The Curiosity Shop

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The curiosity shop appeared in the first episode of Wonders in Letterland (1985) and would appear in the following six series and would last appear at the end of episode ten of T. Bag and the Rings of Olympus (1991). The Curiosity Shop also appears at the start of the Christmas special, T. Bag's Christmas Ding Dong (1990), making a total of fifteen episode appearances over seven years.

The curiosity shop is owned or run by Thomas' Granddad, played by Jim Norton in Wonders in Letterland. Thomas calls out for Granddad when entering the shop at the start of T-Bag Strikes Again and T-Bag Bounces Back.

During the scenes in the Curiosity Shop some of the props and costumes used throughout the series appear, this page goes through to find the props and costumes that can be seen, some are far more obvious than others with some picked up, talked about or shown in a close up shot. How many of these did you notice? Have you noticed any that are not mentioned here, if so let me know.

First seen in Wonders in Letterland

T-Bag's explorer hat (costume)
First seen in the curiosity shop: Wonders in Letterland Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: Wonders in Letterland Episode 10
Other episode appearances: Wonders in Letterland Episode 4
The explorer hat, worn by T-Bag in episode four, can be seen hanging up in the curiosity shop.

T-Bag's Jester hat (costume)
First seen in the curiosity shop: Wonders in Letterland Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop:
Wonders in Letterland Episode 10
T-Bag Strikes Again Episode 1
Other episode appearances: Wonders in Letterland Episode 9
The jester hat, worn by T-Bag in episode nine, can be seen hanging up in the curiosity shop. This would reappear in the curiosity shop when Thomas takes out some toys from the toy chest at the start of the following series, T-Bag Strikes Again.

First seen in T-Bag Strikes Again

T-Bag's Taffeta dress (costume)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T-Bag Strikes Again Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: T-Bag Strikes Again Episode 10
Other episode appearances: Wonders in Letterland Episodes 1 - 10
T-Bag Strikes Again Episodes 1 & 2
This is T-Bag's main dress during Wonders in Letterland and would also feature in the first two episodes of T-Bag Strikes Again before T-Bag then has her red velvet dress. This dress is shown on the mannequin in the shop and is used as part of the plot where Thomas sees T-Bag's face instead of the mannequin before seeing T-Bag inside the pop-up story book. The dress on the mannequin can be only partially seen during the curiosity shop scene at the end of episode ten.

Rascally Roger's pirate hat (costume)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T-Bag Strikes Again Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: n/a
Other episode appearances: Wonders in Letterland Episode 6
Thomas takes out some toys from the toy chest in the shop, one of which is Rascally Roger's pirate hat (from episode 6), this differs slightly in appearance as it does not have the skull and crossbones, the feathers and has less decoration than previously seen in Wonders in Letterland.

Balthazzar's sword (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T-Bag Strikes Again Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: n/a
Other episode appearances: Wonders in Letterland Episode 2
Thomas takes out some toys from the toy chest in the shop, one of which is Balthazzar's sword.

The King's Crown (costume)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T-Bag Strikes Again Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: n/a
Other episode appearances: Wonders in Letterland Episode 9
When Thomas takes out some toys from the toy chest in the shop the crown worn by the Emperor of the Land of E, from Wonders in Letterland episode nine, can be seen inside the chest.

The Chest (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T-Bag Strikes Again Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: T-Bag Strikes Again Episode 10
Other episode appearances:
Wonders in Letterland Episode 1
Wonders in Letterland Episode 10
The big chest with the riddle written in golden letters from Wonders in Letterland is seen in the curiosity shop as the big toy chest that Thomas takes things out to play with at the start of the following series, T-Bag Strikes Again.

First seen in T-Bag Bounces Back

Birthday Present Box (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T-Bag Bounces Back Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: T-Bag Bounces Back Episode 10
Other episode appearances: T-Bag Bounces Back Episode 8
The present box given to T-Bag from T-Shirt for her birthday in episode eight can be clearly seen in the curiosity shop. In episode eight the present inside is a football which T-Bag isn't pleased with.

First seen in T. Bag and The Revenge of the T. Set

The T. Set banner (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and The Revenge of the T. Set, Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop:
T. Bag and The Revenge of the T. Set, Episode 10
T. Bag and The Pearls of Wisdom, Episode 1
T. Bag and The Pearls of Wisdom, Episode 10
T. Bag's Christmas Ding-Dong
T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus, Episode 1
T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus, Episode 10
Other episode appearances: T. Bag and The Revenge of the T. Set, Episode 1
This is the banner of the T. Set seen hanging up in the curiosity shop by the shelves, during episode one of Revenge of The T. Set Thomas tells Sally 'now that is interesting, I don't know what it is but it's very old'. This banner would reappear in the curiosity shop in the next two series, T. Bag and The Pearls of Wisdom and T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus, and also in the Christmas special T. Bag's Christmas Ding-Dong. The T. Set banner can be seen inside the temple at the start of T. Bag and The Revenge of the T. Set above the the High-T Lady's throne.

