Friday, June 11, 2010

Freaky Marx Dollhouse Family

I found this family of vintage dollhouse dolls in their original box while antiquing for my birthday last weekend. They were made by the Marx Company in the early 1960s, and have plastic heads, hands, and shoes on poseable wire bodies with felt clothing. The children are about three inches tall, the parents five.


They're really not terribly attractive dolls, and they're also not nearly as old as most of the dollhouse pieces I usually collect. But here's why I bought them: their faces. Fast, haphazard painting by a factory line employee in Hong Kong has unintentionally resulted in crazy expressions. Mom looks like she's smelled something bad, and dad looks...well, I can't quite place his expression. Chagrin? Discomfort? A guilty conscience? The sudden realization that he left the toilet seat up? Stunned disbelief at learning the swaddled baby isn't his? Who knows, but it's definitely amusing.


Meanwhile, brother's expression can only be described as "shifty", as he glances toward his innocent little sister, malice clearly apparent in his cold, beady eyes:


10 comments:

  1. Once I had these dolls, I sold them. They're not the most beautiful dolls ;-)) but they are very special. Because they are so old and the nostalgia.
    Greetz, Nancy

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  2. Oh, No! You just bought the possessed satanic doll family and you brought them into your home?! Do not close your eyes. Do not sleep. Do not take your eyes off of them. Be armed at all times. They are scarier than your trolls (by far.)

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  3. You're right about their expressions! I think Dad looks like his head has been cut off and fixed back on badly, so it doesn't fit too well :-(
    I have the woman and the children living in my Eagle Toys Hexagonal House - and some men in denim jackets who are due to come and visit the house. I'll have to check their expressions now!

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  4. I think Dad has just found out that the children are devil's spawn. And I'm with Christine (again!), and don't ever let them come into contact with the trolls, between them they'll create an unholy alliance and take over the world!

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  5. Yep, if I ever seem to have been away for longer than normal, you'll know what happened to me...an unholy Troll/Marx dollhouse people alliance has taken over my place...

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  6. i am also visited by this strange family, they came with an 80's giant cardboard play-inside dollhouse.. they are wildly off-scale to the house ~
    http://friendlyghost.typepad.com/photos/ghost_toy_catalogue/cardboard-dollhouse-1.html

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  7. although now looking i see my set were painted nicely & without apparent possession issues..

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    Replies
    1. You got lucky: most of the sets I see have rather disturbing facial expressions, like these!

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  8. Just found a box of these. Would like to know the value. Can anyone help with that?? Thanks

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