From Tiny Tears to Elmo, NC museum wants your toys

The museum’s toy collection includes thousands of items, some of which date to mid-19th century (Photo: N.C. Museum of History/Twitter)

RALEIGH, N.C. — Did you hold on to that Tiny Tears doll from the 1950s? What about the Tickle Me Elmo released 40 years later?

If so, the N.C. Museum of History is interested in using your loaned toys in an exhibition that opens in October and also adding them to its permanent collection when owners are willing to donate. The museum has released a list of toys it’s seeking from the 1950s to the 1990s, such as Slinky, Easy-Bake Oven, Pet Rock, My Little Pony and Nintendo Game Boy.

“I feel like we can learn a lot about our history through pop culture artifacts,” exhibition curator Katie Edwards told WRAL-TV .

The museum’s toy collection includes thousands of items, some of which date to the mid-19th century, Edwards said. Others, like the original Nintendo Entertainment System, came around in the early 1980s. But the museum is still missing some toys and is especially interested in toys with a North Carolina connection. All must be in good condition.

Edwards hopes some of these toys are being stored by owners who don’t know what to do with them. “(Maybe) they don’t want to see them thrown away,” she said. “They want them cherished and preserved forever.”

People can offer to loan or donate toys here . The deadline for toys for the exhibition is March 31 while there’s no deadline to donate toys for the museum’s permanent collection.