I just used the toy to make believe I was an Indian or a very incompetent mery man. I was a bit disappointed when I found out, years later, that a real bow was like most of a grown man's hight, not the length of two rulers.
You know I'm only 23, I'm making it sound like I was a child in the 50s. There was a PS1 in the next room well I was doing this crap. One of my brothers friends was probably player 2 at the time.
Bows were still seen as military weapons in the 17th century, although they were becoming dated. "The Art of Archerie" was written in 1634 and the Mary Rose (which was carrying hundreds of bows and staves for the military) sank less than 100 years before that. Archery was practiced as a nobility sport in England up until gaining huge popularity in the Victorian age which is what modern archery most resembles.
Children's bows aren't really a new concept but I can't think of any sources that mention them specifically. It would be safe to assume a child in London would know what a bow is though, regardless of the time period. Archery was very ingrained in English culture until recently.