Peter Pan Representation in London

[Dani1923]

I’m just writing out thoughts here but I’m very surprised that London doesn’t have a Peter Pan museum or gift shop anywhere!

I don’t live in England, but I Googled to see if these things existed in London and could find nothing!

I’m just shocked that Peter Pan doesn’t seem to be represented a lot in London like he should! Peter Pan was “born” in London!

I know he has his statue and playground at Kensington Gardens, but he doesn’t seem to have much representation beyond that.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

[Brutus]

Yes, it's a great shame that neither Barrie nor Peter Pan have a museum in London! A few years ago, an attempt was made to create a museum dedicated to JMB in his house at 100 Bayswater Road (where he wrote the play) but there was not enough backing, financially or otherwise to make it happen. Great Ormond St Hospital doesn't have the resources to run a Peter Pan museum, as it's part of the NHS and the money wouldn't be allowed to go to such a project. They do however have a Peter Pan statue at their entrance, a Peter Pan Ward and a Tinker Bell play area.

Apart from that, the Victoria & Albert Museum have a Peter Pan display (featuring among other things the harness used to fly in the original productions) and the London Museum also has a window displaying Pauline Chase's Peter Pan costume in the 1907 production. There is also a Peter Pan Park in South East London, on the spot of the original Peter Pan playground created in the 1920s with Barrie's blessing.

Incidentally, Peter Pan no longer has a playground in Kensington Gardens as it was revamped and renamed Princess Diana Memorial Playground after her death.

Of course, if you go to Scotland, you will find Barrie's Birthplace in Kirriemuir, a museum dedicated to JMB and Peter Pan (with statue) and Moat Brae in Dumfries (which claims to be the birthplace of Peter Pan - among many other cities...).

Unfortunately, a Peter Pan gift shop would most probably be taken over by Disney merchandise...

[Dani1923]

Thank you for your response Brutus!

I didn’t know about some of these things that are in London.

I already knew about the Peter Pan representation in Scotland, which of course deserves Peter Pan stuff because JMB was born there, but I’m surprised that London doesn’t have as much Peter Pan type things, despite the story being created there.

And incidentally, even Disney doesn’t have as much Peter Pan merchandise as you might think. I was just at Disney World and they don’t sell a lot of Peter Pan merchandise, not even in their online store! And when they do, it’s mostly Tinker Bell related, but as far as things with Peter Pan the character or Captain Hook, merchandise for them is few and far between.

[Brutus]

The main problem with regard to Peter Pan merchandise, outside of Disney, is that there isn't just one representation of the characters. As it started as a play with different actors and costumes every few years, and the first illustrated edition coming out a few years later, there never was one depiction that made its mark (unlike say, Winnie the Pooh as illustrated by E H Shepard which established the characters from first day of publication). So the depictions changed over the years according to design and propriety trends - for instance, Peter's costume changed from the full red suit complete with jerkin, shirt, leggings to a green skimpy leafy costume, or a pseudo-Robin Hood attire.

There was some merchandise based on Frampton's statue in Kensington Gardens in the 1920s, but after the copyright went to GOSH, there wasn't so much as it wasn't a priority for them (especially after the hospital was incorporated into the NHS), apart from the Peter Pan League created in 1930 with a logo designed by EH Shepard himself. GOSH's hospital shop and mail order shop does offer some Peter Pan items but in a limited way. It is now complicated by the fact that Disney owns most of the trademarks in the characters, so other would-be merchandisers wouldn't be able to produce stuff based on a different design.

I have seen quite a few Disney things such as mugs, snow globes, etc on eBay but suspect there will be more Disney merchandise coming out when their new film is released.

[Dani1923]

Thank you for the great info Brutus!

Yeah I think there will be new merchandise when the Peter Pan live-action remake comes out next year.