Teddy Bear in a Tin

Antique toy collecting is, in many ways, a treasure hunt, and treasures can sometimes be hiding in the most unlikely of places...like this rusty five inch wide tin box. 

 Nasty looking, isn't it? I'm amazed it wasn't just 

thrown out long ago...

But I'm extremely grateful it wasn't, because inside, 

where she clearly has lived for a very long time, 

was this four inch tall c.1910 Steiff bear and her silver tea set, 

all nestled in an antique embroidered silk cloth:

 Her tea set is itty bitty: the tray is two and a half inches long, 

and the teapot is just an inch tall.

For a sense of the bear's smallness, here she is nestled in my hand:

I thought she might appreciate being out of her box after such a long time tucked away, so here she is all moved into my antique tin kitchen, where she can make as much tea as she likes:

(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...

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.