Antique Toy Stoves

I don't like to cook in real life (in fact, I don't cook at all), but for some reason I find toy stoves very appealing. They're charming toys, they reveal a lot of social history, and they're perfect teddy bear and doll accessories. Here are a few from my collection, dating from the mid-1800s
to the early 1900s.


The silver and green stove at the top is American made, and says "Novelty" on the door. It measures 8 1/2 inches wide by 6 inches tall. It's made of cast iron and some kind of metal that has oxidized to a greenish hue, and there appears to be a nickel finish on the doors. This was a wood-burning stove, and it really worked. A fire inside the stove heated the burners on top, and probably the entire stove as well!

The small red and black stove is made of tin, and I believe it's German. It measures 8 1/2 inches tall. This was a pretend-cooking-only stove. (My three china dollies and their cook are using it in another post.)

The last stove, also German, is made of sheet metal and is very large, measuring 12 inches wide by 7 inches tall, not counting the stovepipe. This was another working stove, but it heated via alcohol burners (yikes!) which slide out of the stove body . Children actually cooked in the little pans, which are original to this stove.

STICKY: Free Toy Giveaway for Halloween! *UPDATE: We Have a Winner*

I've been thinking: just for fun, let's do a Free Toy Giveaway!

Getting a package of toys in the mail makes me really happy. I bet it makes you happy too. I think what the world needs right now is more people trying to help each other be happy.

So: I've got an extra 1960s Frankenstein Monster gumball machine prize and King Kong ring available. (Seriously, how many of these things do I need? I can only wear 2 Kongs at a time, and I've got enough Frankies to start an army and take over a small town.) Scroll down a few posts for details on these guys, if you're wondering what the heck they are.

If they appeal to you, send me a comment and tell me why you like/need them. Think of it as an adoption screening. (Please, no dealers looking to resell: my faith in the intrinsic goodness of humanity is wobbly, at best, and seeing these things for sale on ebay next week would really shatter it. Dealers who want to give them a happy home at their own house are fine, though.) Don't put your address in your comment unless you're okay with me posting it: when I announce the winner, you can send me another comment with your address, and I won't post that one.

There are no strings at all, just a few caveats: any toy giveaways are meant for adults only, as vintage toys can sometimes be dangerous for small children. Who knows how many kiddies choked on these Frankies back in the day...Also, I'm going to limit these giveaways to United States addresses only. Postage, customs, etc. etc., you know. Speaking of which: I'll pay the postage, so no worries there. I'll take comments through Saturday and pick a winner at random from all the ones I like on Sunday. Good luck!

*UPDATE: 10/11/09: We Have a Winner!
Morgan from Missouri is the winner, and here's her entry: "i would LOVELOVELOVE one of those little frankenthings because they are cutecuteCUTE and because i work at a library and just decorated the children's area yesterday AND because i love mail and love sending mail myself!" Morgan: I'll get these in the mail to you later this week. Hope you like them!

Watch for another free toy giveaway in December!

Spooky Primitive Folk Art Dolls

Happy October!

We're now in my favorite month of the year, so I'll be highlighting some of my favorite collections: spooky dolls, antique Halloween postcards and paraphernalia, and monster games and toys.

To start things off, here are some fantastic primitive/folk art dolls handmade by my friend Jane, who sells her work under the clever byline, "Nothing Plain By Jane." And plain they are not: her dolls are quirky, funny, weird and wonderful.

Above is Igor, her newest creation, while below are a long and lanky skeleton (he's almost a yard tall), and my first doll from Jane: Big Head Tillie. I have to turn her around at night so I can't see her eyes, or she freaks me out...

There's LOTS more dolls, but I'll finish up for now with a view of the Pumpkin Head Doll Patch, which covers the antique oak dresser in my bedroom (there's also a Pear Head Guy and a Melon Head Lady who sneaked in).

PEZ Head

This week we had our annual preschool Halloween Parade at the library I work at, and I dressed as one of my favorite collectibles, a PEZ dispenser. Here's a picture (I look dreadful: it was HOT inside there!):

Colorforms Castle Dracula Fun House Playset

It's taken me 30 years, but I've just finally replaced one of my all-time favorite childhood toys: the Colorforms Castle Dracula Fun House Playset. Considered by Colorforms aficionados to be one of the best sets ever created, it's also sought by vintage monster toy collectors, which tends to drive its price to truly horrific levels.

After several years of lost auctions, I broke down and bought this from a dealer who sells all of her sets in individual lots. That is, she sells every single piece in a set separately. The intent is to enable collectors who are missing a few bits to buy just the pieces they need, instead of another whole set. In my case though, this led to 20 minutes of frantic clicking and buying, particularly as this set has characters with separate tops and bottoms. I bought the Frankenstein monster's head and torso; would I manage to complete the purchase of his bottom half before someone else beat me to it? And the Wolfman was even worse: he had a top, bottom, and frequently-lost separate arm. The tension was unbearable as I raced to complete his three separate purchases, worrying that I would end up spending a small fortune only to have an incomplete set, full of monsters missing vital body parts.

Fortunately there were no other missing parts monster collectors looking at the same time, and I managed to get everything I needed. And the lucky dealer got enough from me to make her car payment, I would guess...but hey, I got my monster Colorforms back!