Christmas Presents Fit for Princes and Princesses

A couple of years ago, Robert Paulett at the George Papers Programme shared a list of what the future George III and his siblings received in the Christmas season of 1750-51.

Prince George was then twelve years old. He had one older sister and six younger siblings, the last less than a year old. (A final sister would come the next year.)

Paulett wrote:

Young George and his six siblings received a very modest haul indeed in the year 1750, receiving courtesy of toymaker Michael Dassonville only “a Red trunk” “a fine Landau [toy carriage] & 6 horses” “2 Chairs… with Dolls in them” and “4 whirligigs.” These all arrived right on Christmas Day, Dec. 25.

But there were “a few modest packages” arriving the next twelve days.

And then, on the morning after Twelfth Night, there was a whole ’nother load of presents!

2 large Carts
A Long Gunn
A Bureau
A Bird Cage on Bellows
A small Bird Cage on bellows
A musical Castle
2 fine Pewter Potts
A Pigeon house in a Boxe
An Armey on Cariadge
2 large Brass Canons
2 ivory tea totums
A Aarons Bells
A Dutch tauper
A Boxe of household furnitures
A Dulcimer
A fencing Master
A Set of Gild Penns
A Charm
A large Barril

The two sizes of “Bird Cage on Bellows” refer to singing bird automata, discussed here. A teetotum was a type of top with a string, though it could also have sides with numbers like a dreidel. An “Aarons Bells” is the wooden and ribbon toy that today we usually call a Jacob’s Ladder. I’m guessing a “Dutch tauper” was a figure of a Dutchman with a drink.

(The picture above shows Prince George about age nine.)