Smithsonian Miniature finds

I had the opportunity to travel to Washington DC.  The Smithsonian was on my list of things to do.  I was surprised to find quite a few dollhouses scattered around in the National Museum of American History.

This first dollhouse belonged to the children of President Grover Cleveland and was made by the White House Gardener in 1896.  It was part of a display of the toys of the White House Children.

This green roofed dollhouse belonged to Amy Carter, daughter of former President Jimmy Carter.  It dates from 1979.  The mailbox had the address "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" painted on it.

This charming little bungalow was with a display of toys from the 1920's.  I have found this house in Diane Zillner's Book Antique Dollhouses and their Furnishings.  It states that the roof flips up and that that it was probably made in Germany.  The railing on the porch and the textured shingles are made from pressed cardboard.

 I was surprised to come across this display.  I had not heard of Faith Bradford or her dollhouse - but it was amazing.  It had everything from Tynietoy to homemade and antique pieces. The display also has a scrapbook that the she kept on the collection.

The collection was donated to the Smithsonian in 1951.

Here is a picture I found online of Faith Showing the house back in 1966.  It was curteousy of the Washington Star.

There is a good website here that has details about each of the rooms:
http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/small_exhibition.cfm?key=1267&exkey=376&pagekey=812

Donna Lee Doll House Furniture

The Donna Lee line of furniture was produced during the 1940's and was less expensive than other brands that were popular during this time.  Woodburn Manufacturing of Chicago produced the 3/4" scale furniture.  The box sets that I have are pink and blue, which was produced in the late 1940's.   One of the things that I like best about this set is that "Donna Lee" was the name of Dave Rapaport's daughter, the president of the company.  The furniture is pretty primitive with not much detail.   

I was able to purchase three box sets in the boxes a while back.  The bathroom and the kitchen boxes and furniture are in excellent condition.  The living room box is in pretty shabby shape.

 The bathroom set includes a tub, a toilet, a sink, a scale, a mirrored medicine cabinet, and a dressing table with a bench.

The kitchen set includes an ironing board and an over-scale iron along with a sink, stove, refridgerator, table and chairs.

The dining room has a table, 4 chairs, a china cabinet and a buffet.  It may have been played with?  I like the whimsical legs on the chairs.

Dees

I have seen these items by Dees Delights online off and on and finally decided to purchase a set.

I like the fact that they are heavy metal construction, just like the older Arcade pieces, but have a lot more detail.

My Bookhouse

The BookHouse

I discovered the wooden bookhouse at a garage sale a while back and decided it would be a great miniature room box.  At first I had no idea what it was, I assumbed it was some sort of multi-level dollhouse.  After closer inspection, I discovered a bronze name plate on the bottom which reads "Cabinet by Churchill, Chicago"  I began doing some research and found that the company manufactured radio boxes back in the early part of the century.  Some more internet research helped me to discover what the "My BookHouse" decal was on each side of the structure.

A close up of the decal above the painted window, note also the small window cut into the gable.

A close-up of the bronze plaque on the bottom.

This side of the house has a lot more paint ware.  I have left it in it's original state.  More research led me to the purpuse of the house.  It was designed to promote and hold a series of books called My Bookhouse.  My Bookhouse was originally published in 6 thick volumes bound in black cloth with pictorial paste-ons and gilt lettering, which I later found at a local estate sale.  In 1927 the six volumes were sold as a set in a wooden house  with a red roof, two red chimneys, gray walls, and a window at each end. Included were three volumes of the taller My Travelship series, consisting of Little Pictures of Japan (by Katharine Sturges, 1925, dark blue), Tales Told in Holland (by Maud and Miska Petersham, 1926, red) and Nursery Friends from France (by Maud and Miska Petersham, 1927, light blue).

I collected the three large books to complete the collection.

Needless to say, I didn't end up with a miniature room box afterall, but a great conversation piece and I learned something in the process!

The Crescent Moon Cottage

I won this antique, hand made house in an auction few years ago. It is the current residence for my Tynietoy collection. I believe it was built in the 1920's.  It combines a little craftsman style, with a bungalow style roof and a few other architectural elements that make this old house pretty cool.  Each room is fitted with a ceiling mounted electric bulb and still has the ceramic insulators and fabric wrapped wiring.  As of now, its called the Crescent Moon Cottage, until I come up with something better.

The front of the house has real glass windows with painted mullions and moon cut-outs in the hunter green shutters.  The roof is covered with individual painted wood shingles and the base of the house is carved wood made to look like large pieces of cut stone.   The door knob on the front door is actually part of a mechanism that releases a lock to open up the front of the house like a bi-fold door.

The one story section of the house was added on at some point and houses a small kitchen.

Note also the window boxes and carved decorative brackets at the front porch and roof.

The rear of the house has windows symmetrically placed on each side of a large carved wooden chimney, made to look like cut stone or large bricks.  The chimney also serves as a support when the front portion of the roof is opened to reveal the attic.  At some point, all of the windows on the rear were filled in with wood panels - I think this was to allow for more wall space inside the house.

One end of the house has the first floor bay window with the same wood shingles.  Note also one of two diamond shaped windows on the attic room.

The attic also has a bungalow shed style dormer window.

A detail of the "stone" base that turns into the front steps.

The front door leads directly into the living room.  Currently the living room has kind of mohair type fabric carpet and the original curtains and original fireplace.  the rough solid wood walls are painted a glossy creamy yellow.  An arch leads into the dining room.

The dining room has the same carpet and paint on the walls.  note the wood "plug" where the window was before the kitchen was added on.

The small kitchen has two different sized windows to allow for a sink with a view and third that was plugged by the previous owner behind the arcade hoosier cabinet.

There are two large bedrooms upstairs one painted pink and one painted blue.

Another archway divides the two bedrooms upstairs and the house still has it original curtains.  The bed, dresser and desk in this room are not Tynietoy but from the same period.

The attic is one large space that I may divide into a couple of rooms, including a bathroom.

I have been looking at some fabrics to use as wall coverings. 

Christmas Village

Each year we enjoy setting up our "village" The village started out as a starter kit with 3 pieces on our first Christmas. It has become quite the family tradition. We have added a piece or two each year after and it has grown into a mini-metropolis. Almost all of the pieces are all from Mervyn's Village Square.

The kids love to help layout the buildings, place the people and especially throw the snow.












The pieces have become harder to come by now that they have closed Mervyn's here in Oklahoma, but They come up once and a while on Ebay.


Here are some how-to ideas for setting up your village:

http://tulsatinystuff.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to-set-up-christmas-village.html

My Arcade Collection

Manufactured in Freeport, Ill., USA, Arcade Toys emphasized realism, although the use of painted cast iron for tables, benches and chairs (even over-stuffed chairs and sofas)  tested the limits of their slogan, "They look real." On the other hand, metal was appropriate for kitchen appliances. Made from 1925 to 1936,  Arcade furnishings are well designed in a larger than usual scale, 1:16 and marked on the bottom or back with the manufacturer's name embossed into the cast iron along with it part number.

My Arcade collection currently resides  here

To read about the Arcadian story book, click here