Dunham's Cocoanut Dollhouse Plagiarism...

I don't know whether to be flattered, creeped out, or incensed by this (although I'm leaning towards the latter) but there is currently an eBay listing for an 1890s Dunham's Cocoanut Dollhouse that has lifted the description I wrote last month for my Dunham's blog post almost word for word. You'd think for the price the seller is asking ($875) he could afford a decent copy writer...

Church Rummage Sale Finds: Vintage Barbie and Board Game

A local church had its annual summer festival this past weekend, and it included a rummage/jumble/white elephant sale. A lot of collectors have given up on these sorts of sales, in the belief that things like eBay and the Antiques Road Show have resulted in a much more antiques-savvy public, who know better than to donate valuable items to be sold for pennies. But I optimistically persevere, and am occasionally rewarded with a treasure. Or, in this case, two treasures. Amongst the miles of tables full of household detritus, I finally spotted:

1) Why: the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Game from 1958:  complete and in fantastic condition. Price: .75 cents!!! This is a much-sought vintage game that typically sells in the $45-$65 range, with appeal for TV, movie, horror, toy, and board game collectors.

2) a 1963 Barbie Fashion Queen doll, with two of her three original wigs, also in great condition. Price: $5.00!!! This Fashion Queen would normally retail for about $50-70.

I gleefully scooped them both up and raced for the checkout, where a smiling little old church lady took my $5.75. For a moment, I felt a pang of guilt and thought, "should I tell her what these are and how they should be priced?" But I didn't. I am SO going to hell....

Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Game, Why, is basically a paranormal version of Clue, the classic detective game. The premise is that Alfred's mansion, depicted on the wonderfully illustrated game board, is haunted by several ghosts, and he's hired four famous detectives, one of whom is played by you, to determine how and why the ghosts were murdered. 

The detectives are clever spoofs of famous mystery icons like Sherlock Holmes and Dick Tracy:

The Fashion Queen Barbie was an unusual entry in the legendary doll line. Instead of rooted hair, she featured a molded 'do, and came with three wigs in differing colors and styles so her young owner could change her looks. Unfortunately, the materials in the wigs and head reacted badly to each other over time, resulting in chemical melt marks to the doll's cranium if the wigs were left in place for an extended period. This makes finding a Fashion Queen in good condition a bit trickier than one might expect. My rummage sale find is amazingly and delightfully melt mark free.

Here she is as found, with her two wigs:

Here she is with her brunette flip:

And with her red bubble cut:

 Barbie is dressed for church...

Vintage Doll Glider Swing

I found this doll glider at an outdoor antique show last weekend, and couldn't wait to get it home and load it up with dolls and bears. It measures about 14 inches tall, and was probably made in the 1950s. Below, a 1900s German bisque doll and two 1920s American teddies enjoy a swing on the lawn.

Antique Doll Trunk

I found this small lithographed wooden doll trunk at an antique show last weekend, and even though it's in rather rough condition, it still charmed me. It's an appealing size, measuring only about 10 inches wide, and appears to have been an advertising premium from the Brantford Starch Company of Brantford, Ontario, Canada.

I've loaded it up for display with an antique children's tea set 

and a tiny china doll.

Antique Dollhouse and Miniature Bear

Recently, I posted about my first antique American lithographed wooden dollhouse. Last weekend, I was thrilled to acquire another one at an outdoor antique show, along with a miniature Steiff bear who is just the right size to live inside.

Here is the new house (on the right) with its predecessor:

They were both made by the same unknown company in the very early 1900s, and feature fronts that swing open to reveal two simple rooms papered with their original oversized wall coverings. These houses are sometimes referred to as "Gutter Houses" by dollhouse collectors because of the prominent piece of molding that runs along their roofline, resembling a gutter. They were probably made in imitation of the more expensive Bliss houses available at the same time. They originally had red-stained roofs that tend to fade badly with time; my first house has a roof that was repainted green, probably around the time of the Great Depression in the 1930s, when it may have been refurbished and gifted to a needy child. This new house is all original, and even smaller than the first, being only about 10 1/2 inches high.

Two tiny antique Steiff bears have moved in to the first floor, where they are presently having tea.