Arcade Toys for the Dollhouse - A 1920s Kitchen

Recently I have been collecting cast iron toys from the 1920s. This is the kitchen from the Arcade Manufacturing Company of Freeport, Illinois.

There were two kitchen sets shown in the 1929 brochure. An electric kitchen and a gas kitchen. This one is the gas kitchen, but it has the electric sink.

This is the Roper gas range. The electric kitchen had a very similar stove, but it was a Hotpoint brand with electric burners where the gas ones are.

I believe that Arcade produced these toys under license and authorization from appliance and furniture companies. Each piece has a brand name on it.

The electric sink has a built in dishwasher - very advanced for the 1920s. I have not seen the real life equivalent, but it seems to be just a deep covered sink with an electric agitater on the bottom.

Mother and Ethel, the maid, are busy preparing dinner. The dolls are German dollhouse dolls from the 1920s.  The furniture is a large 1/12th scale, and I find it makes the dolls look small. But perhaps they are just petite ladies.

The butter churn on top of the fridge is just like the one my mother had when I was a child. It took some muscle to crank it until the butter was made. A computer keyboard doesn't give one the same kind of muscles.

It looks like the chicken is almost ready. Time to make the gravy,

I also added some Arcade pieces to the kitchen in my large Mystery house.  They are preparing dinner as well.

The Crane sink is in this kitchen and the ice box is an Alaska brand.

The Arcade company was founded by 2 brothers in 1896. Initially, they made spring hinges, coffee mills, and other household items.

1908 they began to make cast iron toy banks, and in 1921, Arcade brought out their first car - a Yellow Cab Taxi, under license and authorization from the cab company. The car was such a huge success that the company began to produce more toy vehicles, farm items and dollhouse furniture.

These toys were advertised as looking just like the real thing. This is the thing I really love about this furniture, Unfortunately most of the pieces suffer from paint loss - they are about 80 years old after all - so I love to find pieces that are in good shape.

I will try to collect other rooms of furniture as well. When I do I will share them. Thanks for stopping by.

Susan

Starting the new year right. My new antique doll's house.

 Happy New Year everyone!

I am starting 2016 with a new addition to my collection.

While visiting friends in Maryland I found this beautiful FAO Schwarz Mystery House in an antique shop.

This is one of several dollhouses made in the 1890s, and sold at FAO Schwarz. No one has ever discovered who made these houses, or whether it was one craftsman or a factory. Because of this, the esteemed dollhouse historian Flora Gill Jacobs coined the term "Mystery House." The houses came in many sizes with various architectural configurations. They all share two distinctive features - tramp art trim on the exterior, and painted parquet floors.

Long ago someone painted the house white with green trim. It doesn't look bad, but I hope to be able to restore the house to its original colour.

I am not sure the roof is original to the house. It is a different type of wood and the window frames are a different shape, but it suits the house so it's okay by me.

I put in the few pieces of furniture I also found in Maryland to give the house a lived in feel. I will do a more thorough decorating job when I get the house home.

The parquet floors are intact, but will look better after a good cleaning. The tramp art trim will also look better if I can get the white paint off. It should be a contrasting colour.

I am so excited to add this house to my collection. When I saw it in the antique shop I felt as if Santa had left it especially for me. What a thrill to find and then own this rare dollhouse.

My friends' dog, Mango, supervised as I furnished the house. She is a very sweet dog.

Happy New Year and all the best to you and yours in 2016.

Here is my F.A.O. Schwarz Mystery doll house - Antique Dollhouse

My F.A.O. Schwartz Mystery house

My cast is off and I am have finally able to take pictures of my FAO Mystery house to share with you.

I have  puttered with the furnishings and accessories for several months and feel that it looks pretty good now. That  doesn't mean that I won't continue puttering in the future, so things may change.

Here is the kitchen with its original wallpaper . Fido is always begging the cook for treats. Most of the furniture in here is Schneegas golden oak. The sink is a bit too late for the house, but it's all I had. Maybe I will find an older sink at some point

The bathroom has a lovely floor and early bathroom furniture made of wood. The faucets on the sink and bathtub are metal with wire pipes.

I have tried to furnish it with contemporary items, but I have to admit there are a few anachronisms.


There are several old dollhouses made in the 1890s, that were sold at FAO Schwarz. No one has ever discovered who made these houses, or whether it was one craftsman or a factory. Because of this, The esteemed dollhouse historian Flora Jacobs coined the term "Mystery House." The houses came in many sizes with various architectural configurations. They all share two distinctive features - tramp art trim on the exterior, and painted parquet floors.

The right wing

The dining room table and the servers on the right and left walls are golden oak from Schneegas, as is the marble-topped table. The six chairs, the settee and the server on the back wall are from the same era, but I don't know what company made them.

I love the maid's apron and cap. She is one of my favourite dollhouse dolls. Her skirt length is wrong for this period. She would probably be more at home in a 1920's doll house, but I couldn't resist putting her in this one.

1900's dinner set on its original card. Their original box was crushed beyond compare, but I didn't want to take the dishes off the card, so I just put the card and all on the dining room table. Most people don't even notice.

The dining room

The master bedroom is also furnished with Schneegas golden oak. Most of the rugs in the house are tobacco felts

Golden oak Schneegas furniture. The two smaller paintings are real etchings and match the ones in the dining room. The painting on the back wall is an original. Most of the art in the house is not period, but I love putting original art in my houses.

All of the doors have this padded wallpaper and lace curtains

The chauffeur is waiting in the he entrance hall to take the family wherever they want to go. His coat has a big white mark. I think someone pulled off a glued on belt or other accessory. Mugsie the dog is ready to go anytime the family is.

I love this hall stand. It is one of my favourite Schneegas pieces ever.

The housekeeper is in the upstairs centre hall making sure all is in place for the family. The two framed cameos on the back wall were brought back from England by my sister especially for this house. I think they look great, although I now see I didn't get them even when I hung them.

The centre right section of the house. The smallest examples of these houses have four rooms. Mine is one of the largest I have found in my research of these wonderful toys. It has five sections, each with an upper and lower floor, giving me with ten rooms in the main section of the house and two attic rooms.

The girls bedroom. They are having a tea party. The cat is much more interested in the bird in the cage.

In the formal parlour Mother, Father and Grandmama are enjoying a nice cup of tea. Although Father's relaxed position makes me wonder if there was more than tea in his cup.

The left section of the main house

The boys bedroom. Some of my red shcneegas is a bit rough, but so is little Gabe, so I guess they work well together.

The left wing

The family parlour has the piano, the fish tank, the domino set and a broken fainting couch. Again the furniture is Schneegas golden oak. The pincushion doll in there is quite old. Her head and hands are wax and her wig is mohair. She is not telling her true age and I have not found anything like her online, so I don't know exactly how old she is. If you know, please let me know.

The left attic

The right attic

Each section of the house has its own door.
My house is painted a soft yellow with fancy dark green window surrounds and the defining green chamfered trim. The wallpapers seem to be original, and it has many of the parquet floors, although not in all rooms. I don't know whether the house has been tampered with or whether it is all original. Either way, I love it!