Antique Doll Chamber Set

Just found this wonderful doll-sized chamber set, dating from the late 1800s - early 1900s. Includes a pitcher (4 inches tall), chamber pot, soap dish, and toothbrush holder. The porcelain appears to be handpainted, and the set was probably made in Germany.

Looking at the chamber pot makes me really grateful for modern plumbing...

Victorian Dolls Tea Set

Along with the larger doll-sized dinner dishes shown in the post below, I found this wonderful miniature tea set, still in its original box.
Made in Germany around 1880, these sets were churned out rapidly and are consequently rather crude, but still quite charming.
Sized for small dolls or children's play, the set includes 6 cups and saucers along with a teapot and creamer. Each teacup is 1 inch tall.
The box lid, though faded with age, still bears its original lithographed label portraying little girls at a tea party.

German Matchbox Kitchen

This tiny carved wooden kitchen in a matchbox measures just 2 1/4 inches wide. It was made in Germany circa the 1920s, and features a lithographed label and interior background. It was part of a series of similar matchbox dioramas including butcher shops, apothecaries, butcher shops, sewing rooms, and more. It's so tiny and delicate, it's amazing to see how well it has survived these many years.

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!

1920s Miniature Googly Tea Set

Here's one of my favorite children's tea sets: a Googly character set from the early 1920s.
Googly eyes were a popular motif on toys at that time, appearing on dolls, in illustrations, and on this little tea set, which was made in Japan. The teapot is about 2 1/4 inches tall with the lid, and is marked Nippon on the bottom, while the cups are each 3/4 of an inch tall.

Antique China Head Doll

This German-made china head doll, circa the 1870s, is the largest in my collection, measuring in at 22 inches. She has a beautiful, rosy-cheeked shoulder-plate head in minty condition, along with her china arms and legs. Her dress is a recreation, but suits her beautifully. Here she is having a cuppa with her feet up after a long day...

Armand Marseille Floradora Doll

This was my first antique doll: a 13 inch Floradora by Armand Marseille, made in Germany in the late 1800s or very early 1900s. She's a special one because she's unplayed with, and still wears her factory-original undergarments, shift, socks, and felt booties. She would have been sold this way, and her first little owner would have made her dresses, probably with help from mom and grandma. This Flora has a beautifully done bisque shoulder-plate head with stationary, painted blue glass eyes and her original human hair wig, on a cloth, rag-doll style body.

Antique German Doll

This large, 19 inch German doll is one of my very favorites. Her bisque socket head has a great chubby face, with a roll of baby fat that makes her adorable. She wears a lovely old doll dress, and has an antique human hair wig that suits her beautifully.

Frozen Charlottes

These small immobile dolls are called Frozen Charlottes, and they date from the late 1800s - early 1920s. Sometimes called bathing dolls, they were usually crudely made of china.
The tiniest in my collection measures just 1 inch tall, while the largest is 3 1/2. The first doll is atypically made of clay, while the third doll is also unusual, as it appears to be a boy, and has a small thatch of hair and gold painted boots.
Frozen Charlottes look great in groups or clustered in arrangements, and also make good dollies for larger dolls to hold.

Victorian Dollhouse Dolls

This family of small bisque dolls were made in Germany specifically for dollhouses in the late 1800s. They live in my Dunham's Cocoanut Dollhouse, which dates to the 1890s, so they feel right at home. Mom and Dad measure 6 inches tall, and are wearing their original clothing. The little all-bisque girl, made by Limbach, is 4 inches tall, and wears her original dress. She's a sweetie...

Antique China Head Dollhouse Dolls

These little German-made china head dollhouse dolls measure about 4 and 5 inches tall, and date from the early 1900s. They were sold unclothed, and little girls were meant to hone their sewing skills by making them dresses. These two came from unsold store stock: they still have their legs delicately stitched together, to prevent breakage from clacking against each other during shipping.

This slightly larger doll wears a lovely ensemble crafted for her by her owner many, many years ago.

1920s Bisque Dollhouse Dolls

I found this family (and maid) of tiny German bisque dollhouse dolls tucked away in an old candy box, half-buried in a pile of junque in a dealer's showcase. Dating from the 1920s, they measure about 3 1/2 inches tall, with the maid (on the left) being a little bit smaller.

Grandpa lost an arm in the Great War, but that's okay: grandparents are rare dollhouse figures, so we love him anyway. (And no, Grandpa was not a cross-dresser. The manufacturers used the same standard legs on both sexes for efficiency in assembly, and just hoped we wouldn't notice.)

These dolls appear to have been sold naked, although I have seen others that look as if they were factory-dressed. I keep meaning to make them some clothes, but I haven't gotten around to it yet...they've been waiting for 80 years, so hopefully they won't mind waiting a few more.

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).

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!

Vintage Weebles Haunted House Playset

Ah, Weebles, a favorite toy of my 1970s childhood. Seemed like we always had a weeble or two in our pockets back then. Remember their ad jingle: "Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down!"?

Here's one of the most-sought Weeble sets, the Haunted House, just in time for Halloween. It originally came with a boy and girl with "scared" faces, a glow-in-the-dark ghost (still glows 40 years later!), and a witch with a removeable hat (usually lost and now very hard-to-find).

















Another great Halloweeny Weebles item was the purple Weebles Ghost Van. It's unclear whether it's a van for catching ghosts, or if it's a vehicle meant for ghosts to drive. The marketing storyline on this one was vague.

Speaking of marketing, though, I'll finish this post with a vintage ad for the Weebles Haunted House. Enjoy!