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?!?

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.

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.

F.A.O. Schwartz Mystery Dolls' House tour - Antique Dollhouse

This incredible dolls' house is in the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester NY, and is one of at least four of these magnificent houses from the collection of Margaret Woodbury Strong.

It has a gambrel roof with carved shingles on the main roof as well as on the wing of the house. It is painted a soft green color with dark green chamfered wood (often referred to as Tramp Art), This house embraces chamfered decoration on all three sides.

The facade is displayed below the house.

There are two entrances; one going into the main part of the house and the other going into the kitchen wing.

The main floor rooms have very high ceilings. Here is the dining room furnished with Schneegas golden oak pieces.

The green striped vases in the china cabinet in the back wall are German blown glass from around 1900. Other examples of this glass and some Treen items are also featured in the dining room.

A soft metal cruet set with yellow glass bottle can be seen on the marble topped server

You can clearly see the lovely parquet floor in this picture.

The quaint kitchen has a blue and white theme. The dresser on the back wall is painted tin, as is the wonderful canister set on the tin shelves beside it.

The stove appears to be tin as well. The dishes on the server and the covered bowl on the table are painted wooden treenware. I love the keys on the bisque housekeeper's belt. The dog, cat, and little boy offer sweet touches to this kitchen scene.

All three bedrooms have the same red and white wallpaper. I don't know whether it is original, but I find it charming.

This bedroom has three Schneegas golden oak beds of different styles and sizes. The rocking chair, washstand and dresser are also Schneegas golden oak. I think the bowl and ewer and other red and white dresser accessories are treen. Most of the items in this room are from around 1900.

The second bedroom also has Schneegas golden oak pieces and a lovely bisque doll with blue eyes.

I don't recognize the highboy on the back wall, but I am sure it is from the same period as the rest of the furniture.





The third bedroom contains furniture I don't recognize except for the Boulle chair. I think some of it may be tin. And the chamber pot looks like treen.

I love the parlor. It is furnished with Boulle. The Kestner gentleman is very dapper with his little mustache and striped waistcoat.

I have never seen a lamp like the tall brass one with the glass shade in the back of the room.

The front hall has an interesting alcove under the stairs. I love the red wallpaper with the green painted stairs and railings. The floor has a lovely narrow pattern here.

 The red patterned wallpaper continues into the upper hall Here there is a Schneegas coat rack, what appears to be a tin dresser and a beautiful chair with elaborate cut outs.

 Another view of the bedroom.

The door surrounds are so nice. I wish they did that sort of thing in all dollhouses.

 The dining room again.

All the rooms have lovely old wallpapers, baseboards and raised panel connecting doors.

The wonderful floors are often referred to as parquet floors but are actually scored and hand painted to look like parquet. An elaborate staircase has an alcove carved under the staircase!  

Additional attic rooms are in the openings on the roof. This picture shows the painted detail on the dormers.

The beautiful mystery house in it's situation between two other lovely antique dollhouses in the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester NY.

I would highly recommend a visit to this museum if you ever get to the Rochester area. It is enchanting.

Once in a lifetime thrill - Tynietoy Townhouse

On the way back from Pennsylvania last month my sister and I visited the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester NY.

On display in the dollhouse section was this Tynietoy Townhouse complete with garden and Tynietoy furniture and accessories.

Can you imagine the thrill of being in a museum and finding the same item that was waiting in the trunk of this white Jeep in the parking lot?

My white Jeep. With my new (old) Tynietoy Townhouse in the trunk.

It was like one of those dreams where you finally find a long coveted treasure after an arduous search and you actually get to keep it.

But this was no dream, even if it felt like one. Here is my Tynietoy house in the back of the car. rubbing shoulders with the Christian Hacker dollhouse and the red roof Gottschalk!!

It was surreal. I was telling the other museum visitors that I had that same house in my car! In the parking lot! Right now!!

They were very kind about being accosted by the crazy lady taking pictures of this house and rattling on about the one in her car.

I was so excited!!

My house is not quite so pristine as this Strong one, and of course, I don't have the incredible garden that one could buy for the house. But it was wonderful to see these elusive items in person and take pictures for comparison.

My house is missing it's front door, so it is nice to see an original here. I am lucky to have the over the door window though.

The garden could be purchased separately from the house for around $25, back in the 1930's. Isn't it lovely?

My house doesn't have interior doors on the main rooms, so I enjoyed seeing them on this house.

I love the design on yellow painted wing chair.

I still haven't managed to get any Tynietoy lamps so it was a treat to see a real one. Now I know what to look for.

The upper and lower halls are almost exactly like mine. I love the painting on the side of the stairs that represents paneling.

Another pretty bedroom with a different fabric on the canopy bed and a different design painted on the wing chair.

My house has the fireplaces on the back wall of the living room and dining room. This house has the fireplaces on the end walls.

The fireplaces also have paint to represent paneling.

Here is a shot of the stair paneling.

The kitchen is sparsely furnished with a Tynietoy sink, table, chair and stool.

The room above the kitchen. This room is often used as a nursery or a bathroom, but they have it as a third bedroom.

I hadn't been at the Strong museum in about 30 years. It sure has changed. Back then it was in a 1900 red brick building and it was called The Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum. All I remember from that visit wss the incredible collection of antique dolls.

Now it is an incredible place for young families. There are interactive programs and activities and family-friendly amenities. It also has the world’s largest collection of toys, dolls, games, and other items that celebrate play.

While our main interest was the antique doll collection and the dollhouses I was very impressed with the museum. I would recommend it to all.