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 Cracker Jack Prize

I loved Cracker Jack as a kid. Back in the 1970s, they still put cool prizes in the boxes: tiny pinball games that actually worked, cute little plastic figures that we carried in our pockets and traded with friends, tattoos and glow-in-the-dark stickers, and punch-out scenes to build. But by the late 1980s, new safety standards had been applied and the prizes were hardly fit to be called such.

I still buy a box every once in a while, hoping against reason to find something fabulous inside, but I'm always disappointed. As an adult, my love of Cracker Jack prizes was rekindled when I discovered how much better even older prizes were: toy trains, tiny china dolls, itty bitty pieces of furniture, and this, one of the most longed-for antique Cracker Jack prizes on my wish list.

Dating from the 1920s, this "Breakfast Set" consists of teeny tiny real glass dishes (a plate, bowl, and cup) along with a metal spoon, all housed in a fragile matchbox. (Talk about safety hazards!) I don't know how excited some small child was to pull this fantastic prize out of her box of Cracker Jack 80 years ago, but I sure was to find it a few months ago!

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).