Christmas Loot 2009

Well, the Christmas bacchanalia is over. Here's a glimpse of some of this year's loot: vintage Barbies, antique doll furniture and dishes, a tin toy grocery store, teddy bears, books, and a new camera (thanks to my brother Jody, the quality of pictures here will be much improved). Details in the following posts!

Hope everyone had a very happy holiday!

Vintage Tin Grocery Store

I got a much longed-for toy this Christmas: a General Grocery tin shop made by Wolverine Toys in the 1930s. The side panels fold out to reveal beautifully lithographed scenes, and the awning can be raised. The separate counter is missing, as often found, but the set still has its shop phone and scale and some of its original miniature packages. Just a beautiful toy!

New & Old Toys

I collect mostly antique and vintage toys, but sometimes I do find new items that appeal to me. In the latter category are the wonderfully creative, very modern miniature teddy bears made by Peng Peng of Chicago. Here are some of the bears doing their holiday housekeeping and grocery shopping for Christmas dinner. The kitchen playset and grocery stores are from the 1940s-1950s, but the bears seem to fit right in!

Antique Dollhouse Food

These two sets of French or German-made dolly food date from the late 1800s - early 1900s.
They're made of hand-painted plaster, and the largest pieces measure about 2 1/2 inches across. They're a bit large for most dollhouses; perhaps they were meant for toy kitchens or doll play.

These pieces are wonderful on their own, but what makes them even more special is that most are still tied down with twine in their original packages. The boxes themselves are quite beautifully lithographed with scenes of children cooking and eating.

It's always especially exciting to discover such a fragile old toy that has survived in this condition: these were one of my greatest finds ever!

1930s Dollhouse Food

Antique and vintage dollhouse food is one of my favorite toys to collect. Not easy to find, its always especially exciting to come across a type I haven't seen before, or a set in its original box.

This set, featuring hand-molded food on metal plates, dates to the 1930s. Each plate measures about 1 1/4 inches wide. On the back of the box is its original price sticker, $1.50, from the John Wanamaker Department Store.

Antique German Dollhouse Food

I've been keeping an eye out for more goodies to stock my German toy grocery store (see earlier post), and I just spotted these. From the early 1900s - 1920s, these German-made plaster pieces are charmingly primitive. I find them much more appealing somehow than today's ultra-realistic dollhouse food. These remind me of the dollhouse meal the Two Bad Mice smashed in frustration in Beatrix Potter's classic storybook...


Another find for the shop was this 1930s German flour sack. The shelves are slowly filling up!

1930s German Toy Grocery Shop

Another addition to my growing collection of toy grocery stores, this is my first German shop. Dating from the 1930s, with a great deco design, it measures about 15 inches wide by 13 inches tall. The little wooden drawers still have their original handles and labels for salt, pepper, rice, pickles, cookies, and tea. It came with some lovely accessories: miniature boxes of Knorr products (soup mixes?), tiny tins (for cookies?), a cheese on a glass dish, and a fantastic and very old compote of fruit. A 1920s Schuco bear watches over the cheese and sausage counter.

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Book Review

Collector's Guide to Housekeeping Toys, 1870-1970, by Margaret Wright. Published by Collector Books, January 2007. ISBN 978-1574325409. $16.95. 285 pages.

While not a comprehensive reference source, this charming paperback provides a fun introduction to its topic, presented in full-color with great, crisp photography. Toys covered include American-made stoves, miniature cupboards, grocery stores, cookware, tea sets, wash day and housecleaning items, and much more. The author admirably conveys her delight in these objects as both simple toys and important sociological artifacts, writing in the introduction: "toys...are historical documents...American history can be taught with 20 items on a table, beginning with an 1880 cast-iron stove and ending with a plastic tea set, components of the Industrial Revolution and modern technology." Her love for these toys is infectious: you'll find yourself wanting to "play house" after you finish reading this wonderful little book!

1940s American Toy Grocery Store

I just love these little toy grocery shops! They're perfect for using in displays with small antique dolls and teddy bears (who like shopping too, you know!).
I'm thinking this is American, probably from the 1940s, and many of the products shown are original. The set measures about 10 1/2 inches high. The little cans and packages are all wooden with paper labels, while the breads, ham, and steak are plaster.
(See the entry for the 1914 Cass toy grocery for an antique example, the 1950s British toy grocery for a very different style, and the 1930s German shop for another.)

1950s British Toy Grocery Shop

A wonderful find from England: a toy grocery shop from the 1950s, complete with original products (lots of tea, of course!). The shop is 15 1/2 inches tall.

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!