1890s Dunham's Cocoanut Dollhouse

(This post is especially for Norma, who requested more pictures of my dollhouses!)

When I first started collecting dollhouses and miniatures, one of the pieces I most longed for was the Dunham's Cocoanut Dollhouse, made in America in the 1890s. The odd name belies its origins: the house was originally a packing crate for Dunham's Cocoanut, a shredded confection used for baking, particularly as a cake topping. The 28 inch tall crate originally would have held several boxes of this shredded coconut product, and the house served as an advertising premium.

It's believed the crates arrived in stores already papered inside, ready to be converted into a dollhouse once they were emptied and stood on end. The lithographed floor and wall papers are awash with details, including rugs, tile, and loads of Victorian bric a brac like potted ferns, pianos, paintings, shelves, china cabinets, even a taxidermied moose head and an aquarium full of fish. And, lest we forget this house was essentially a marketing device, the cupboard lithographed on a kitchen wall is stocked full of tiny Dunham's Cocoanut boxes!

The outside of the crate has impressed bricks and windows on each side, and is stamped "Dunham's Cocoanut Dollhouse" on both ends. No one is really sure how the houses were distributed after the coconut was sold, and they are hard to find today. Considering their original purpose, most remaining examples are in rough shape now, with water staining, torn and missing paper, and a prominent crack down the back, caused by the joining of the two planks used to fashion the crate's bottom.  Even so, the house, with its fantastically detailed wallpapers, is a treasure, providing a peek into late Victorian domestic life.

It's also an outstanding example of a very early marketing premium. Besides the house itself, children could send away for individual cardboard pieces of furniture, each emblazoned with the Dunham's logo. You would have had to really like shredded coconut in order to acquire enough pieces to completely furnish the house! This furniture is now exceedingly rare: I've only ever seen one set, and it was in a museum. Consequently, lucky Dunham's house owners fit out their homes with whatever they can find that seems suitable. Mine features a mix of old pieces, including early 1900s German bedroom, dining, and parlor sets, and an American stove and icebox from the 1920s and '30s, along with some other odds and ends. The tour commences below.

The top floor of the house is a bedroom, complete with lace curtained windows. A 4 inch Limbach doll plays with her toys on the floor, next to her German bed with its original coverlet, and a matching wardrobe complete with clothes pegs and a mirrored door.

Down one floor we find the parlor, where a German dollhouse father relaxes on the sofa with his newspapers. The piano is on the wallpaper in the back left corner. The fruit compote dish in this corner is very old and also German made.

Next is the dining room, with the most wonderfully detailed wallpapers in the house: this is where we find the moose head and aquarium. The buffet, table, and chairs are from the same 1900s German set as the bed and wardrobe. I had a lot of fun laying out the breakfast foods and dishes and setting out the tea things on the buffet. The tiny tin trunk is actually a British candy container, which I've filled with extra dishes.

At the bottom of the house is the kitchen. The stove and icebox are American made, and I love the icebox, which came complete with its original glass "ice block". The copper tea kettle on the stove is Dutch. This is the room with the wallpaper cupboard holding the boxes of Dunham's Cocoanut.

I hope you've enjoyed this visit to my Dunham's Cocoanut Dollhouse!

Antique American Teddy Bear with Provenance

I've been collecting antique teddy bears for about 15 years, and I've just finally managed to acquire something I've longed for all that time: a bear with provenance. The greatest associated item one can hope for with an antique bear is a photo of the original owner holding said bear. The next best: a photo of the original owner, period. This find falls into a category of its own, as it includes a picture of the original owner, family photos, a handwritten geneaology, and a children's book, also from the original owner and inscribed with his name.

The bear is a 10 inch American ted, with a definitive date of 1917, given to his original owner when he was born. The bear has an inset fabric nose and glass bead eyes, and sports one of the greatest smiles I've ever seen on an antique teddy.

He was originally purchased for Daniel Munn Richmond, Junior, of Grundy Center, Iowa. Below is a school picture of Daniel, aged 6. Isn't he a cutie? And, if you look closely, you'll see an illustration of the Three Bears on the wall behind him...

Here's the inscription on the photo's back. It reads: "Daniel Munn Richmond, Junior  Age 6 years  May 1924   Grundy Center   Grundy Co.  Iowa"

A whole sheaf of genealogical treasures came with Daniel's bear, including photos of his family (that's mom and dad below), a handwritten family tree dating back to the 1770s, and a letter from his family members who sold the bear to my dealer (the same dealer who provided my Victorian doll trunks full of toys: she's really good at finding stuff like this):

The final item in the lot was this 1919 children's book, Doctor Rabbit and Grumpy Bear, inscribed with Daniel's name.

Daniel died in 1968 at the relatively young age of 51, but I hope he would be comforted to know his bear is being well-looked after.

