Not all toys are designed for children! The light kaleidoscope was invented by Scottish physicist David Brewster. Kaleidoscopes were known as philosophical toys, because they combined scientific principles with entertainment.

This apparatus consists of a tube with two very accurately angled and tapered mirrors inside. Light entering the front of the tube is reflected between the mirrors and is focussed at the eyepiece. By rotating the tube it gives the illusion of a continuous symmetrical pattern created from a triangular segment of the object at the end of the tube.

Toys became increasingly popular in Victorian times. The rocking horse was a favourite toy for those few families who could afford one. It has endured the path of time and is still found in some houses today.

This shows a portrait of a child of the Wilson family of South Bantaskine on a rocking horse. The child is in a black dress. Boys below the age of five or six were sometimes put in dresses at this time.

In the earlier years of toys, they were mainly restricted to those children of well-off parents. Larger houses often had a room entitled 'the nursery'. This would be where the children slept and often ate. They would also spend their time playing here.

This is a view of the "Day Nursery" in Brodie Castle. The room is dominated by a large mahogany table, on which are period games, books and toys. These include scraps and scrap books, nursery rhyme books and blackboards. A rocking horse can be seen behind.

Sometimes toys were integrated with more practical devices. Here, a pushchair is designed to look like a carriage with horses.

This is a photograph mounted on a Christmas Card. It is from Captain and Lady Helen Forbes showing one of the Forbes children seated in a pram. The pram has two toy horses fitted to the front. The Forbes lived in Calendar House, Falkirk.

The favourite toys were not always the expensive shop-bought ones. Less well-off children would often have homemade toys. This shows a small boy in a sailor outfit and cotton hat lying on the towpath of the canal watching his model boat. The model is a plank of wood with two sticks for masts and paper or material for a sail.

Sailor outfits were popular for boys at this time. It reflected the status of the Royal Navy as guardian of the trade routes of the Empire.

Some toys were simple and quite cheap to make. Others were made by skilled craftsmen and would take some time. Children of well-to-do families owned such toys.

This wooden cradle is on rockers; it is varnished on the outside and painted green inside. The two crescent-shaped rockers are attached to the underside of the cradle by four nuts and bolts. A skilled craftsman would have made this toy.

The Duchess of Bedford was a liner built for Canadian Pacific. She was launched on 28 June 1928. She could carry 1570 passengers and had extensive facilities, including a nursery, onboard.

This shows the fully equipped nursery that was provided on the boat deck. As well as containing cots, it had a wide range of toys. These included a rocking horse, elephant on wheels, steam engine, rocking birds with seats, farm animals and dolls.

Dolls houses have long been popular toys for girls. Some were large and complex with many rooms and handmade furniture, while some were smaller and perhaps homemade.

Here, a little girl poses for the camera with a home made doll's house and its furniture. The shot is advertising a forthcoming sale of work to raise money.

Advertising is very important with toys. Television has allowed mass-marketing to even very young children.

Muffin the Mule first appeared on British television on the 4th August 1946 in "For The Children" (predecessor of "Watch With Mother"). In 1951, the licence to produce Muffin was sold and Lesney Products Ltd manufactured the die-cast piebald mule. Muffin became the first toy to be marketed under licence as a result of successful television appearances.

Elaborate displays of toys could be found in shops, particularly in the run up to Christmas. Mechanical toys became increasingly popular through the 20th century until computerised toys took over.

This shows a selection of mechanical toys on sale at Binns department store in Edinburgh in November 1965.

By the middle of the 20th century, toys were not just owned by the upper classes.

Here we see little boys in the Gorbals area of Glasgow showing off their Christmas presents. They include astronaut suits and space hoppers.

Soft toys have been enduringly popular. Today the market here continued to be enormous, and not just with children.

This shows a schoolgirl amongst the cuddly toys in the toy department of Jenners' department store in Edinburgh in November 1979.