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!

Dollhouse Decorating

I meant to do some serious spring-cleaning over the past weekend. But I didn't. Instead, I spent several hours rearranging my dollhouses, a very addictive and time-consuming undertaking. Below are some photos of the finished results on my 13 inch 1900s lithographed paper house. (Note: the oversized interior wall and floor papers are original to the house.)

First, I fit out the house in scale, with a nursery upstairs and a kitchen down, using two antique German dollhouse dolls:

Then I redid the house, paying no mind to a sense of realistic scale. I went instead with a folk-arty look, similar to what a child playing with their own dollhouse would achieve, mixing pieces with no heed given to what belongs together. My favorite dollhouse china doll is technically too big for this house, but her dress goes well with the wallpaper and carpets, and I love the way she looks here, like a giantess in her kitchen. Meanwhile, her children, a collection of Frozen Charlottes and china head dollhouse dolls (and one just-a-head), play upstairs, and the dollhouse serves as a sort of display cabinet for them:

Ooops: I just noticed they've knocked the painting off the nursery wall in this second photo. Darn kids...

Antique Building Blocks

Found a beautiful set of 1920s wooden building blocks at a garage sale over the weekend. They're still in their original box, and feature lovely pressed designs of bricks, stones, doors, and railings. Also included are windows with fragile cellophane panes. The whole set appears to be here, which seems amazing, although it only has half the lid...

Antique Milton Bradley Ten Pins Set

One of my greatest garage sale finds yesterday was this wooden tabletop ten pins set, made by Milton Bradley in the 1900s. The pins and balls are made of turned wood, and the pieces are in their original box. They all have a wonderfully smooth patina of age.

Teddy Bear Shoes

I got this great old bear, Nosey Parker, last week, and found a pair of antique toddler's boots at a weekend show that seem to suit him perfectly.

Here he is, showing them off:

With the addition of a dapper straw hat, Parker is ready
to hit the town:

Antique Teddy Bear Twins

The Teddy Bear Twins are a couple of (originally) matching 

16 inch British bears circa 1916-18. 

They belonged to twin brothers 

who moved to the United States in the 1920s.  

The bears were constant companions as the boys grew up.

The bear on the left has his original dark paw pads, while his
sibling on the right has felt replacements.

The bears have unusually long bodies, with very exaggerated humps, 

which can be seen in profile:

It's interesting to see how differently the matched pair of bears have evolved, due to the different use they withstood from their owners. Although both were clearly well-loved, one has definitely fared better, while his brother, in addition to losing his pads, has been squashed flat (probably from being slept on for years and years) and appears to have had a nose job.

I found these bears several years ago, and, I'm ashamed to say,

 haven't come up with names for them yet.

Suggestions welcome!

1930s Little Orphan Annie Child's Teapot

It's always exciting to find a completer item while antiquing, and at a show this past weekend, I discovered this 1930s child's Little Orphan Annie lusterware teapot, 3 inches wide. I've had a couple of plates and a cup for ages, and even though the pot is missing its lid, it was still a very satisfying find.   Arf!

Antique Doll Dishes

Spotted in a tray full of miniatures at an antique show this past weekend were all these wonderful doll dishes and baking accessories. Made of china, they date mostly to the late 1800s, with the tiniest cup and saucer just after the turn of the century. The muffin pan (?) is 3 inches wide, while the smallest cup is just under 1 inch tall.

For a sense of scale, my 14 inch china doll agreed to pose, although she doesn't look particularly pleased about it:

1920s-'30s Dollhouse Hoosier Cabinet

I love Hoosier cabinets. It's strange, really: I don't cook or bake; in fact, my own kitchen serves primarily as display space for my PEZ dispenser collection and vintage toy stoves. But for some reason, I find Hoosier cabinets fascinating.
Their nostalgic appeal is undeniable, and it's ironically amplified the smaller the cabinet gets. Currently, I have 2 "life-size" Hoosiers, a homemade child's version, a doll-sized cabinet, and now, found at a weekend antique show, an even smaller dollhouse variety.

This wooden Hoosier measures 6 1/2  inches tall, and came with the accessories and kitchen chair shown. It was made by the Wisconsin Toy Company, a short-lived firm that manufactured dollhouse furniture in the 1920s and '30s. All the cupboards, drawers, and the pull-out shelf are functional.

My 5 inch dollhouse doll gives a sense of the Hoosier's scale. Below, the cabinet is fully stocked with all sorts of goodies. (As I look at this picture, I realize my dollhouse denizens actually have better supplied cupboards than I do...)

Worn Old Bear

In my antique teddy bear collection live several bears who are in minty condition, which is remarkable considering their 100+ year ages.
And while it's always a thrill to find such teddies, there's something touching about rescuing a spectacularly love-worn bear. The character present in the face of a ted who's been hugged almost to pieces, patched and re-patched, and yet carefully preserved, is really a priceless quality.

My latest such find is this 18 inch 1920s British bear who suffered from chronic Nose Kissing, which has resulted in the appearance below. He's very sensitive about it; the other bears and I try not to stare. But I feel it's given him a certain charm, and he looks like he's full of stories about the things he's seen over his long life. I call him "Nosey Parker."

Antique Dollhouse Dining Room Set

Here's my most recent find, not yet arrived, but I couldn't wait to post it. It's an almost complete set of dollhouse dining room furniture made in America circa 1910 by the Star Novelty Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.

The set includes 3 chairs (there should be one more, but it's gone missing), table, buffet, and china cabinet. The chairs have leatherette seats, and the whole lot is made of oak. It's in a large scale (the tallest piece measures 8 inches tall) almost sized more for small dolls rather than dollhouses. Can't you just picture this little one sitting here? With a little tea set on the table, and dishes in the cabinet....oh, I can't wait for it to come so I can play with it!

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.