Monday, January 9, 2012

Dollhouse Search





Has anyone ever seen a doll house like this one? My yardsale find a month or so ago was a doll house--$3--which included a small box of mixed furniture.

"It's old," the woman shrugged, when I asked her about it. I didn't NEED it, of course, but I certainly wanted it, having had a fascination with doll houses and miniatures that dates back to childhood. And for $3--well, I certainly couldn't just LEAVE it there, unappreciated. I rationalized that I would at the very least put it in my booth at the local antique/vintage mall--knowing I probably wouldn't. I brought it home and left it in the garage for a day until my husband noticed it and I cautiously told him about my find. "Quite a bargain!" was his response, and I heaved an inward sigh of relief that he had not gone into the usual "WHERE are you going to put it?" mode. I cleaned it up and surveyed my find.
Kind of a cool doll house--roughly 25x15x18 inches with gray brick stamped outer walls made of that pressed board like the baseboard to our vintage Fisher Price Tudor house.


The roof was gray plastic and moulded so that it appeared to be cedar shake shingles. The base and the floors of the dollhouse were stamped lithograph tin or steel, however. The upstairs roof contained a big triangular hole where the roof piece was obviously missing--but the end window piece was there. It wasn't perfect. obviously some window trim was missing from both the upstairs window piece and the downstairs picture window--but the lithographs on the tin were in great shape and so were the walls and roof. Overall I was quite pleased. I put the existing furniture inside and admired it.



It was the weeks before Christmas, however, and I really didn't have a lot of time. I put the dollhouse on top of the piano in the playroom and forgot about it until during Christmas holidays when my grandchildren (technically step-grandchildren, but after 30 years of marriage those big girls are mine too) were here and I was showing it to my youngest granddaughter. She's only three and was a little young for the delicacy of some of the pieces, so after a bit I put this one back on the piano and got out the Fisher Price TownHouse Dollhouse and a box of the furniture/people that went with it--much more little kid friendly (though her Dad DID manage to break the latch on it on their last visit by manhandling it open instead of figuring out how it worked ...sigh...)






Several nights ago I got a cardboard box and while my husband and I streamed/watched a british Midsommer Murders mystery, I measured, cut, ducktaped, and constructed a replacement roof for the rear dormer window of my newest dollhouse. I figured I'd learn on a cardboard version and then try to do it out of hobby basswood later on--if I decided to keep the doll house. The results aren't too bad--I still need to glue the end wall/window to the new roof section (it's held in place with small pieces of duck tape at the moment, which look tacky)--but it will do for now and it's better than it was before.
Yesterday I surfed the net looking for information to identify my latest dollhouse.
I wasn't successful. I found some nice blogs from people who collect REALLY NICE older dollhouses--my stuff is obviously much later than those doll houses. I saw photos of Fisher Price's FIRST dollhouse, (cool site: http://mydreamdollhouse.com/ ) a la 1978 and the roof on it is VERY similar to my doll house, but the interior of mine is tin/steel. Another cool site is http://www.mckendry.net/DOLLHOUSES/1890s.htm which gives a history and photos of doll houses from until 1990. Still didn't see my exact doll house, though I did see a piece of furniture that I think I have in the box--so maybe Tomy? I took more pictures--including photos of the interior and the furniture that came with the house.
After looking at the fancy dollhouses out there I realize that this dollhouse is pretty generic--no interior graphics--just plain walls. The four rooms--two upstairs, two downstairs, have very simple patterns stamped on the metal. The CHIMNEY of this dollhouse looks EXACTLY like the chimney listed in replacement parts on the Fisher Price mydreamdollhouse site--the chimney that came with that 1978 dollhouse--but this chimney is gray--and none of those chimneys were.












The furniture that came with it is a mixed bag of cheap plastic stuff which includes (I had to smile when I saw it--one of those white plastic round things they put in the middle of your pizza box when you order take out pizza that keeps the lid of the box from sticking to the cheese--it DOES make a perfect side table for a small doll house. I've used them as such before myself; some neat metal furniture stamped Mattel 1980 Hong Kong; three cool plastic pieces marked Tomy--a wardrobe with tiny working drawers and three tiny coathangers that hang in the top cabinet part, a tiny dressing table with working drawers, and a bakers rack with hooks (but nothing to hang on the hooks. Tiny accessories include a tiny diary, a tiny metal pot.





