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

Time to go home - Let's pack the car

Daphne supervises the loading.

Can you believe we got them all in? And the luggage too!?

Daphne and her driver left the DC area with five dollhouses in the car.

Three Keystone types. a beautiful mid-seventies Lundby with all the furniture and a garage sale Plan toys (it had to be taken apart to get it in). See my previous posts for pictures

And ...

Believe it or not. they picked up two more on the way home.

Just between you and me - I am starting to think Daphne has a problem.

Hugs,

Susan

Lundy - mid 70's perfection

Guess what! One can find Craigslist treasures even on vacation!

This house was offered on Craigslist and even though Daphne is the wrong scale she felt it was important to bring it home too.

The house is from the mid-seventies and came with all the furniture, transformer and working lights.

The lady who was selling it had it as a child and must have loved it very much. It is in pristine condition. Again I will say - how can they part with these things? Lucky for me she did.

The people were purchased at a flea market along the road. Three are Lunby from about 2000, and the mom and dad are Caco - from a period when they tried to save money by putting really cheap clothes on them. The dogs came with the house.

I love everything about this house. Daphne and her friends had great fun setting it up. Then it had to be all packed up again for the car ride home.

Hugs,

Susan

Which Family gets a New Home? Play Along at Home - Vote for your favorite!

So many people commented on my new (old) Blue-Floor Lundby house and wondered what family would live there. I wondered that too. So last night I dug around in the dollhouse room and found all the homeless people who were a good scale for the house.

Actually I have to admit that I took some of the people out of other houses - just to see how they would look in the Lundby.

Here they are. Tell me who should move in by choosing from number 1 - 10. I will count votes and let you know the lucky winners in a future blog.

1) First is Mrs. Flagg and her daughter, Patsy. I just got these girls on eBay (for only $9.99 + 4.99 shipping - a real deal, I thought). I love them. They have such character.

They are Flagg Flexible Play Dolls from the 1950s or 1960s. They were filthy and reeked of cigarette smoke when they arrived. I took off their clothes and soaked them in woolite. The result isn't bad, even if the clothes aren't perfect. They look so much better now, and the smell is dissipating. I hope to find Mr. Flagg and other members of the family, but for now mother and daughter would live here alone (except for pets).

2) Next is the Caco family. I love Caco dolls and have several of the 1" scale people, but this is my first 3/4" set. This is also an eBay find. It is hard to get these on eBay because so few vendors put in the size. I hope to find more of these too.

3) Then there is the Bendy family. They are not in the best of condition, and I had to put a new shirt on the father (from a scrap-booking baseball set). I think I got these ones at the antique market. I know these aren't from eBay. I am not crazy about the detail of this family. I'm not sure they are right for this house.

4) Next is the Mrs. Bendy's less attractive sister and her family, the Bend-Ables. They have pretty much the same story as the Bendy's, but are slightly different (except for the daughter who is even wearing the same dress as her cousin - again an antique market find, but a different visit.

5) I am including the soft plastic German family just to be fair. I am not very enthusiastic about these people (I have several more that I couldn't find last night), but I feel they should be included in the vote because they are the right age and size, and I had many of these when I was a kid, but these ones are from thrift shops.

6) Here is the hard plastic German family. It looks like they have their own footman. The dolls in the overalls could be children in a 1" scale house, but I was looking for a variety of contestants and they are cute, so here they are. I can't remember where I got these - possibly with a dollhouse or Barbie lot - the footman was from a thrift shop I think.

7) Charlie's Angels could move in. They look good, but I am not sure they are exactly right for this house. They are a decade or so newer. I am more inclined to move them into 862 Ocean View drive, where they have been partying recently. They look more at home there, but you be the judge.

8) The Sport Sisters look right at home in the kitchen. I love these girls too. I got them in a vintage Barbie lot (yes, I collect those too) a few months ago and was delighted with them. I just can't decide where they should live. I think they are from the late 1960s/early 1970s, but I haven't been able to identify them yet.

9) Of course there are always these out-of-focus Ukrainian dancers. They look so happy and are so beautifully costumed that I just had to have them - they are a thrift store find. I have tried them in several houses, but nothing seems to work.

10) Last, and possibly least, is this happy pirate. He is a charmer, and I know he is not old, but I think he is so cute - and another way to go. He could bring all his booty back to the Lundby house and maybe in a year or so appear on an episode of Hoarders - the Mini Version.

So there you are. Which family is worthy of this house? I can't wait to see what you think.

Hugs,

Susan

Dol-Toi Furniture?

The furniture in these pictures came with my new (old) Lundby house. I have been able to identify most of it as Doi-toi from seaching the net and looking at eBay past auctions. I think it is original to the house and purchased around the same time - 1969.

Let me know if I am wrong.

I know that some of you will be able to help identify the rest - like the dining room table and chairs and the bunk beds and rocking chair. Maybe they are Dol-Toi too. The construction seems a little coarser to me.

The pink bathroom set is hard plastic and the toilet seems to be marked 'England" The other sink is off white and was just too cute not to include. The taps are different from the pink one, so I don't think it's from the same manufacturer.

I thought this furniture might be cute in a late '60s Rich or Keystone house (if I ever get one). Suggestions for its use are appreciated.

I'm looking forward to your feedback.

Hugs

Susan

Lundby blue floor house #2

Toronto's craigslist provided me another 1969 blue floor Lundby house today. It is in much better condition than the last one I bought - see: I got a Lundby house!!

This one had been given to a women who is now 47 when she was six. It had been gently played with and then put in storage for decades. I looks brand new.

It doesn't have a transformer and doesn't look like it ever did.

It appears that someone has recently painted the roof brown, but otherwise it is in wonderful condition. there is clear vinyl in the windows - unlike the other one whose windows are empty.

I have furnished it with the original Lundby furniture from the first house. It looks lovely.

I will look for a transformer, and maybe more furniture for the living room. Now there is only a chair, TV and coffee table, not counting the fireplace. I also need another chair for the dining room.

I am very pleased with this house. I hope you have enjoyed the tour. Let me know if you can tell me more about it.

Hugs,

Susan