This past Wednesday, the New-York Historical Society Museum and Library hosted a preview for its new exhibition, Holiday Express: Trains and Toys from the Jerni Collection. The showcase arrives right in time for the holidays, and includes a number of toys, toy trains, and scenic elements, some dating as far back as the 1850s.
At the museum’s Central Park West entrance, an abstract display shows the historical connection between the U.S. and the railroad, which opened up resources in the west to the east. Using American toys, including an electric train that will move through the entire tableau, it implies the consequences of progress and its effects on New York City.
Meanwhile, the adjacent Robert H. and Clarice Smith New York Gallery of American History contains an expansive array of cases showing off antique toys of European and American origin. These go beyond oil-powered (not electrical) trains to the largest-known version of Gebrüder Bing’s Leviathan ocean liner; a zeppelin train of German origin; even a bridge accessory for a train set, designed by the architect Alexandre Gustave Eiffel and dating back to 1909.
There is also a rotunda at the museum’s West 77th Street entrance dedicated to showing how these toys would look like in motion, given the impossibility of actually operating them constantly. Along with four large-scale, multimedia screens that make it seem as if the vehicles are in motion, the space includes a circular display case with the rare Boucher Blue Comet toy train from the 1920s to the 30s.
Holiday Trains showcases more than 300 pieces from the Jerni Collection, which consists of more than 50,000 classic toys, assembled over a span of 50 years by collectors Jerry and Nina Greene. It was purchased by Bloomberg Philanthropies—which also sponsors the exhibition—and curated down to the items that offer the greatest breadth and scope.
Holiday Express: Trains and Toys from the Jerni Collection is on display to the public until February 22.
