1949 Keystone Put-a-Way Dollhouse

The Stone Family is very happy. They have just moved into their new home.

Mrs. Stone holds the baby, Sally, and the children, Dick and Jane, stand in front of their parents.

The family poses outside the front door for their official portrait.  Their new maid, Maddie, isn't sure that she was invited to be in the picture.


But she inches closer and smiles for the photographer.

This dollhouse is called a Put-a-Way because the right and left wings on the lower level can be put away inside the house. The wing on the right side of the house has a covered patio on the front and a garage with a metal door that slides up on the back. The roof of this wing is another patio.

It is a lovely outside space for the family.

The foldout wing on the right is the kitchen, and also has a roof patio.

The garage is quite narrow and the door is very small, so the family will have to buy a tiny car. Will it fit all 6 of them (if the maid goes too)?  There are lithographed tools, licence plates, and tires on the wall, so I guess it is good for storage, at least.

Now that the picture taking is over Father and Mother decide to relax with a drink. "Yikes," says Father, "We are out of Scotch. By the way, did you see that giant cat outside?"
"It must belong to the neighbours." says Mother. "I will go out and get some more scotch. Will you keep an eye on the children?"

Mother gets her purse and prepares to go to the store.  Father is reading the paper,
but looks up to comment, "That cat seems to have found a giant bottle of water."
"That's nice, dear." Mother says. She is preoccupied with trying to remember
 where the store is.
"By the way," says Father, "whose dog is this?"

While mother is out shopping we can take a tour of the house.

Upstairs, we find the girls are in the nursery, Jane's doll is almost as big as her baby sister.

Jane wishes her brother  would come play checkers with her.  If she could find some checkers - and her brother.

The bathroom is a bit small, but it has a built-in shower,  The shower curtain is original to the house.

The parents bedroom is cozy too.

The furniture is Strombecker

Maddie the maid seems to be asking the cat to jump into her arms. She should probably be getting the baby's bottle ready.

Wake up Maddie. There's work to do.

The dining room has with Strombecker furniture too. It suits the house well

Both the dining room and the living room have built-in shelving. The doors under the shelves in the dining room open.

Here is the built-in shelving in the living room. It has lithographed scones on each side

Here is the house from the back with the wings open

Another view of the bathroom. A previous owner of the plastic Renwal furniture has painted it biege.  I find it gives it a more realistic look.

Mother's finally home. She not only found the store, but she found Dick too. He had been out riding his tricycle.

Mother notices that the house looks smaller than it did when she left. What happened to the kitchen and the garage? And the patios are gone, too. She wonders if Father has noticed.

Here is the back of the house with the wings are folded in. It may be good for storing the house, but it's not good for the dolls who live in it.  I wonder how the chillden of 1949 dealt with it.

I was excited to find this house in such great condition. I had been wanting a Put-a-Way house for quite some time. I have a soft spot for Keystone and Rich Toy houses because they are such fun to play with. This one was first sold in 1949.
Thanks for visiting.

Mid-century living room and other treasures from Germany

Today I am sharing more treasures I found at the doll festival in the Sonneberg area last May.

My travel doll, Daphne, is happy to show us the room. The furniture is a large 1/12th scale

This is only one small section of the doll street sale. It stretched for blocks and went down all the side streets. What fun it was.

I found the Erzgebirge tea set and eggs with cups, as well as the little spotted dog in Seiffen, Germany.   

I found the new dollhouse rugs and the lovely antique furniture at the doll festival street market. It seemed that the entire town was one big street sale of dolls and dollhouse treasures.

I also found these lovely biedermeier/boule pieces, and the curtains complete with curtain rods and hooks, as well as the lovely chandelier.

I was particularly pleased with these two beautiful 1920s dollhouse dolls in their original outfits.  

I don't know when or if I can get back to this wonderful place for another doll festival, so this may have been the trip of a lifetime. I am so glad I got to go there at least once.

Middle class parlour from the Gründerzeit era circa 1890

I found this lovely antique parlour suite in the Sonneberg area of Germany when I was there last spring.  It is one example of the myriad of beautiful toys and dolls that were made in that area for more than three centuries.

There was a doll festival in the Sonneberg area last May and for four days the most amazing items were offered for sale.

Dealers from all over Europe set up sales tables with the most incredible treasures. It was doll house heaven!

This lovely 9-piece parlour has enamel decorations on several of the pieces. Unfortunately the four larger chairs are missing theirs. Still, it is a beautiful and rare set.

