Antique Wax Doll with Provenance

One of my birthday gifts this year was another lot with provenance, similar to my teddy bear find from a few months ago. I love receiving toys like this, those that come with pieces of their associated history. Handling such a toy is a very moving experience, as you actually see the now long-gone child who first held the toy so many years ago.

This lot is comprised of a baby doll who came with many pieces of clothing made just for her, and a photo of her original owner and their house. The doll dates from the late 1800s, and is a 14 inch cloth doll with a very worn wax face. She was clearly much beloved by her original owner's family, who patched and repatched  her, and kept her things together for so long.

The doll was, I am told, chosen for her original owner because of the resemblance she had to the little girl. Even in its worn condition, the similarity is still eerily apparent:

If you look closely at the picture of the owner's house, you'll see a lady in Victorian dress on the porch. Maybe she's the one who bought and dressed the doll, so long ago...

Antique Miniature Steiff Bear

I got my first antique miniature Steiff bear for my birthday this week. He's 5 inches tall, circa 1910, and has a great face.

For a sense of scale, he here is tucked inside a thermos mug:

Birthday Party!

Today's my birthday, and some of my teddy bears decided to set up a little party with my newest doll furniture.
The bears are mostly 1920s Shuco miniatures (the smallest are 2 1/2 inches high, while the largest are 5 inches), along with a 1910 Steiff, and the dining room set is by the Star Novelty Company, also circa 1910. The party accessories include a couple of old German-made cakes, teeny spoons (for the ice cream, of course) and lots of itty bitty gifts.

 A close-up of the cakes. The two molded ones are very old
German pieces, 

while the frosted cake is a Dolly Dear product, circa 1940.

 An overhead view of the festivities.

1910 Star Novelty Company Doll Furniture

As part of last weekend's dollhouse rearranging project, I also spent some time working on some larger furniture that is, sadly, homeless. The scale is so big (1 1/2") that it's all sized more for a small doll instead of a dollhouse. The set was made around 1910 by the Star Novelty Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. Fashioned of oak, the pieces feature details like leatherette seats on the chairs, a mirror on the buffet, and dresden-paper like trim on the china cabinet shelf. The tallest piece, the buffet, measures 8 inches tall. Below, an old German doll and 1920s Schuco miniature bear find the set to be just their size.

The dolly is clearly thinking, "how wonderful Tracy is: 

she bought all this just for me!"

Now she's wondering if she can sneak an apple out of the fruit display without it all tumbling down.

Tea for two. Bear hopes there's honey...

"Don't worry: I'll bring the cake over. 

I can just reach it, if I stand on my toes..."

1890s Dunham's Cocoanut Dollhouse

(This post is especially for Norma, who requested more pictures of my dollhouses!)

When I first started collecting dollhouses and miniatures, one of the pieces I most longed for was the Dunham's Cocoanut Dollhouse, made in America in the 1890s. The odd name belies its origins: the house was originally a packing crate for Dunham's Cocoanut, a shredded confection used for baking, particularly as a cake topping. The 28 inch tall crate originally would have held several boxes of this shredded coconut product, and the house served as an advertising premium.

It's believed the crates arrived in stores already papered inside, ready to be converted into a dollhouse once they were emptied and stood on end. The lithographed floor and wall papers are awash with details, including rugs, tile, and loads of Victorian bric a brac like potted ferns, pianos, paintings, shelves, china cabinets, even a taxidermied moose head and an aquarium full of fish. And, lest we forget this house was essentially a marketing device, the cupboard lithographed on a kitchen wall is stocked full of tiny Dunham's Cocoanut boxes!

The outside of the crate has impressed bricks and windows on each side, and is stamped "Dunham's Cocoanut Dollhouse" on both ends. No one is really sure how the houses were distributed after the coconut was sold, and they are hard to find today. Considering their original purpose, most remaining examples are in rough shape now, with water staining, torn and missing paper, and a prominent crack down the back, caused by the joining of the two planks used to fashion the crate's bottom.  Even so, the house, with its fantastically detailed wallpapers, is a treasure, providing a peek into late Victorian domestic life.

