Skip to main content Skip to footer
FREE ENTRY Docklands open Mon–Sun, 10am–5pm Plan your visit For families For schools Collections
Menu
Museum of London
Home Families

Decorate your own penny plains

Set your creativity free with this colourful activity – from 150 years ago!

Theatrical souvenir print engraved with a portrait of the actor Mr Osbaldiston in the role of Fra Diavolo, both uncoloured and coloured beside each other.

Here's a real life example - coloured in more than a hundred years ago!

It shows the well-known actor 'Mr Osbaldiston' taking the role of 'Fra Diavolo'.

The Victorians didn't have Facebook or Instagram to follow their favourite celebrities. But they did have something: their own 'penny plains'!

These souvenirs were drawings of famous actors in their most popular theatre roles. They were called penny plains as it cost a penny to buy an undecorated picture, or twopence for a picture that was already coloured in.

You can live a bit of history for yourself by decorating your own penny plains! Simply print off some of the characters and actors from the past shown below, then use anything you have at home to colour in and decorate these stars of the Victorian stage.

This hand-coloured and hand-decorated theatrical tinsel portrait is decorated with cotton tartan clothing embellished with tinsel ornaments.

Actor playing Helen Macgregor

This penny plain has been decorated with cotton tartan clothing and tinsel.

This hand-coloured and hand-decorated theatrical tinsel portrait is decorated with cotton tartan clothing embellished with tinsel ornaments.

St David of Wales charges into battle

Although most penny plains showed actors, later ones showed other subjects too.


This hand-coloured and hand-decorated theatrical tinsel portrait is decorated with cotton tartan clothing embellished with tinsel ornaments.

Actor playing Princess Gonagues in 'The Dukes Motto'

Prints of male actors were more common as their costumes had more metallic details.

This hand-coloured and hand-decorated theatrical tinsel portrait is decorated with cotton tartan clothing embellished with tinsel ornaments.

Actor C Pitt plays 'Will Watch'

This portrait has silk and cotton clothing and tinsel accessories and weapons.

What you'll need

The basic things needed to decorate your own are:

  • A printer to print out your penny plain
  • Felt-tip pens
  • Crayons
  • Colouring pencils

But it'd be even better with:

  • Sequins
  • Foil
  • Tissue Paper
  • Scraps of paper
  • Pom poms
  • Glue

Who will you bring to life?

Click the images you'd like to download them as PDFs ready to print.

Share your masterpieces!

Once you've finished with the glitter, pens and tinsel, we'd love it if you'd share your creations with us.

Just tweet us @museumoflondon with your handiwork!

Also of interest

Family visits

Fun learning at home

Mudlarks family gallery

Birthday parties