Photo taken on Nov. 11, 2017 shows toys on display at the Benaki Museum of Toys in the southern suburb of Athens, Greece. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
She had started collecting toys in the 70s. "This is how I started the collection: from a yellow teddy bear I found thrown in the garbage. This was the start of the collection, because I remembered a similar teddy bear I had as a child," she said.
Her passion to preserve toys was there since childhood. "It all started when I was young, 5-6 years old. My parents could not afford to buy many toys for me for Christmas. Just one," she explained.
She remembers her mother making new dresses for her old dolls and placing them under the Christmas tree in brand new boxes.
"My mother used to say: take care of your toys, hug them with love, be careful with them and do not throw them away," Argyriadis recalled.
Asked to choose one toy among the 20,000 of the collection, she starts making a long list. It is impossible, she said. Each one bears a part of the history and children's daily life throughout the centuries.
Each one has a story to tell. In many cases people who gave her their toys to enrich the collection also shared with her their memories and feelings about making the toy or playing with it.
Argyriadis points to a small wooden set of sofas and chairs put on display in the new museum as a characteristic example.
"A miniature set of living room furniture made of cheap wood that a mother made for her daughter's birthday during the Nazi occupation (in the 40s)... She brought it to us herself and she told us its story. This toy has a special significance for us," she told Xinhua.
