This collection of essays has its roots in our first conversation, back in December
2015, at Durham’s railway station. The editors are indebted to Bennett Zon,
who first suggested that we meet to discuss our shared interested in children’s
culture of the long nineteenth century and historical pastimes.
That meeting resulted in a conference, Packaging the Past for Children,
c. 1750–1914, hosted by the Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies at Durham
University in July 2016. We are grateful to Andrew Moss for his assistance
in organising the event, and to the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Durham
University, for the financial support which enabled us to bring people together
and begin this conversation. We would also like to extend thanks to the
delegates who attended the panel, ‘Pasts at Play: Packaging History for Child
Consumers’ at the 2016 British Association of Victorian Studies conference
in Cardiff, thoughtfully chaired by Rosemary Mitchell, which helped the
editors think through the project.
We thank Matthew Frost and the series editors at Manchester University
Press for their efficiency and understanding, and the anonymous readers for
their helpful comments. We would also like to thank Jessica Cuthbert-Smith
for her expert copyediting.
The volume would not be illustrated without the generous financial support
of the Marc Fitch Fund: thank you.
On a personal note, Rachel would like to thank Robin Hellen and Barbara
would like to thank Annie Moore and Marthe Tholen for their ongoing
support and encouragement.