My Books About Miniatures

I was reading a blog the other day and came across a post about the Thorne Miniature Rooms.  My wife and I had the pleasure of seeing part of them in Chicago last year and purchased a book about them, mainly because they were so inspiring, and because the photos in the book were far better than the ones I took with my camera.

I absolutely love books with great pictures.  Over the years I have kept ones that have special meaning to me and for the most part, they can placed in three categories:  Architecture, religion, and miniatures.  This is one of the bookshelves in our home.  I share it with my wife, so she gets about a quarter of it for her music books.  I have my grandmother's old radio tucked in up there too.  ( it still works!)

Probably my most used book these days, as far as miniatures are concerned, is this one by Dian Zillner.  We have a joke of sorts in the family that if I should die suddenly, the family is to not sell any of our miniatures before consulting this book.  It has become very valuable in identifying different miniatures and brands along with learning some history.  The odd thing about this book is that it is getting old, (1998) someone needs to come out with an updated version.

 Along with the above book, I use another book from Dian Zillner quite frequently, the Dollhouse and Furniture Advertising.  It is another great resource when trying to identify or date miniatures.

I have collected a few books on historical dollhouses too.  Below are books on Colleen Moore's Dollhouse which was built in the 1930's and now resides in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
"The Fairy Castle" is fairly recent, and has some great large color photographs of the house, the large white, cloth covered book with the Colleen's monogram is a book about the dollhouse that was published in the 1970's and the book with the blue cover was published on the dollhouse back in 1935 and has some great black and white photos of the house.  I like to compare photos in the old and new and see what has been changed.  The books each feature different perspectives on presenting the house.

After seeing the Thorne Miniature rooms I purchased a book with several great photos, and lots of history about Mrs Thorne and how the room boxes came about.  I was also able to purchase "European Rooms In Miniature" a few years ago on Ebay.  It was printed in the early 1940's and has some great black and white photos of the rooms.

I purchased "The White House in Miniature" after dragging the family to see the traveling exhibit in Kansas City a few years ago.  It was on display at the Harry S. Truman Presidential library and we enjoyed going.  It is a great book with lots of photos and details about the project.  The  Zweifel family that created the exhibit, changes out the oval office and the upper rooms to match the current president's furnishings and decor.  They also decorate it for Christmas.  I would urge everyone to go see this great dollhouse.  I picked up The White House Guide at an esate sale a few years ago for a couple of bucks.  I like to open each book to the same room and compare.

I was able to visit Windsor Castle back in my early college days, home of Queen Mary's Dolls' House.  I remember in my youth being fascinated by this house and used to check out a book about it from the local library behind my dad's gas station in Elko Nevada.  I purchased the Souvenir Book on Ebay a while back.  It is not dated, but appears to be pretty old.  The book on the right was an estate sale find earlier this year.
When I was there during my college days, all I could afford were a few post cards.



I have found in years of collecting a couple of books or "booklets" that correspond with some of my collections.   The Arcade company produced a childrens book called The Arcadians Story in 1927 and around that same time TootsieToy followed suit. 
( click on either Tootsietoy or Arcade Cast Iron on the right to se my collections )

I picked up "America's Doll House" after visiting it in Washington D.C. earlier this year.  I wrote more about it in my blog titled Smithsonian Miniature Finds.  http://tulsatinystuff.blogspot.com/2011/04/smithsonian-miniature-finds.html

I have collected several other books since my fascination with miniatures began.  I have posted pics of them here.  On days when I need inspiration or when I want to relax, I grab one of these and study them.

The Reference Guide to Miniature Makers Marks was recommended to me by the curator at the Kruger Miniature Collection at the University of Nebraska.  (It is still on my list of places to go)  The miniature museum is part of the school of architecture and they have a lot of photos of the collection on the school's library website.  The book is great and has brands and marks from several manufacturers dating back many years and in most part of the world.  It is about as thick as a phone book.

 I saved this book,The Doll's House for last.  This book belonged to my sister and growing up, I think I played with it more than her.  It is a reproduction of a pop-up book from 1890.  This version was printed in 1979. I asked my sister for it a few years ago.

 The book folds out into a Victorian house and shop with working doors.  I remember being fascinated with it as a child.

 Let me know if there are any miniature books that inspire you.

Schneegas Bedroom Set

I came across this antique Schneegas  bedroom set on ebay the other day.

Schneegas was a German company that produced fine wood dollhouse furniture around the turn of the century.

The detail in each piece is really quite extraordinary, it's as if each piece is a work of art.  The lining of the box suggested period wallpaper and the paper doily suggests lace.

I was particularly attracted to the Art Nouveau style of the carvings at the top of the wardrobe, the marble topped dresser and the door of the nightstand.

I love the asymmetrical design of the desk

The text on the box suggests is was intended for the French market. 

I believe it translates to bedroom for my doll

Even the box was finely detailed.  I was a little saddened to think that these pieces never got the chance to find their place in a dollhouse or room box, but I was fascinated to see how the product was marketed in it's original box nearly 100 years ago.

Wood Model Construction

I have the privilege of teaching a model building class at a local college.  The final class project was a kit of this two story home.  It is built of balsa wood and is 3/4"=1'-0".  I have to admit I was a little skeptical when I opened the box and saw a bunch of bundles of wood and a set of scale plans, but it turned out being a great project.

The view shows the large open living space below and the kitchen underneath the upstairs bedroom.

The side elevation shows how the open stairs are placed in the large vaulted living room.  There is a half/bath tucked under the stairs.

