Earthquake in Toronto today

I must be getting too involved in CM's and Rebecca's reminisces of old San Francisco.

I was sitting in my desk chair at the office at 1: 45 p.m today and the chair started to shake. A 5.5 earthquake hit eastern Ontario. What a shock. People ran out of the office buildings into the streets (we didn't, but we are brave, or maybe foolhardy). Luckily no injuries were reported. More info here.

On an happier news-of-the-area note. The tiger and the two camels that were in a stolen trailer were found safe and in good health yesterday. Thank goodness! It would be a tragedy if they had been mistreated.

I heard that the tiger, who was hand-raised, is up for the role of Richard Parker in the movie version of the Life of PI.

Jonas, a Bengal tiger, is seen in a trailer that was recovered Monday June 22, 2010, in Saint-Edmond-de-Grantham, about 90 km east of Montreal.

Decorating Challenge

One house. Two Families. Who does it better.
A room by room comparison.
(My apologies for some repeated pictures)

Caco family master bedroom.

Biggar-Flagg family master bedroom.

Caco family children's bedroom

 

Biggar-Flagg family children's bedroom

Caco family dining room

Biggar-Flagg family dining room with sitting area

Caco family living room

 Biggar-Flagg family living room

Caco family kitchen. I haven't set up the kitchen for the Biggar-Flags yet, but as I imagine them living in the early 1960s I think it might be very much the same as this one.

The bathroom will also be the same for both houses unless I can locate some nicely coloured blue or pink sets, so typical of the 60s.

Yes, I have the same salt and pepper shaker washer and dryer as Florine in her post A New Home for the Ainsleys.  I like her bathroom fixtures much better than my newer ones. In fact Florine's look like the ones that were featured in the FAO Schwarz catalogue with the house. I believe all her furniture is original to the house.

Can anyone identify this?

Does anyone know what type of electrical appliances this was designed for? I can find no marks on it and I can't find it in any of my usual reference places

I picked it up at a vintage shop the other day. It seems to work fine with Lundby lights although their prongs are too thick for it. If you touch the prongs to the little metal receptacles on the back the Lundby lamps light up nice and bright.


The lamps sold nowadays for 1/12th houses glow a little when plugged in (yes, their plugs fit) but do not light up. A different circuit I am afraid.

If you want to see the scale it is in the living room in my last two posts. It could be used in either Lundby or 1/12th.

Kids in the FAO house - They love their dogs

Buried Treasure?

Don't you just love the half moon Petite Princess Sofa? Don't you just hate the way the glue has dried up over the years and stained it? And also how the arm covers are always missing?



I decided to recover one and stripped off the green upholstery. What I found when I did so surprised me.

The sofa form is made out of a gray marbleized plastic. I like it! It is so sophisticated looking. I think I will make a couple of throw cushions for it, accessorize it like crazy and see how it looks in a room, or a shop, or a waiting room.

What do you think?

Different Strokes for Different Folks

This is a Keystone 1" scale house sold by FAO Schwarz circa 1966. It is in very good condition despite missing the chimneys, cupola and two of the three flower boxes.
I took it completely apart and washed 44 years of dirt, crayon marks and unidentified guck off it. I even took the windows out and cleaned them thoroughly. The house looks wonderful now and it's true colours show - literally.

Daphne and her extended family love the house she bought on her trip south. They have decorated it with Strombecker furniture with a piece here and there from other mid-sixties dollhouse brands.

But wait, the one inch scale Flaggs love it too and have taken the interior decoration in a completely different direction. (yes, it is the same house - the difference in colour on the end wall is because I used a different camera for the second photo and set the lights up differently. It washed out the colour. The wall really is blue)

The Biggar-Flagg family has chosen mid-century modern for their decorating scheme.  You will probably notice the three new Reac of Japan Chairs and the Strombecker coffee table (which is the only piece used in both houses - not counting the bathroom and kitchen which are not shown here)

The sitting area in the back (or front) of the dining area is a Lucite love seat, chair, coffee table, end table and lamp. I was told they were by Mattel, but will look it up to confirm. I remember seeing these in one of Dian Zilner's books. They are a recent Rubylane find, as are the wonderful art deco Strombecker couch, chair and ottoman in the living room.

The rest of the furniture is from Germany - mid to late 60's. This includes both bedroom sets, and the dining room set. There were only two tulip chairs, so I added the white Reac chairs so the children would have somewhere to sit. Don't you just love the big double bed. Lots of room for Mom and Dad, and the kids can pile in on Saturday mornings.

More to come.

Hugs
Susan

A kindred spirit

 One of my favourite doll house books is The Vivien Green Doll's House Collection, by Vivien Green with Margaret Towner.

Vivien Greene (née Dayrell-Browning) (1 August 1905 - 19 August 2003) was the widow of the distinguished novelist Graham Greene and an authority on doll's houses.

In the 1960s Greene gave her the money to build the Rotunda, a doll's house museum at her home near Oxford. By the mid-1990s, the Rotunda contained some 41 miniature castles, cottages and manors, all furnished down to the last tiny piece of porcelain. Her collection was auctioned off in London in 1998 (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivien_Greene)

Read more here: Escape from the dolls' house


 Drawn from Vivien Greene's world-famous collection of English dolls' houses, this book offers an illustrated view of all the houses in this unique museum, alongside Vivien Greene's own memories and interpretations.

