1977. Surely everybody knows Darth Vader & the Stormtroopers. The same goes for Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. These working characters were some of the original merchandise created around the films – Star Wars was one of the first films to discover the value of film merchandising.
Pieta Statue – a replica of the famous Pieta Statue by Michelangelo Buonarroti (yes, that was his surname) which is housed in St Peter’s Basilica, Rome.
St Martin Case – This case contains a varied collection of old and new items we feel might interest you. There are prayer books from the 1960s, a Canonisation Bronze Medal from 1963, old St Martin medals, tiny Pocket Statues from the 1970 through to today which always prove popular. There are medals from a visit to Rome & Fatima in the 1950s and a St Martin Apostolate Dominican lapel pin.
On Top of St Martin’s Case – A collection of hand made and hand painted lead figurines from the 1950s depicting a scene from India with hand painted characters chasing a tiger through the grasses of northern India.
Middle Shelf
Razor – This cut-throat or straight edge razor was the only type of razor available before the safety razor was invented around 1880. The razor would have had many accessories including a sharpening belt and a lather brush and lather bowl. It was a bit of a palaver to have a shave.
Cigarettes – they are bad for you – we discovered this full pack of cigarettes hidden in a panel when we were refurbishing our offices (which once were a hostel). Someone must have hidden them and forgot all about them way back in the 1960s.
Wee-Kin Tins – These are a very colourful set of graduated stacking tins – very popular in the 1950s and 60s. Bright colours and adorable illustrations cover each piece depicting different nursery rhymes!
Lead Soldiers – back in the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s if you wanted to play with toy soldiers, you actually had to make the soldiers first. So you melted pieces of lead in a pot (very dangerous) and then poured the lead into a tin soldier mold. When it had all cooled down, you broke open the mold and there was your tiny toy soldier. Now all you had to do was hand paint it and away you go to play soldiers. While there are still collectors of these toys, there are fewer and fewer enthusiasts around these days.
Snuff Box – Snuff was invented by indigenous tribes in the Americas, with the earliest use of ground tobacco for nasal inhalation dating back to 2000 B.C. by the Mayan people. It was introduced to Europe in the 16th century, when French diplomat Jean Nicot presented ground tobacco to the French Queen Catherine de’ Medici to help with her son’s migraines. Since then, snuff boxes have been adorned and collected – this one is a mahogany and sterling silver snuff box with religious iconology.
Mother of Pearl covered Prayer Book – If you’ve ever seen the inside of a Oyster shell, you might have noticed that it’s iridescent – with shimmery, rainbow-like colours that seem to change depending on what angle you look at it from. That is Mother of Pearl. This iridescent quality of mother-of-pearl makes it a popular material for decorating furniture, jewelry, and other objects. Harvesting mother-of-pearl is no easy task, because shells are so brittle, great skill is needed to select, cut, and polish mother-of-pearl pieces into desired shapes. So you can imagine that this Prayer Book must have been a very special gift for a very special person.
Lower Shelf
Phone & Phone Book – This vintage Bakelite Rotary phone still works. To dial a number, you had to put your finger into the hole for the number you wanted and then spin the dial – for every digit.
Before the internet or Google, if you wanted to find the phone number of a person or a business, you had to get out the Phone Book or Yellow Pages and look up the person or business listed in alphabetical order. There was a phone book for every Area Code in the Country and two for Dublin.
Toy Car Collection – Long before Games Consuls, we used to spend hours racing our toy cars around on the floors of our homes – and lino floors were always the best for speed. Mums and Dads will explain how sore it was to stand on one of these in their bare feet – much like standing on a Lego brick.
Calculator – Why do we have a calculator in here? Well, we found this calculator while refurbishing our offices and while it is from the 1960s, believe it or not, it still works perfectly. It is probably one of the first desk calculators made for consumers.
Spinning Top – Always a popular toy with kids playing for hours on end making the top spin. Some of the more modern ones had noises and lights. This is an original for the 1950s.
Slide Stereoscope Viewer – The advent of photography allowed many people to capture and admire images from around the world. However, when slides were invented (1930’s), all elements of photography were expensive to produce. So, rather than print photos, people used to have slides produced and then these could be viewed on a slide projector or through a slide stereoscope viewer. This is a Bakelite Stereoscope from the 1960s.
Base Shelf
Mini Ark – This mini Ark was discovered stored inside the big Noah’s Ark when we moved it in 2015. It was hand carved with all the animals circa 1850.
What an amazing pastime this must have been. Unfortunately, we were unable to discover the provenance of this piece but maybe you can imagine a Dad or a Mom sitting beside an open fire in the depths of winter whittling some firewood into all these animals. It must have taken hours and hours but have been very satisfying passing the time on dark Winter months.
If you would like to donate a Vintage Treasure that you own or if you would like to get involved in the refurbishment of The Moving Crib during 2026, why not give us a call on (01) 874 5465 or send us an email info@stmartin.ie