(Another) Victorian Doll Trunk Full of Toys

Last December, I posted about a Victorian doll trunk full of antique toys that I purchased for Christmas. Well, incredibly, another one has come my way, and the neat thing is, its the very same pattern, just a smaller size, measuring 12 inches wide by 6  1/2 tall. The trunk and the toys within, left by the original owner, date from the 1890s - early 1900s, just as with the previous one.

The contents included a 14 inch china head doll wearing her old, handmade dress; a 5 inch dollhouse doll with a mohair wig, in her original clothing; a tiny jointed all bisque doll, only 2 inches tall; a tin toy horse, 3 3/4 inches long; two 5  1/4 inch J. & P. Coats Company advertising paper dolls, complete with extra outfits and hats; a child-made patchwork doll quilt; and a handcrafted needle case made from birch bark, probably an arts and crafts project done at a Victorian children's summer camp.

Inside the trunk.

The big china doll, wearing her simply smashing hat.

She is ready for her tea.

All the other goodies. The child-made

doll quilt and needle case are on the far right.

Here are some close ups of the paper dolls, which are incredibly beautiful. They were actually advertising premiums for the J.& P. Coats Company, later known as Coats & Clark, which made cotton thread. Several series of dolls were printed, and girls were encouraged to "collect them all!" The company's advertising information was printed on the back of each piece. Click on the picture to enlarge, and you'll see that one doll features kittens, while the other has several different toys, including a rather frightening jack in the box, a ball, and dollies of her own.

Here are a few close ups of the small dolls: the dollhouse doll, who is wearing her original, sewn-on dress with a cotton lace overlay and a big, bustly ribbon, and the itty bitty baby doll.

A snazzy polka dotted underskirt!

The itty bitty 2 inch all bisque baby.

Lastly, here's the tin horse, who just fascinates me. I'm not sure if he was originally flat like this, or if he was left outside and run over by something, perhaps one of those new-fangled "horseless carriages"...either way, he was obviously special to his young owner, who carefully tucked him away in the trunk when his playing days were over.

As always with these trunk lot finds, its remarkable to me that everything stayed together for so long and in such fine shape (horsie excepted), and it's very touching to handle the items and wonder about the child, or children, who played with them so long ago...

The Bloo Family

One of the highlights of toy collecting is finding a group of toys that have remained together since they were packed up by their original child owner. It's interesting to see what children liked to keep together, and how they played with and stored their toys. Some of my oldest such finds date back to the 1890s (a doll trunk full of bisque dolls, their furniture, accessories, and tea sets).

One of the quirkiest is much more recent: a group of 1960s trolls, found inside a vinyl troll house, where they had been carefully stored by their original owner. Said child was clearly a very tidy and color-coordinated kid: her trolls were selected for the way their hair and clothes complemented each other. I call them "The Bloo Family". They're in minty shape too: this child was clearly a neat freak.

Mrs. Bloo is a 3 1/2 inch troll by an unknown maker. She has white mohair and wears a vintage felt troll dress and hair bow. Mr. Bloo, besides being a nudist, is a '64 Dam with a fantastic shock of blue mohair, and their daughter is a tiny 2 inch Scandia House pencil topper.

This guy, also blue of course, was in the case with the family of trolls above. I call him "The Bloo Family's Crazy Uncle, Who Lives in the Attic".

Miniature German Doll

This little 7 inch German bisque and composition doll was included in the Victorian trunk lot, described in an earlier post. Isn't she lovely? Santa did a good job bringing her this year!

Victorian Doll Trunk Full of Toys

A few months ago I mentioned a wonderful Victorian doll trunk filled with its original owner's toys that I was going to buy for Christmas. Well, it's here now, and it's awesome!

The trunk dates from the 1880s, and the toys are from the same time period, up through the early 1900s. The trunk measures 16 inches wide by 9 inches tall, and is made of lithographed paper over wood with metal trim. There's a tray inside, under which is the main compartment.

Inside the trunk are: 2 small dolls, including a 7 inch German bisque head with tiny blue glass sleep eyes, a beautiful mohair wig, and a composition body, and a 6 inch French Unis doll of similar make; a wooden doll table with a handmade linen tablecloth featuring a "pulled work" design and a miniature tea set; a handstitched needle case (probably the child owner's project); handmade dolly stockings; a gorgeous green silk doll bonnet covered in delicate lace; an 18 inch tall Armand Marseille Mabel doll with lots of play damage, but in her factory original outfit, with beautiful brown glass eyes; and a lovely German made children's tea set.

Each toy individually is a wonderful item, but this is definitely a case where the sum of the total is greater than its parts. For all these toys to have stayed together for over 100 years, safely tucked away in their trunk by their original owner, is amazing. As I look at these toys, I feel I've been given a glimpse into the world of the little girl who owned them so long ago.