It's also an outstanding example of a very early marketing premium. Besides the house itself, children could send away for individual cardboard pieces of furniture, each emblazoned with the Dunham's logo. You would have had to really like shredded coconut in order to acquire enough pieces to completely furnish the house! This furniture is now exceedingly rare: I've only ever seen one set, and it was in a museum. Consequently, lucky Dunham's house owners fit out their homes with whatever they can find that seems suitable. Mine features a mix of old pieces, including early 1900s German bedroom, dining, and parlor sets, and an American stove and icebox from the 1920s and '30s, along with some other odds and ends. The tour commences below.

The top floor of the house is a bedroom, complete with lace curtained windows. A 4 inch Limbach doll plays with her toys on the floor, next to her German bed with its original coverlet, and a matching wardrobe complete with clothes pegs and a mirrored door.

Down one floor we find the parlor, where a German dollhouse father relaxes on the sofa with his newspapers. The piano is on the wallpaper in the back left corner. The fruit compote dish in this corner is very old and also German made.

Next is the dining room, with the most wonderfully detailed wallpapers in the house: this is where we find the moose head and aquarium. The buffet, table, and chairs are from the same 1900s German set as the bed and wardrobe. I had a lot of fun laying out the breakfast foods and dishes and setting out the tea things on the buffet. The tiny tin trunk is actually a British candy container, which I've filled with extra dishes.

At the bottom of the house is the kitchen. The stove and icebox are American made, and I love the icebox, which came complete with its original glass "ice block". The copper tea kettle on the stove is Dutch. This is the room with the wallpaper cupboard holding the boxes of Dunham's Cocoanut.

I hope you've enjoyed this visit to my Dunham's Cocoanut Dollhouse!

Dollhouse Decorating

I meant to do some serious spring-cleaning over the past weekend. But I didn't. Instead, I spent several hours rearranging my dollhouses, a very addictive and time-consuming undertaking. Below are some photos of the finished results on my 13 inch 1900s lithographed paper house. (Note: the oversized interior wall and floor papers are original to the house.)

First, I fit out the house in scale, with a nursery upstairs and a kitchen down, using two antique German dollhouse dolls:

Then I redid the house, paying no mind to a sense of realistic scale. I went instead with a folk-arty look, similar to what a child playing with their own dollhouse would achieve, mixing pieces with no heed given to what belongs together. My favorite dollhouse china doll is technically too big for this house, but her dress goes well with the wallpaper and carpets, and I love the way she looks here, like a giantess in her kitchen. Meanwhile, her children, a collection of Frozen Charlottes and china head dollhouse dolls (and one just-a-head), play upstairs, and the dollhouse serves as a sort of display cabinet for them:

Ooops: I just noticed they've knocked the painting off the nursery wall in this second photo. Darn kids...

Vintage Barbie Thermos

My final garage sale find this past weekend was a great vintage Barbie thermos, labelled 1962. It features the original ponytail Barbie in various outfits. Now I just have to find the matching lunchbox...

Antique Building Blocks

Found a beautiful set of 1920s wooden building blocks at a garage sale over the weekend. They're still in their original box, and feature lovely pressed designs of bricks, stones, doors, and railings. Also included are windows with fragile cellophane panes. The whole set appears to be here, which seems amazing, although it only has half the lid...

Antique Milton Bradley Ten Pins Set

One of my greatest garage sale finds yesterday was this wooden tabletop ten pins set, made by Milton Bradley in the 1900s. The pins and balls are made of turned wood, and the pieces are in their original box. They all have a wonderfully smooth patina of age.

