In the mid to late 1960s I coveted (drooled over) the wonderful Petite Princess dollhouse furniture by Ideal. I never even saw it in person, just in the Christmas catalogues, but I wanted it so much. I was, by some opinions, outgrowing dolls and these 3/4 inch scale treasures were not to be mine.
Not then, anyway.
There are so many things I love about these rooms (The actual rooms are cardboard and fold flat). The details are incredible. There is a metronome on the piano. The bookends are little horses heads with gold bound books. The coffee table came with large decorative cigarette lighter and ashtray. Can you imagine the uproar if you put smoking paraphernalia in a child's toy today. Kids can't even eat those chalky white Popeye cigarette candies we used to get.
Fast forward through a happy, adventurous life to last November when I found two very different dollhouses at local thrift shops (I will tell you about them in a later blog) and fell head over heels in love.
My passion for learning and acquiring was overwhelming and I jumped into the internet with both feet, gathering all the information I could. I wanted to know everything, and I wanted to know it yesterday. I absorbed everything I could find. Of course I came across my old love, Petite Princess Fantasy rooms.
Just before Christmas I discovered it was easy to find Petite Princess on eBay and, happily, the prices were within my reach. I went a little nuts and bought rooms, furniture, accessories. I justified it by saying it was my Christmas present to myself. That would have been fine, except I bought myself several other presents too.
Still, though my credit card suffered, I didn't regret it for a minute. I had this lovely living room and dining room to enjoy for the holiday and I had the fun of decorating them for Christmas.
Still, though my credit card suffered, I didn't regret it for a minute. I had this lovely living room and dining room to enjoy for the holiday and I had the fun of decorating them for Christmas.
There are so many things I love about these rooms (The actual rooms are cardboard and fold flat). The details are incredible. There is a metronome on the piano. The bookends are little horses heads with gold bound books. The coffee table came with large decorative cigarette lighter and ashtray. Can you imagine the uproar if you put smoking paraphernalia in a child's toy today. Kids can't even eat those chalky white Popeye cigarette candies we used to get.The little in tea cart came with a wine bottle and wine glasses.
The armchairs are upholstered in a sparkly lame. They came in various colours. I love the whimsey of it. The wing back chair is a chinese brocade with gold thread.
The cupboards and drawers really open. The porcelain pieces for the top of the buffet are really porcelain.
The dog doesn't go with the furniture. It isn't even vintage, but it is an homage to my beloved Labrador Retriever who gave us 15 years of love and loyalty before her old body wore out on her.
When I was in my buying frenzy for the Petite Princess treasures I discovered that many of these wonderful toys had never been removed from their original boxes. Was this old store stock. Had they been unpopular and never sold. Did they sit in stock rooms for decades?
The armchairs are upholstered in a sparkly lame. They came in various colours. I love the whimsey of it. The wing back chair is a chinese brocade with gold thread.
The cupboards and drawers really open. The porcelain pieces for the top of the buffet are really porcelain. I don't have any 3/4 scale dolls, so this little fairy is house sitting until a family can be found for the house. After all, someone has to look after the dog.
The dog doesn't go with the furniture. It isn't even vintage, but it is an homage to my beloved Labrador Retriever who gave us 15 years of love and loyalty before her old body wore out on her.
When I was in my buying frenzy for the Petite Princess treasures I discovered that many of these wonderful toys had never been removed from their original boxes. Was this old store stock. Had they been unpopular and never sold. Did they sit in stock rooms for decades?
If so, it was bad for Ideal, but great for us today. After all these years, I can drool over these lovely things in person.
Found your site while doing research on PP. Would love to connect...and you are right about the cigarette issue!! I never thought about that before :-)
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