Before childhoods were digital, generations and generations of boys and girls shared a common ritual when Christmas approached: that of exploring the paper catalogs of toy stores, patiently turning the pages until their eyes fell on a doll, a stuffed animal or a race car and then, to themselves or aloud, they would say “I’ll have it!”. A tradition that has become an exhibition in Madrid and can be visited free of charge.
The Cristóbal Portillo Hall of the Regional Archive, in the El Águila cultural complex (Calle Ramírez de Prado, 3), hosts the exhibition, I’m asking for it! Toys in the Madrid of our childhood, which brings together a selection of games and toys dating from the first eight decades of the last century.
To understand the richness of the pieces in the exhibition, it is enough to review their varied origins: from the Madrileños Collection, funds such as those of Cristóbal Portillo and the Diputación Provincial de Madrid to Galerías Preciados, Gerardo Contreras, Martín Santos Yubero and Nicolás Muller, along with the Quiroga-Monte Collection.
A tribute to Madrid’s toy manufacturers.
The visit to this free exhibition is not only intended to take older children back to their childhood, but also to pay tribute to all those who contributed to shape it with their imagination and ingenuity through the toy industry.
People with their own names and surnames, such as Luis Moreno -referent in the manufacture of tin toys- or José Florido -creator of such emblematic characters as Mariquita Pérez, Bombón and Pelusín- and small factories such as Flus or Rivera.
Not forgetting, either, the capital’s bazaars, stores and neighborhood stores -and their aforementioned catalogs-. Businesses such as León, Horta, Matey or La Unión, which knew how to turn their shop windows “into open windows to children’s fantasy and illusion”, according to those responsible for the exhibition.
In addition to the toys themselves, the exhibition includes photographs, documents, magazines, audiovisual material… and recreates everyday scenarios “such as the family living room, the dolls’ room, the morning of Epiphany or games in the street, taking visitors to the children’s universe of twentieth-century Madrid.
Opening hours of the free toy exhibition
- Monday to Saturday: from 10am to 2pm and from 4pm to 8pm.
- Sundays and holidays: from 10 am to 2 pm
- Closed: December 25th, 2025, January 1st and 6th, 2026