I found a picture of a very similar set of furniture in a German dollhouse book and they were referred to as "a middle class parlour from the Grunderziet era circa 1890"

The term Gründerzeitstil refers to a predominant architectural style from 1850 until 1914. In historical context different decades are often also called Gründerzeit. For this reason, the term Gründerzeit is used to refer to several periods; for example 1850-1873, 1871–1890, sometimes 1850–1914 for the architecture, or even just the years 1871–1873.

I bought the wonderful china coffee set from the same dealer. I fell in love with it. It is very delicate and so beautiful.

All of the pieces have blue beautiful flowers, gold edging, and the plates are monogrammed.


The furniture is a large 1/12th scale. I will need a large room to display it to the best effect. I haven't found the right setting yet, but I hope to be able to show you it in place soon.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy the pictures of it on my living room floor.

BTW, the carpet under the table in the first picture is a fancy tapestry matt I found in the gift shop of Princess Sissi's palace in Vienna. I think it suits the set.

Bye for now.

Hugs,
Susan

My New (old) Gottschalk Doll's House

This lovely house is all original. I believe it is from 1913. It was built in Germany. It is the smaller 3/4" scale.

Contents of a 1930s dollhouse

The living room Furniture is Tynietoy with the addition of a red stain side table between the Hepplewhite chairs

The art in the room is stamped Tynietoy.

Recently I was lucky enough to buy the contents of a 1930s dollhouse.

The furniture includes pieces made by Tynietoy,  Schoenhut, Goldilocks, German red stain, and others.

Most of the dining room furniture is also Tynietoy. The small side table is  red stain. The large side table is metal and I can't identify it. Does anyone know what company made it?

On the sideboard are the elusive Tynietoy knife safes. I was so excited to see these i the lot.

The rug is Tynietoy, as are the silhouettes on the wall

The blue bedroom has an interesting bird cage. The wing chair and lounge are Cinderella furniture by the Wisconsin Toy Company,

The blue furniture is Tynietoy.

The nursery has a wonderful Wisconsin Toy nursery set plus a Tynietoy screen and high chair. There are two lead dogs and a wonderful rush cradle with a tiny doll as well as a lovely little doll carriage. The arm Chair is also a Goldilocks piece.

This bedroom set is  red stain furniture made in Germany. The vanity and arm chair are Goldilocks. 

The third bedroom has beds and chairs by Schoenhut. I have not seen the Vanity or wardrobe before. Does anyone recognize them. The paint colour of the whole set matches the beds. Could they possibly be Schoenhut too?

All of these accessories came with the lot. What a wealth of minis.

Holiday souvenirs in a Kitchen roombox

This afternoon I built myself a room box out of foam-core board. I papered it in traditional blue and white floor and wall paper. Then I furnished it with things I have collected on my travels over the years.

There are 3 Italian bowls in the cupboard. I collected them along the Amafli coast last spring.

I found these wonderful antique canisters in Germany last month. 

These, excluding the windmill pitcher, are magnet souvenirs I found in Rome last year. I picked up the pitcher and many of the other blue and white pieces at different flea markets in Canada and the USA,

I got the hat, hanging pan and hanging cup in Germany last month. I found this cute chair and its mate in Sweden two years ago.

The scale and rolling pin holder are also from my trip to Germany last month. The little chest of drawers was found at a garage sale in Maryland.

I found the wooden utensil holder in an antique store in Berlin last month. The nice lady who owned it gave me a dog and a cat for my other dollhouse. They aren't here because they are the wrong scale for this room, but I remember her fondly. The hanging cheese is another magnet found in Rome last year 

The little delft shoes are from trip to the Netherlands in 2005, but the carpet beater and the three molds are also from Germany last month.

I found the little stove at a flea market in Pennsylvania. The teapot is special Polish pottery. I bought it in Krakow last month

Another view of the stove with flea market accessories

The table, chairs, server and cupboard were given to me by my dear friend CM when I visited her in California a few years ago. The four plates on the middle shelf of the cupboard are reproductions of the traditional blue onion pattern that is so common in antique German dollhouses. I bought them in Seiffen, Germany last month.

On the table is a tray with an Erzgebirge tea set and eggs in egg cups. I got those in Seiffen, Germany, the town where these wonderful toys are made.

I bought the chickens at the Marolin Company in Germany last month. They are made of paper mache and are exactly like the ones I have in my little Putz farm except the ones in my farm are about 100 years old,

Every time I look at this room box I will also see all the wonderful places I have visited and all the great friends I have made over the years. What a great room!!