The dolls in the box are a couple of 3 inch cabbage patch doll figurines, their friend with green hair who stepped off the set of The Biggest Loser, and a knock-off type liddle kiddle doll as well as a baby who might be Dora the Explorer's baby sister.

Not that it really matters, but I would like any information about the dollhouse that anyone might have. The metal and pressed board combination makes it seem as if it's from the fifties/sixties--but all the furniture seems to date to the 1980's.




5 comments:

  1. I don't know if you are still wanting to know about your house, but it is a 1970s Wolverine dollhouse. The furniture it takes is called Rite-Scale. I have this house myself, and love it dearly--even though my front door is warped and doesn't actually fit. Bought it MIB, and time/temperature had taken a slight toll. You can find the family and furniture on eBay from time to time. The scale is 1". :)

    Best wishes,

    Deaun

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    1. The reason the walls are plain is that no one ever put the wallpapers in--included in original box--or the paste-on photographs, clocks, pictures, etc.

      As for your missing windows, if you were to locate a trashed Wolverine house of the litho variety and wanted to thieve the windows, they will fit perfectly:
      Your house: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/56/f4/92/56f492db4097b138cbe33a94b37e5401.jpg
      Kitchen:http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mIk_IbR-M6p7-HWG_UtL1IA.jpg
      Any other Wolverine house window that comes in cream (known in some parts as light yellow) also comes in Yellow or Brown. If you need to paint, hoof it to Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart, or any other store with a craft department and pick up a small bottle of acrylic paint. If you mess up, it comes off water or, if it has already dried, water, soap, and a washcloth.: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-Wolverine-Dollhouse-Replacement-Window-ONLY-Bay-Living-Room-Flaw-Pale-Yellow-/360922610377?

      Furniture pictures:
      Dining Room:http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&docid=jHSqmUYSbcwMMM&tbnid=YtWdfnqBE6WXjM:&ved=0CAUQjBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthumbs3.ebaystatic.com%2Fd%2Fl225%2Fm%2Fmv7JnK42nMr2ITe4HuHfUrQ.jpg&ei=DU5mU6z6GciI8gGC6oHoCw&psig=AFQjCNE5PvhKs0o3cYgaFTzRUdZR26ymMw&ust=1399299981470628
      Living room; the table is difficult to find:http://thumbs4.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mMxTRBu42Bq6pPw2NXXN4vA.jpg
      Bedroom:http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mTBmIAcy5HTEZHjarnsbWAg.jpg
      Bathroom; I'm still searching for a toilet to go with a second set I pieced together:http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAwMFg3NTA=/z/gewAAMXQydtTMhpq/$_35.JPG
      Den:http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/m6Gxo022-yWnlOLiC4DNbGA.jpg
      Baby's room:http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mPh0ahnfhDss7yr3YCIusAA.jpg
      Family:http://thumbs4.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mBttqutT6T2yJFrsQUdgvTg.jpg
      Patio set was the most expensive (still not a lot of money):http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mQ_Dz3OKpVtkZOpCdipceZQ.jpg

      Well, that trip down memory lane was fun! If you would like to see interior pictures, drop me a message and I'll be happy to upload pics to flickr and send you a link. :)

      Best wishes,

      Deaun

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    2. Hi Deaun,
      I've had trouble with my iPhone stealing emails from my gmail account (I never check my gmail account on my phone--didn't realizing the phone was popping emails instead of imapping them) so in settling the problem with phone/computer/iPad email iMapping I'm discovering email that I didn't realize I had. Thank you for your reply. I DID finally learn that it was a Wolverine dollhouse. There was a NIB one on sale for $85 on eBay last year and I think at the time I just told myself no but have often regretted it. I think it's a classy dollhouse. I WOULD be interested in seeing how the interior is supposed to look. I have also considered doing as you say and obtaining a trashed wolverine dollhouse for the windows--it's on the list. I'm making bottlecap snakes right now....

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  2. This exact type of doll house was mine as a kid and then my kids played with it when they where a little younger. I am now looking for replacement parts as well and didnt know the name of the dollhouse. Thank you for all your info you posted

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    1. Hi Tracy--if you can see the other comments you may know that Deaun identified my dollhouse as one made by Wolverine. I just checked my notes--the one that was for sale on eBay back in October of 2012 (it was still in the box) --they were asking $99 for it--and I just couldn't do it. Dollhouse collecting takes up a LOT of room! And since I paid $3 for the one I got...

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