THE RICH TOYS BOOK ARRIVED ....and several others are available!

The much anticipated Rich Toys dollhouse book is now available in two parts: Rich Toys Dollhouses, 1935-1962 and Rich Toys Buildings, 1935-1962, authored by Patty Cooper, JoAnn Belanger, and Rita Goranson who collaborated on the books from three different states. 

Over 80 dollhouse collectors around the United States contributed photographs or other information resulting in a chronological catalog of Rich dollhouses through the inclusion of interior and exterior photographs, original ads of the time period in catalogs and magazines, vintage photographs showing children with their houses, pictures of appropriate era dollhouse furniture for the dollhouses, and lots of helpful information.

The reviews have been very positive with people commenting most often on the fine quality of the color  photographs, the interview with a Rich factory worker, and the still shots of dollhouses from 1930’s-1950’s movies.   Two quotes:

“So happy to have this excellent book!  It’s perfect for anyone interested in Rich dollhouses.  Beautifully illustrated and clearly written, the authors have done a first rate job with their research.  The book arrived yesterday and I have been devouring it since.  An invaluable and much needed resource for dollhouse collectors and those interested in the American toy industry.”

“What an outstanding achievement for Patty, JoAnn and Rita!  I looked at the Colleen Moore section first.  What a delightful picture of the little girl with Fred MacMurray and her C.M. dollhouse. I also found the ad for the 5 room castle interesting in that a lighted version was available.  I also enjoyed the many pictures throughout of children with their Rich dollhouses.  Rita’s interview with Maxine Hensch was fascinating.  This is a wonderful, well-done contribution to ‘saving’ these charming houses." 

You may order the Rich Dollhouse book ($65.00) or the Rich Toy Buildings book ($25.00) from JoAnn Belanger’s ETSY site, DollhouseWonders.  

  

Also available on DollhouseWonders is a book called Restoring Vintage Masonite Dollhouses   ($14.00), by JoAnn Belanger, which gives tips on cleaning and doing minor and major repairs to the floors, roofs, and walls of the dollhouses. 

A beautifully illustrated book by Carol Stevenson called Colleen Moore’s Doll Castle Made by Rich Toys, ($15.00) featuring the most sought after dollhouse made by the Rich Toys Company, is also available. 

And a comment from me:  The Rich Toys book is beyond what I anticipated. Anyone with a love for these grand old ladies made during  the generations from 1935 to 1962 will enjoy seeing toys that were made with children's  imagination in mind. Wouldn't either of the Rich Toys books be a great gift for the older lady or gentleman in your family to bring back memories of what they had as toys or what they wished for Santa to bring?

Be sure to check out these other books that Patty Cooper has published,  some  in collaboration with George Mundorf, and all available on Blurb.com...just click on the links I've provided.  I hear there are more in the works! 

    Schoenhut Dollhouse Furniture
                  1928-1934

      Kage Dollhouse Furniture

                 1938-1948

The Complete Guide to Strombecker Dollhouses & Furniture, 1931-1961 

American Art Deco Dollhouse Furniture

                 of the 1930s

     R. Bliss Mfg. Co. 

Dollhouses Furniture & Buildings

FOR SALE!: Villa Hogarin dollhouse and contents...

This modern little house is a Villa Hogarin dollhouse produced in Spain in the late 60s to early 70s. It is the childhood dollhouse of Bettina, whose father purchased it for her when she was growing up in Germany. Now Bettina is ready for another child to be able to enjoy it as much as she did. 

This house is on a platform that measures 29½” wide by 21" deep. The house stands 13" tall at the peak of the roof. It contains 4 rooms and a side patio with steps leading down to the "yard". 

The rooms on this back side of the house are not as large as the 2 rooms on the front of the house.  Potted plants decorate the low wall of the patio....Bettina must have a green thumb!

This side gives a better view of the patio and the very attractive patio furniture.

The fourth side of this little house is without windows.

Here is the sweet little family that has lived in Villa Hogarin since Bettina was a young girl.

All the original furniture is included with the house and family. 

I see...the 3 piece patio set, a lavender bathroom set, a red dining room table with 4 chairs and white buffet, a bed and wardrobe, a vanity and bedside table, a kitchen table and chair along with a stove and cabinets AND pots pans and utensils, a TV, and a transformer and ceiling lights! Bettina told me not all the furniture is perfect but it certainly looks to be enough to furnish this little house.

If anyone is interested in making this wonderful Spanish Villa Hogarin their own, please contact Bettina at bschadow@gmx.net .

The House of Two Sisters

This is the house of two sisters. This house was built by Keystone of Boston in the mid 1930s, and has been the home of Margarita and Daquiri Boozer since childhood.  Their parents purchased it in 1935 when the girls were 3 and 4 years of age. The Boozers brought all their Schoenhut furniture, even the bath fixtures and kitchen appliances, with them. 

Even though Margarita is a bit older than Daquiri, their mother always dressed them alike. They continue that trend even today....and giggle when people ask them if they are twins.

