The exhibition was funded in part by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and the County of San Diego Community Enhancement Program.
Centerpiece of the exhibition was a group of 12 late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century, miniature French carousel animals from the Freels Collection. Other features of the exhibition were a collection of clay whistles from Russia, traditional Russian painted and nested dolls and cast iron mechanical banks – the last a gift of the Thomas W. Sefton Foundation. Antique American and European dolls and traditional dolls, dollhouses and toys from many countries of the world were from Mingei International’s permanent collection.