Dunham's Cocoanut Dollhouse

Since I have been collecting miniatures, I have been fascinated with the Dunham's Cocoanut Dollhouse, made in America in the late 1800's. The house was originally a wooden packing crate for Dunham's Cocoanut, a shredded confection used for baking, particularly as a cake topping. The crate was sent out to stores to hold and display several boxes of shredded coconut.

I came across one of these the other day at a local antique mall.  It measures 28 inches tall.  The houses are known for having a split in the paper on the interior where the two pieces of wood on the crate come together.

The wooden crate has it's original red paint and lithographed paper for the exterior, the floors and the interior walls.  It is a little rough around the edges, but still fun to see.

The first floor is a kitchen with a red checkerboard floor and a pantry full of Dunham's Cocoanut and some dishes and a clock.

The second floor represents a dining room complete with a mounted moose head, an aquarium with fish, shelves, paintings and and a bay window with potted plants.

The third floor is a Victorian parlor with a piano, some ferns, and lots of pictures on the walls.

The top floor is most likely a bedroom with some stained glass accents in the window and several wall pictures.  The paper on the floor is made to look like wood plank and has a large area rug.

Both the ends of the create are painted and embossed with this 

 The sides are papered to look like a stone exterior with windows.  The printed windows do not correspond with the windows on the interior.