1860s China Dolls

Just got this family of little china dolls, all circa the 1860s. The 8 1/2 inch doll on top has such a sweet face, I thought. She just looks like she wants to bake you some cookies and hear all about your day. The two tiny dolls on the bottom are dollhouse sized, 6 and 4 inches, respectively. Although worn, they've got a lot of character, I felt. I wonder what they've seen in their 150 years...

1895 Cooke's Fairy Furniture

Just found this wonderful piece of miniature furniture made by Cooke's Indestructable Toys way back in the 1890s. It's held up quite well for such a fragile item, so the company was apparently well named! Cooke's called this dollhouse accessory line their "Fairy Furniture," as can be seen in the accompanying original ad. Printed on heavy cardboard, the ad actually forms the base of the sofa, and makes this set readily identifiable.

1908 Teddy Bear Dolls

These are two of the most unique items in my antique teddy bear and doll collection. Called Teddy Girls or Teddy Dolls, they were made around 1908, the year that the teddy bear craze swept America. Doll sales temporarily plummeted, causing manufacturers to worry about their Christmas sales figures. Their solution was the creation of this hybrid half teddy bear, half doll. It was not well received: children wanting either teddy bears or dolls rejected it as being neither, and everyone else was just generally creeped out by it. Dismal sales led to a short shelf life, and Teddy Girls are now rather scarce. I was thrilled to find two very different examples. The large doll features a German-made painted metal head with glass sleep eyes, attached to an American-made bear body. The smaller doll is of a much simpler, more common type, with a celluloid face mask inserted into a teddy bear hood.

1914 Cass Grocery Toy

A recent find was this fragile toy grocery, made by the Cass Company in 1914. The little counter in the front folds up into the base for storage. The whole thing is about 9 inches tall.










I was also able to find an original ad for this item, which gives precise dating and also shows the products that came with the grocery. It's always an added thrill to find ads like these: they add a lot to a toy collection!

1800s Tin Kitchen

This tin kitchen playset dates from the mid to late 1800s. It was made in America, and represents a much simpler version of the fabulous German Nuremberg kitchens of the time. The kitchen measures about 12 inches wide by 8 inches tall, and most of the accessories are original to the set. One of its most interesting features is the water pump on the right side. It could actually be filled with water and then pumped into the sink fixed to the wall. These kitchens were not meant to be true to scale; rather, the idea was for little girls to learn cooking by playing with them, and for that they needed larger utensils. These tin kitchens were used for "cold cooking" (pretend), but there were also woodburning and alcohol stoves made for "hot cooking" (real). I'll list some of these 19th century versions of the Easy Bake Oven soon!

Tiny Toy Assortment

, This antique printer's tray full of small old toys sits on my coffee table. Everyone who visits tends to gravitate toward it: its pull is seemingly irresistable. The tiny compartments are filled with vintage Cracker Jack and gumball machine prizes, antique china dolls, miniature figures, toy trains and playsets, miniscule books, and lots more.