Dutch Village Puzzle

At a garage sale this weekend, I found this great wooden puzzle. It was made in Holland by Simplex, I'm guessing around the 1950s, and has a diameter of 7 1/2 inches. It features a charming village scene, and the great thing is, the pieces are quite thick, and when removed, can stand up to make a three-dimensional play town. Just a really great, cheery-looking toy!

Dollhouse Kitchen Set

Found these at a garage sale over the weekend, but can't readily identify them. They remind me of the very simple "educational" toy company dollhouses made for preschools, and appear to be from the 1950s or thereabouts. The baby is in a highchair on wheels: wheeee!

Garage Sale Report

Every Memorial Day weekend, a local community hosts a gigantic "Garage Sale" in its three-story civic center parking structure (or parking "garage": get it?). I braved the crowds and the heat, and found some great old toys at super-cheap prices. It's odd how it happens, but sometimes certain shows or sales end up delivering a theme; a week ago, I found all teddy bears at an outdoor antique show. At this sale, for some reason I found mostly old wooden toys, including:

--a fun wooden puzzle made in Holland, circa the 1950s. It depicts a little village, and when the pieces are removed, they can be stood up to make a three-dimensional play town.
--an antique Milton Bradley set of Ten Pins, complete with hardwood balls, circa the 1900s, in its original box.
--a set of beautiful 1920s building blocks, in their original box, too.
--an unusual set of dollhouse kitchen furniture that might be from a 1950s classroom playset. They have a chunky, "educational" look to them.
--and a 1962 Barbie thermos.

Pics to follow...

Steiff Dealer Display Piece

Found at an antique show last weekend was an amazing thing: a motorized Steiff dealer display piece from the 1980s (labelled West Germany). It features a permanently attached, gorgeous cream-colored mohair bear holding a Steiff flag (the pennant is a replacement) on a rotating stand marked "Official Steiff Dealer". The entire piece is about 18 inches tall, and originally it would have stood on top of a display case in a high-end toy shop or specialty store, slowly revolving, drawing attention to itself, urging shoppers to buy lotsa Steiff.

Teddy Bear Shoes

I got this great old bear, Nosey Parker, last week, and found a pair of antique toddler's boots at a weekend show that seem to suit him perfectly.

Here he is, showing them off:

With the addition of a dapper straw hat, Parker is ready
to hit the town:

1950s Pedigree Teddy Bear

At an antique show this past weekend, I found this rather odd teddy bear, made in Ireland by Pedigree in the 1950s. He has such a strange conformation, with those loooong legs and itty bitty stumpy arms:

And his head is even odder, described by several of my teddy bear guide books as "bulbous", with gigantic, oversized eyes and a huge schnoz made of molded felt. I've never seen a bear with features that fill so much of his face:

Country Antique Show Report

Another rainy day, another antique show...this one quite a distance from home, waaaaay out in the countryside, but well worth it.

Finds included:

     -a pair of early 1900s toddler's boots, in black and brown leather,

perfect for an antique teddy bear

     -the craziest looking bear I've ever seen: a 1950s British ted with
huge eyes, a big felt nose, and a

      smile that fills up the bottom third of his head

     -and a motorized Steiff dealer display from the 1980s, 

featuring a huge, revolving teddy bear

Pics soon!

Antique Teddy Bear Twins

The Teddy Bear Twins are a couple of (originally) matching 

16 inch British bears circa 1916-18. 

They belonged to twin brothers 

who moved to the United States in the 1920s.  

The bears were constant companions as the boys grew up.

The bear on the left has his original dark paw pads, while his
sibling on the right has felt replacements.

The bears have unusually long bodies, with very exaggerated humps, 

which can be seen in profile:

It's interesting to see how differently the matched pair of bears have evolved, due to the different use they withstood from their owners. Although both were clearly well-loved, one has definitely fared better, while his brother, in addition to losing his pads, has been squashed flat (probably from being slept on for years and years) and appears to have had a nose job.

I found these bears several years ago, and, I'm ashamed to say,

 haven't come up with names for them yet.

Suggestions welcome!