281. A Tisket, A Tasket: MINI-CLAY BASKET OF FRUITS

Very few native toys were made commercially in the Philippines--and the early ones made meant to prepare little girls for their future roles in their hearth and homes: mini-kitchen wares, mini-flat irons, mini-stoves, mini-wash basins, mini-everything! 

This 50s clay basket of fruits was one such plaything made--fashioned from clay, the only viable material that was readily available in provinces. Probably, this was part of a set of collectible clay wares peddled in the local market, or sold in front of churches--where people congregated.  Other clay products that catered to kids included piggy banks, which continue to be produced today.  But these clay playthings of fruits and basket have all  but vanished from the neighborhood tiangges (markets), the same way that kids have disappeared from the streets, to play computer games instead in the privacy of their homes.