Madison-Morgan Cultural Center Displays Stratton Hicky Toy Collection

Hattie Mina Hicky

Children at Play – 1895 to 1957

The Madison Morgan Cultural Center has recently received a collection of toys from Stratton Hicky belonging to members of his family. Stratton is the son of Dan and Hattie Mina Hicky, long-time residents, historians and preservationists of Madison history. The family home, the Stokes McHenry house (485 Old Post Road), recently sold after 200 years of family occupancy spanning seven generations. Over the years, toys came in and out of the house and those that remained in the home’s toy room were recently sorted and a collection of some of the oldest was donated to the Cultural Center.

The vintage toys will be on display in the front hall of the Cultural Center starting December 1st. The exhibit will be entitled, “Children at Play – 1895 to 1957”, which represents the years of the Madison Graded School.

The oldest toys belonged to William Winter Hack, Hattie Mina Hicky’s grandfather. The other things belonged to family members, and as Stratton Hicky said, “Since I can't definitely attribute each toy, I'd either recommend assuming all the boy-toys were William Hack’s or Dan McHenry Hicky's, and the others are simply from the Reid and McHenry families.” The toys for girls belonged to Hattie Mina, her mother and her great aunt. Knowing who owned the toys is really not important but saving and displaying them for the enjoyment of others is truly a Christmas gift.

On the first shelf is a display of wooden toys belonging to William Winter Hack, Hattie Mina’s grandfather born in 1860. Those toys are the oldest in the display. A photo of the dapper adult William Hack is placed next to his toys.

The toys for children in those days mostly imitated adults they observed. Two covers from a 1955 Golden Book entitled “Just Like Mommy” and “Just Like Daddy” help explain imagination and play of that time. There is also a leather catcher’s mitt for a child from the 1920s, showing children looked beyond the family for role models.

To compliment the exhibit, a beautiful collection of pristine toys from the 1950s, belonging to Leona Meriwether Benkoski, is on loan. In the center of the display cabinet is an incredible pink wringer washing machine. Also included in the cabinet is a lusterware tea set belonging to Leona’s mother, Leona “Scootie” Cunningham Meriwether. Hanging to the left of the cabinet is a framed Roy Rogers cowboy outfit on loan from Gene Massey whose mother had it later framed.

The exhibit will be interesting to adults as well as children. It harkens back to a time when life was simpler and to toys that inspired imagination and hours of fun.

The Madison Morgan Cultural Center is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10am until 5PM.