Tuesday, September 9, 2025

1950s Life in a Yellow House


Meet  Joyce and Edward  Smith 
and their little daughter Sydney.

 

They live in this big yellow house.

 

Their house has six rooms....living, dining and kitchen
 on the first floor and two bedrooms and a bath upstairs.


What's Edward doing? 



"Damn! It's 1950. 
When are they going to invent a remote control for TVs?
 Tired of getting up to change the channel."



"Yes, Sydney, you may go outside to ride your tricycle."

         
"Hmmn. Five years old and still having to ride a tricycle.
 I want a  Schwinn Sting-Ray bike with a banana seat! 
Will Schwinn never get around to making them?"   



"Hmmn. Fridge is empty. Tony, Andy and Stan 
haven't been born yet, so there is no way 
I can order from DoorDash tonight."



Maybe I will just sit here and drink my wine. 
Damn, I opened the wrong bottle."






"Joyce, I need a pillow for under my head....and also a refill!"



"Well, Mom and Dad may be lost in the fifties, but I am not!"
I have my Hello Kitty bedroom furniture.....


....and my Princess telephone!"



This model #541 Keystone dollhouse 
was shown in a Keystone brochure in 1950.



The living room is furnished with Stombecker furniture.




The modern design of the sofa and chair first appeared  
in 1938 in brown, and later in blue  as part of  their 1942 Deluxe line. 
The sofa and chair were described as being 
finished in "Dubonnet Izarine similated upholstery". 
The secretary is part of Strombecker's Custom-Built Line from 1937-38. 
The lamp and modern coffee table were introduced in 1938, the TV in 1955. The round end table was part of Strombecker's  " 3/4" Scale Playhouse with Furniture" from 1942, but not part of any known set.



The dining room is also furnished with Strombecker.


 This 1" scale modern dining room is from Strombecker's 1938 production line. The top drawer on the buffet opens. The additional pieces in the set included a tea wagon, a bowl and two candles.  I didn't read that information before I decorated or I would have added candlesticks....
but there was absolutely no room for a tea wagon.




Keystone changed the construction of their houses around 1950 
by putting the frame inside of the house. 
This change made the end rooms narrow for placing furniture.  




The "breakfast bar" in the kitchen was created by removing
 one side of the platform feet of a  1931 living room central table.  
The stove, sink and fridge are  part of the Modern style kitchen produced in 1938. The chairs are from the same set but were orange; 
I painted them red to match the breakfast bar.



Bedroom furniture is Strombecker from different years of production.   


The beds, chest of drawers, dresser and opening bench are part of the 1936 DeLuxe Bed Room. The night stand and vanity bench came with the 1938 Modern Furniture bedroom. The lamp with the yellow shade was produced in 1942 
and the lamps on the dresser in 1934.

 
This is a Hello Kitty bedroom set made by Sanrio.



I couldn't pass up this set when I saw it on Ebay. 
It brought back happy memories of my daughter Jill,
 and her delight in her Hello Kitty items at a young age. 



Another room filled with Strombecker furniture.




Pretty in light green, this bath set is from Strombecker's 1935-36 DeLuxe Bathroom set. The yellow waste basket was part of the 1942 DeLuxe kitchen set, and appeared again as part of the 1955 kitchen set. 
The scale is from 1938.


YES! The garage door does open, and there is a perfect corner for Sydney to park her tricycle! 

All of the information on this dollhouse furniture comes from one of the many books on vintage dollhouse furniture written by Patty Cooper. All of her very informative books can be found of Blurb.com. You can find a link to all of them under Resource Books and Guides listed under
 the Pages column on the right side of this blog.



Sunday, August 31, 2025

The 'Welcom' Doll's House




            This is the 'Welcom' Dolls' House, a  little cardboard house from the UK. 




This is how it looked on Ebay....such a cute little house. Vintage, probably from the 1950-60s....but still brand new in the package. The "Welcom" Dolls' House....cut ready to assemble, complete with furniture, no glue required, three rooms, hall & garden. How could I resist since I have a weakness for little cardboard houses.


Four sheets of parts and an instruction sheet were included.







Instructions were easy to follow even though the technical illustrator said to bend Base A into a tray shape which would have the floor graphics face down. 






First the front and left side of the house were attached to the base. The cardboard was sturdy and most parts fit easily into corresponding slots.


Next, the door to the kitchen was added, forming one side of the vestibule (same as a foyer but smaller....and that it is!)




The wall separating the kitchen from the living area was added next....




....then the wall between the living area and the bedroom....


....and finally the back/side wall, completing the retangular shape of the little house.



So what happens next?



The roof is slotted together and the chimneys are put in place.



The porch roof is added....



and then the fence.... 



the roof is added...




a door mat and potted plants....



and a bench to complete a nice front yard. 





Next, the instructions told me to insert the window sills at the bottom of the window opening, then "hang" the curtains by slipping the tab at the top of the curtain into the slit above the window. Right! The inside portion of the window sill did not allow the curtain to hang straight, so I bent the sills down. I was not successful at inserting any of the tabs at the top of the curtains into the slits above the window. 


                         

Glue stick did the trick however, and my little house now has curtains at the windows!


               








   More attractive from the outside however.




               Furniture was included for this little house.
For the living area....secretary, table, chair and bamboo bench.



For the bedroom....wardrobe, bed and dressing table.




 For the kitchen....a stove.

                          


And pictures for the walls.



Kitchen.



Living area.



Bedroom

House and garden.


And all sides of the 'Welcom' Dolls' House







This little cottage was made in England by Williams, Ellis, & Company Ltd., located at 145 Edge Lane, Liverpool, UK. They were a private company that incorporated April 14, 1914, and dissolved April 3, 2012.

I said earlier that I have a weakness for little cardboard houses. Here are links to others I have blogged about.