I was delighted to find this book at the local flea market for a reasonable price. I pour over the pictures and commentary anytime I have a few idle moments to fill. It breaks my heart to know that her wonderful collection was sold and the museum no longer exists. How I would have loved to visit it.

Vivien Dayrell-Browning Greene died in Oxfordshire, aged 98. What an interesting life she had.

From her obituary in The Inependent Thursday, 21 August 2003

Vivien Greene was a pioneer in this branch of social history, and recognised that in miniature there can survive a record of what has so often been destroyed in full-size. The 18th and 19th centuries were a distinct era, between the end of toy-free Puritanism and the onset of jerry-built items themselves supplanted by the soulless use of plastic. Vivien Greene was often called upon to catalogue items, such as one at West Dean House in Sussex.

Her first book prompted so many requests to visit that she was inspired to build a large, elegant Rotunda - subsidised by Graham - on the side of her home at Grove House, Iffley Turn. A catalogue of the doll's house collection appeared in 1995. Such is the inevitable tendency of chroniclers to dwell upon her husband that many forget that, more than a solace, this all enabled her most happily "to combine having a loved permanent home and indulging, in miniature, my enjoyment of all kinds and periods of English domestic architecture and decoration". To her, "collecting is not acquiring. It is more like planning a delightful small party, where everyone will find a friend and feel at home". 

This last quote sounds exactly like our blogging community. I am certainly enjoying the party.

Hugs,

Susan

The Barton Model Home

Every time I decide I have enough dollhouses and decide to stop buying another dollhouse becomes available and begs to come live at my house.

My latest buy is the Barton Model Home.

Mini Dork had information about this house on her Blog last month.

Several variations of this house are discussed in Mini Dork's blog, but Rebecca of Rebecca's Collection identified one like mine as the Barton Model Home, available from about 1956 to 1976. She said they were sold mostly as kits, to make up at home, although some were sold made up.

(images of a similar house (from Rebecca) are on dollshousespastandpresent.webs.com and same site here and here)

I bought my house from the original owner. Her father built it from a kit in 1962 when she was just two. It had been packed away with its contents for several decades.

It contains Barton, Dol-Toi and Lundby (I think) furniture and a Grecon family lives there.

I find it very exciting to have an all original vintage dollhouse with such wonderful provenance.

The original owner said that her parents were from England and she thought that the house and contents had been purchased there.

I did as much research as I could and discovered that she was right. Quite a lot of the furniture and accessories are also made by Barton.

The living room furniture appears to be Lundby, except for the little art deco dresser which is probably either Barton or Dol-Toi. I couldn't find a picture of it when I was researching, but it definitely has that look.

In the living room we find two Grecon gentlemen enjoying a plate of cheese and beverages in pewter mugs. Both are nattily dressed as is expected of this type of doll. They have metal feet, embroidered hair and painted features. They are approximately 3.5" tall.  These dolls were produced in England from the 1950's to the 1970's.

I had been hoping to add a Grecon family to my collection and was delighted to get them with the house.

I haven't made up my mind yet. Will the older man and woman be the parents and the younger man and woman be their teenage children. with the toddler as an afterthought (much younger sibling)?  Will the older couple be the grandparents and the younger couple the child's parents? Or will I come up with some other computation of the five inhabitants. I think I will see where the dolls take me. They probably know who they are.










The cats are vintage Barton as are the goldfish in the nursery. I had never seen them before, but found them for sale on eBay UK, so was able to identify them.

(Don't you just love her fancy dotted dress and her red earrings?)

 A lovely Grecon lady is in the dining room beside what I think is a Lundby Piano. The keyboard cover flips up to reveal music and the gold decoration on the top of the piano appears to be hand painted. The table, chairs, clock and buffet also look like Lundby, but they aren't exactly like the furniture I have in my Lundby houses.

I think they are much earlier than the other pieces I own. Can anyone tell me if this is true?

The fireplace is Barton and plugs in to the outlet behind it. I believe the log basket, phone and cake are also Barton accessories.

The kitchen is delightful. The fridge says Dol-Toi on the back and has a paper 'Frigidaire' sticker on the front.


The cupboard, sink, table and chair are also Barton, as are the pots, pans, and food on the table.

I have seen the blue dishes included with Barton furniture on eBay, so I think they are also from that company.


The cleaning supplies were sold by Barton and a few other companies, I believe. There are two sets of these with the house. The dog is hard plastic. I haven't been able to identify it. Can anyone help?

In the bedroom a Grecon lady admires herself in the vanity. She has had some problems with her legs. Both have unraveled and one metal foot is missing.

I am not sure who made the bedroom furniture. It is wood with red accents and lovely floral decals on the large pieces. The handles are small nails painted red.

I think they may also be Barton. Does anyone know for sure?

I love the nursery. This wooden set is late 50s-early 60s Barton and is a complete set.

The drawers open, and the side of the crib can go up and down.

The child is a sweet little Grecon girl in a floral dress with a garland in her hair.




















The bathroom is made of plaster and is Barton from the early 1960s.

 I look forward to your comments and any information you can provide. Don't hesitate to correct me on anything I got wrong.

Hugs,

Susan

P.S. I identified a number of the dollhouse items by searching for Barton on eBay UK, but a large number of the items are found in the book,
Antique and Collectible Dollhouses and Their Furnishings
by Dian Zillner, Patty Cooper