The Temple Teapot (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop:
T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set Episode 10
T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set opening titles (Episodes 2 - 10) and credits (Episodes 1 - 10)
T. Bag and the Pearls of Wisdom Episode 1
Other episode appearances: n/a
This is found on the main table in the curiosity shop during T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set and goes on to appear in the title sequence of this series from episode two and in all ten episodes for the credits. T-Bag has taken up residence in the world of the Teapot, ousting the High-T Lady out of the temple to make her T-Room for this series. In the curiosity shop Sally peers into the teapot to see T-Bag and the High-T Lady battle with each other, T-Bag sees Sally and transports her into the teapot, Thomas hears Sally screaming for help and he transports himself in the teapot to rescue her. In episode ten of Revenge of The T. Set Thomas says of the teapot 'unusual that old teapot' and 'looks almost real'. In episode one of Pearls of Wisdom Sally picks up the teapot when helping Thomas tidy up saying 'I see no-one's bought this'.

Toy aeroplane (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop:
T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set Episode 10
T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set opening titles (Episodes 2 - 10)
Other episode appearances: T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set Episode 2
The Toy aeroplane T-Shirt gives to the Emperor as a birthday present in episode 2 can be seen in the curiosity underneath the T. Set banner, in episode 2 there is only one Toy aeroplane but there are two to be seen in the curiosity shop. The aeroplanes also appear in the title sequence of this series from episode two onwards.

Fizz Bottle (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop:
T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set Episode 10
T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set opening titles (Episodes 2 - 10)
Other episode appearances: T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set Episode 4
The Fizz bottle (that looks identical to the the bottles of lemonade) from episode four can be seen on the table in the curiosity shop, behind the teapots.

Wooden Casket (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: n/a
Other episode appearances: T. Bag and The Pearls of Wisdom Episode 8
There is a wooden casket on the shelves, this was later used as the wooden casket that held the winnings for the song contest in the following series, T. Bag and The Pearls of Wisdom. This does not appear to be the same wooden casket used later on in episode 9 of T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set.

First seen in T. Bag and The Pearls of Wisdom

Doll (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and The Pearls of Wisdom Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and The Pearls of Wisdom Episode 10
Other episode appearances: T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set Episode 7
Sally helps clear some stuff for the shop's sale, she moves the stuff from the main table to a table behind her, the table she places the stuff on has the doll that was used as Anastasia's doll in episode seven of T. Bag and the Revenge of The T. Set, this appearance sees the doll in another dress.

First seen in T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus

Toy Soldier costume (costume)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: n/a
Other episode appearances: T. Bag's Christmas Ding Dong
T-Shirt's toy soldier costume, worn during the opera scenes from T. Bag's Christmas Ding Dong can be seen in the curiosity shop in T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 1 in front of the shelves to the side of the shop door.

T-Bag's Portrait by Leonardo (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 10
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: n/a
Other episode appearances: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 8
The portrait of T-Bag, painted by Leonardo in episode eight, is seen at the end of the series by Thomas back in the curiosity shop. The end credits then run over the image of T-Bag's portrait.

Megaphone (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 10
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: n/a
Other episode appearances: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 1
T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 10
The megaphone used by T-Shirt to pretend to be Zeus in episode one of T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus, and put to use again in episode ten, would appear on the table in the curiosity shop.

Doll in stocks (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 10
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: n/a
Other episode appearances: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 9
The doll in the stocks being tortured by the Queen in T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus episode nine can be seen on the table in the curiosity shop.

T-Bag's Jester Doll (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 10
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: n/a
Other episode appearances: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 9
Used as part of T-Bag's jester costume this doll can be seen on the table in the curiosity shop alongide the megaphone. The Jester costume can also be seen in the curiosity shop.

T-Bag's Jester Costume (costume)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 10
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: n/a
Other episode appearances: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 9
The costume worn by T-Bag, when she tells the Queen jokes in episode nine, can be seen near the door in the curiosity shop.

The Jammer (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 10
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: n/a
Other episode appearances: Turn on to T-Bag Episodes 1 & 10
As Polly walks in the shop you can see the Jammer, made by Professor Sparks, from Turn On To T-Bag on the table next to Thomas, this is on the same table that has the doll in stocks and the Greek vase. The crystals, collected by Holly Anna Jones in Turn On To T-Bag, can also be seen on the Jammer.

The Compass (prop)
First seen in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 1
Further appearances in the curiosity shop: T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus Episode 10
Other episode appearances: T. Bag and The Pearls Of Wisdom Episodes 1 & 10
The compass from T. Bag and The Pearls Of Wisdom can be seen in the curiosity shop in the following series, T. Bag and The Rings of Olympus. As episode one starts, in the shot before T-Shirt walks in, the compass is on the table nearest to the curtain. This is seen again in episode ten as Polly walks in the shop, the compass is on the far table in this shot.