The house originally had four rooms, but with two girls needing their own space, the Boozer parents converted it to a 6 room house. 

Here we see Margarita and Daquiri reaching for breakfast.

Daquiri's favorite past time is sitting in her comfy chair with a good book. She doesn't read it, she just sits there with it.

Margarita's favorite past time is gazing at herself in the mirror.

One night around midnight, Margarita and her BFF Johnnie Walker decided they were tired of lilac fixtures in the bathroom and painted them all a light mustard color. 

Not to be outdone, Daquiri's BFF Jim Beam, convinced her they should paint the green kitchen sink a lovely shade of white.

Margarita and Daquiri swear that a Grey Goose suggested they paint the maroon sofa and chairs a light cranberry.

Not sure if that is Margarita or Daiquiri going for a tall cool one. 

The girls have left the dining room virtually unscathed....only because Mama Boozer and her good friend Chivas Regal decided one night it should be a flat brown without a varnish finish. 

So we leave Margarita and Daquiri Boozer, enjoying each other's company and holding tight to their BFFs, listening to music on Papa Boozer's vintage radio.

This is how the little house looked when I found it in 2013...missing windows and door, interior walls, stained by dampness, and absolutely filthy. There was a similar but larger dollhouse in the 1938 Keystone catalog, I copied the diamond-paned windows from it. The door in the catalog picture couldn't be seen, so it has a design composite of Tudor doors from other houses. There was no indication that this house had a door surround. To help anchor the door and cover some of the stain that couldn't be removed, I made a door surround by copying the timbers on the upper floor. Mr. Clean scrubbies helped clean the grime left from 80 years of play. And a fresh coat of paint on the steps finished the exterior. 

The dolls are small Caco dolls made in the late 1940s. 

I had a collection of repainted Schoenhut furniture I wanted to use in this house, but I needed 6 rooms. I figured if I was using bastardized furniture I might as well bastardize the interior of the house and give it 6 rooms. And this is the result.

Almost all the furniture is Schoenhut, made from 1928-1934. Patty Cooper has published a wonderful book detailing the furniture Schoenhut made during this period. It can be found here at the Blurb Bookstore.

Exceptions to the Schoenhut furniture are the refrigerator, which is a metal bank with a GE emblem, and the radio of unknown origin. Kage products include the curved floor lamps by the girl's chairs and the pink wing chair in Daquiri's room (yes I painted it). Dolly Dear bedside table lamps are in each bedroom. Strombeker made the trash can in the kitchen, the scale in the bath, and the lamps on the vanity in Daquiri's room. Both beds were missing the original paper covers, I gave them similar covers of fabric. I painted the chair in Margarita's room a matching blue and gave it feet, and I constructed her vanity out of 2 drawers from a Schoenhut dresser and added the end pieces made from the shelves of a Strombecker tea cart. This is what one goes thru when one collects these wonderful old houses and dollhouse furniture, not caring if they are in pristine condition! For me, half the fun of collecting vintage dollhouses is in refurbishing them.

My 37th Keystone of Boston dollhouse....

Yes, once again I was unable to pass up a Keystone of Boston dollhouse that I didn't have in my collection....mainly because the price was right and the pretty blue shutters and roof called out to me. It is in fairly good shape for a dollhouse made around 1946-47. 

I borrowed the front door and chimney from another house when I photographed it....so those will need to be made. The stone graphics on the Keystone chimneys are usually grey, but I made that one to match the base on another dollhouse....and it looks like I will be making another brown chimney.  And this house might end up with a pretty blue door to match the shutters.

This little dollhouse has 4 rooms and no stairs. So, will it have two bedrooms and no bath, bath and 1 bedroom, or will I make a partition in one of the upstairs rooms to include a small bath? Paint or wallpaper? What brand of furniture from the 40s will I use? All the questions a dollhouse owner ponders when she gets a "new" little house. But since it's in good shape the refurbish should go quicker than most. I hope!

I have two other dollhouses that are similar in design and size. The house with the aqua roof and shutters has the same interior as my new house. 

The house with the red roof and shutters has 6 room, stairs and a closet. Both of the other houses are 26" wide while my new house is only 25" wide.

The graphics on these two houses are the same with the exception of the shutters/flowers in flower boxes being red on one and aqua on the other. The portico on both older houses are matching with a smaller portico on the newer dollhouse. 

In addition to the smaller portico on my newest house, Keystone added the delicate vines with blue flowers around the portico. One of the reasons I wanted to add this little house to my collection. 

So now I have 37 different models of Keystone of Boston houses....but there are more I would love to add to my collection!  

First and foremost is this house I have never seen an actual photo of....only this catalog picture I found in a 1951 Union catalog publication.
It was described as a six room dollhouse with the interiors, exteriors and floors decorated in many colors with large picture windows, a staircase and recessed entrance. More information about it in this blog post.