 The rear of the house - note the kitchen door and window on the first floor and the bedroom window on the second level.

The front of the house

Tin Lithos

My two tin lithographed houses reside on the palm-lined street in the study atop some book shelves.

(The palm trees were a 75% off after Christmas find and are made of painted metal also.)

 One of the things I liked about these two houses when I purchased them several years ago, was that they are from such different era's - the 1940's and the 1950's.  The decor is radically different inside and out. The one from the 40's uses bright and bold colors and the one a decade later is mainly pastel colors.

In 1948, T. Cohn introduced this elegant Spanish themed, tile roof home as their first dollhouse.  The detail is wonderful.  The lattice windows, which are fully functional are a wonderful touch.  The house was unique with its tiled, pitched roof with it centered chimney and lots of flowers and shrubs decorate the exterior

The master bedroom has a floral print wall paper and featurs a floral rug set near the front opening of the house so that no matter how you arranged the furniture in the rooms, it would be visible.

The nursery has a sort of circus theme with toys on a shelf on the wall.

The kitchen is bright with its yellow and red walls and a geometric linoleum floor.  The walls are decorated with a a shelf and clock and a large fruit wreath.

The large living room in the T. Cohn house has dark green walls, a roaring fire place and built-in book shelves.  The light colored floor also has a tradition green border.

The patio is on the second level and is filled with brightly colored floor tiles.

This house was first produced in 1959. It reminds me a lot of the Brady Bunch House. This one sits on large base that was lithoed to look like a patio and provide the 'Split Level" look. My research showed that the house came with plastic front, back and inside steps, and a plastic grill/bbq that was built right into the wall adjoining the patio and kitchen. There were various models of this house and they all came with some, none or all of the following: playground set, pool set, Corvette or T-Bird car, split rail fences, plastic trees and shrubs, bird bath with birds, dogs, rock fence, vegetable garden, boxwood hedge, horses with riders, 18-20 dollhouse figures, lighting, working doorbell, and an opening front door.

The kitchen is this house is also a bright yellow, but features modern applianced of the day including a built-in oven.

the family room and dining room are done in tones of blue with modern built-in cabinets of yellow and blue.  There is a wonderful harliquin pattern wallpaper in the "breakfast" area.

The master bedroom is decorated in kind of mint color and is relatively bare compared to the other rooms in the house.

I really like the living room.  It has wood paneling on the walls, built-in shelves, a mid century modern fireplace with modern art hanging on the walls.  The pattern on curtains is great too.

The outdoor pation on the modern house is pastel colored flag stones.  There is a great website which features both of these and a whole lot more:

http://www.barbigirl.com/marxhome.htm 

Another thing that I think is so great about these houses, is that there is so much detail, it is pretty easy to imagine a family living in each of these rooms even without furniture.

Arcade Laundry Room

Arcade made cardboard rooms for each of the sets of furniture. My family surprised me with the complete Arcade laundry room pieces for Father's Day this year, so I have been working on creating a room to display them in. I bid on an authentic cardboard room a few months ago, but the price soared far above what I could pay. I was able to snap some pictures and create a reproduction of the room myself. Hopefully this didn't break any copyright laws!  The cardboard rooms were produced between 1925 - 1936.  I used foam core instead of cardboard.

I was amused at the details in the room.  Even though it was just a cardboard lighograph, ( 4 color) it has items like electrical outlets at each corner above the base board, a water heater, wall sconces, windows with with curtains and crown molding.  I also like the random pattern of the tile floor.  The detail on the door with the cottage-like hinges are pretty interesting too. 

 The Thor washing machine has a wringer that swivels, and a nickel plated agitator inside.  The double boiler has 2 burners on top and a giant cast iron pot.

The double laundry sink has "Standard" logos on each side. 

The ironer or "mangle" has a large nickel plated press on a spring and a white wooden dowel that spins.  It also has a "Thor" label on the front ( and the Arcade sticker on the back)  You can see the stand for the laundry sink from the side.

Take A Seat

 Over the years I have picked up a Willitt's resin chair here and there. I snagged a couple more at an estate sale last week and realized that I have acquired quite a few!

I like this one because it reminds me of our family trip to the Biltmore Estate a few years ago!  It is a copy of Mr Vanderbilt's Chair from his bedroom and the original dates from 1885.

 This chair is also from the Biltmore Estate, it is located in the Billiard Room and also dates from 1895.  It was a reproduction of a 17th-century chair.

 This one is a model of an Adirondack chair from the 1940's

 This one is called "Red Heart" and is a reproduction of the contemporary chair from 1999.

 This model is of a mission style rocker from 1908.

 This chair is called Form & Function and is from 1999.

 This purple chair looks pretty modern, but is actually based on a design from 1944.

  This chair, although called Mexican Leather, reminds me of an old Egyptian chair located in the museum in my boyhood town of Ely Nevada.

more to come!

My Biggest Miniature Yet

Pictured above is a Tynietoy Chippendale sitting on a miniature carved Chippendale Chair.  The larger version here was a recent purchase at an estate sale.  It measures about 2 feet tall and 12 inches across.

 The chair is carved from oak and the seat is upholstered in red velvet.  I am considering recovering it in a more traditional fabric.

 The chair seemed like an interesting place to display my smallest miniatures.  I have a 1/144 scale house and all of its belongings.

 I acquired most of the pieces from a fellow miniaturist who had recently purchased in bulk, 'tons' of the lead miniatures.

Everything you would need to set up house - from kitchen, living room, bathroom, even a bassinet and a vacuum.   There is even a small wishing well for the yard.