Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!!

Those of you who are in my age range will be familiar with the hair-stand-on-end TV show The Twilight Zone. Do do do do. Do do do do ...  Pretty scary, eh kids?

In the episode "Miniature" from February 21, 1963 Robert Duvall falls in love with a doll that lives in a dollhouse in a museum.

And, they lock him up. Why? It sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

I can't find the full episode video online, but below is a snippet from YouTube.



If anyone does find the full episode please share.

For a less scary (for some of us, anyway) vintage video about a real person shrinking down to dollhouse size check out this cool Petite Princess commercial from the 1960s. How I wanted to be this little girl when I was young. Enjoy!



Happy Halloween!! From Susan and all her dollhouse dolls. Pretty scary, eh kids?!?

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Gottschalk at the Strong Museum - Antique Dollhouse

This gorgeous dollhouse is on display at the Strong Museum in Rochester NY.

They call it the Elevator house. I think it is a Red roof Gottschalk. Dated 1900 with Germany as the country of manufacture this three storey house with attic has a beautiful exterior complete with fence, balconies and bay windows.


We can't see inside the attic, but the other three floors are open for our eager eyes to enjoy.

The centre hall features an elevator which works on a pulley system. Notice that there is no staircase.
The third floor bedroom has Golden Oak Schneegas furniture from Germany. It was made before the first World War. I think the rocking chair is American, possibly Cass Co.
You can see the pulley in the back of the third floor hall.

I love the bathroom wallpaper and tiling. The bathroom fixtures are very modern for the age of the house.

There is more Schneegas golden oak furniture in the second floor bedroom, plus a wire wash stand.

The second floor landing shows the elevator rope


The elegant drawing room is on the second floor. I believe the upholstered furniture is German, and the piano is more Golden Oak Schneegas. I really like the wallpaper and border in this room.

The kitchen also has some great paper tiling. I believe the high chair is Kilgore. Love the stove!

The lower hall has a wonderful light fixture as well as the elevator. The gown on the lady is just beautiful, and I love her hat. The child's outfit is also gorgeous.
The golden oak Schneegas dining room suite looks great in the dining room. Again, I love the wallpaper and border. The light fixture is pretty special too.

Access to the attic is through this small opening at the top of the house.

Another view of the whole house.

Bye for now. I hope you enjoyed the tour.



Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Barbie's Doll house commercials from the 1960s to the 1980s

Barbie's first Dream House - A wish com true for both of you ... Oh, how I wanted this when I was a kid. I have it now.

There are several other Barbie commercials in this video. I couldn't find a video that had only the first dream house in it. Just hit the stop button if you don't want to see them all.
Barbie's Real Estate empire expanded a few years later. I finally own these ones too.
The Little Theatre and the costumes were pretty much the ultimate items to have in 1964. You knew a kid had well off parents if she had these (at least that's how I felt at the time) Fast forward into the future (the past now) and Barbie's house has grown much more elaborate:
I love all the propaganda in this next commercial. Mom and Grandma are so into the house that I am not sure if the little girl will even get near it. I call it propaganda, but I could be either one of them.