 Ok, if you have it and don't want to part with it, I might settle for an actual picture of it! 


Next comes this great house belonging to my friend Geraldine, editor of Dollhouse Toys n' Us .

I am not sure of the production date, but it is pictured in the Keystone Toy catalog of 1938-39. It has the unusual hip roof design of an older house ...#6 on my Keystone list of houses. Plus, it is the only Keystone I have seen with a side chimney and a cupola. Update 2023: I was able to purchase this house from Geraldine's collection.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                                            

This is the house as it appeared in the 1938-39 catalog. It is possible Keystone also produced this house with white shutters and cornerstones. 

I will take either!

Third on my list is this wonderful old dollhouse from the mid 1930s. Wonderful story behind these pictures.....they were shared by a very nice lady whose mother received this house as a child. Mom was turning 90 and her family was featuring her dollhouse with the original furniture at her celebration. This daughter told me she was able to identify the house when reading my blog. I told her I would like to have a chimney made by the Belingers and gift it to her mother for her birthday. 

Problem is I have lost her email address and never knew her mailing address!  So, if this very nice lady who shared these pictures with me is reading this blog, please contact me at florinebettge@comcast.net so I can get the chimney to her. Mea culpa! 

This dollhouse looks like it might be a larger version of my Keystone house #33, which I am currently working on. 

The house as it appeared in the Keystone Toy catalog of 1937-38, listed as #1281. Update 2023: I did find this Keystone house, but sadly, it has been overpainted on the exterior. It is #11 on My Keystone of Boston dollhouses under Pages on my blog.


Number 4 on my "want" list is this 1950 era house with yellow shutters.

In my early years of collecting, I passed up this house many times thinking I didn't need every Keystone. But it is such an attractive house I would love to add it to my collection. And because I am obsessed with Keystone houses!

Update: A very  nice lady contacted me after seeing this post and sold her dollhouse to me!


There are 2 other Keystones I have seen only in catalog pictures, but that doesn't keep me from being interested in them!

Keystone model #1271 from the 1938-39 catalog. Referred to as a colonial design, this is the only Keystone house I have seen with brick graphics. It had 4 rooms and 5 French windows....so two of the windows were on the side of the house. Catalog does not mention colors on the house.

Keystone model #1232 appeared in their toy catalog of 1942-43. Described having four rooms and a blue roof with red shutters, it is very similar to my Keystone house #13.  The graphics are different from my house and the door opens on the right side of the front instead of the left like mine.

So collectors, if you are wanting to part with one of these featured houses...please contact me at florinebettge@comcast.net! 

New ETSY shop: reproduction parts for Keystone and Rich dollhouses!

lantern for a Keystone house

A great new shop opened on ETSY for dollhouse enthusiasts needing reproduction replacements for missing parts on their Rich Toys and Keystone of Boston vintage dollhouses. The proprietress is JoAnn Belanger, who for several years has made these parts available to friends and associates. How wonderful that now everyone can have access to the parts needed to complete that treasured vintage dollhouse! 

Here is a note from JoAnn telling about her shop:

"Finding and restoring vintage dollhouses, especially Rich Toy Co. and Keystone of Boston dollhouses, has become a retirement hobby for my husband and me. As we restore the dollhouses in my collection, we make duplicates of parts we needed which we then make available to other dollhouse collectors.  

I recently opened an ETSY shop to market the parts I now have available.  We have recreated windows, doors, stoops, chimneys, etc., in as authentic a look as possible. We work with wood, molding materials, resin for casting parts, silk screening, and sewing materials. The parts are representative of the originals as verified in the Dian Zillner books and the Rich Toy Co. Dollhouse book.    

 Please visit my ETSY shop, “Dollhouse Wonders” or search by my name, JoAnn Belanger.  I continue to add items to my ETSY shop as I have time. You may also contact me by email at  joannbelanger@gmail.com.  

I always appreciate connecting with other dollhouse enthusiasts.

Here are pictures of some of the items created by JoAnn and Don that came to complete my vintage dollhouses...

front door for a Keystone house

resin window for the newer Keystone houses

(these are wonderful!)

fence post topper for a Rich house 

(original on left, JoAnn's on the two right)

lantern on a 30's era Rich house

front door on a 30's era Rich house.
you can see an original door on the picture above.

(I added the green paint but JoAnn said she would have done that for me!)
JoAnn also makes the flower pots!

chimney on a 30's era Keystone house

(sorry Don, I haven't gotten around to painting it)

chimney toppers on a 30's era Rich dollhouse

(these are so often missing)

one of JoAnn's wonderful replacement windows 

for a 30's era Rich house

(these come in many sizes)

The Keystone lantern at the top of this post is also one of JoAnn's products....and her replacement reproductions are reasonably priced!

Visit her shop! If you don't find what you need, do contact her at joannbelanger@gmail.com ...as it might be in production.

I feel so lucky to have found two artists who are willing to share their wonderful vintage dollhouse creations!