Thursday, August 30, 2018

Schoenhut Neighbors


Emma and Granger Page are eager to meet
 their new neighbors  Ranya and Sanjay Chowdhury, 
who recently immigrated to the United States 
from his native country of India. 


Emma and Granger introduce themselves to Sanjay and Ranya
 and invite them to visit their home.


While Ranya admires the fresh flowers Emma just picked 
from her garden, and Sanjay and Granger discuss 
whatever it is men discuss when they get together....


...Emma brings freshly baked cookies from the kitchen. 
Ok, that's the story. Let's get on with learning 
about the Schoenhut dollhouses and the furniture.


These two houses are the smallest of my six Schoenhut dollhouses. I can blame this particular collection of houses on Carol Morehead for suggesting I get a Schoenhut dollhouse for my Schoenhut dollhouse furniture when I posted about it back in 2010. Both of these houses were made between 1931-1934, and are from the Schoenhut inexpensive line of heavy cardboard dollhouses with plastic windows, wooden floors and wooden support beams. 



This house, with the centered front door and four rooms, measures 17½” x 10½” x13½”. 
It has the original curtains that came with it. 



This house was originally electrified but the equipment is no longer in working order. 
That will happen when you cut the electrical cord. 


The living room furniture - chairs, sofa and library table - are from set 6/1 of Schoenhut's 1931 line of dollhouse furniture. The fireplace was part of the Apartment House Rooms set 5/29F Living Room introduced in 1930. The radio, missing the top board, 
was part of the set 6/21 Living Room introduced in 1933.
French fèves decorate the mantle.  
Not sure how that Strombecker lamp was included...I don't drink during the day. 



I have only one chair matching this pale yellow set....
that certainly means that Granger must stand when having meals.


The kitchen set, 6/523, was a new design produced 
by Schoenhut in 1933. Schoenhut described it as "canary". 



The light fixture hangs low enough that Granger 
sometimes bangs his head on it in the middle of the night.


This is Set 154 Bathroom from the 1934 Schoenhut line.


Granger is trying to remember why he came to the bedroom. 
That happens often as one ages. Or drinks. 




The twin beds and bedside table are from set 6/5 Bedroom line produced in 1931, 
while the dresser is from set 6/5 Bedroom line produced in 1932.  
The paper used to resemble bed covers was missing and has been replaced.
The chair is a Kage product and all lamps are Strombecker.   
   

All the curtains came with the house. They were originally pleated, 
but then I laundered them and now they are not.


Granger and Emma Page are German Caco dolls from the 1950-60s.




This slightly smaller Schoenhut dollhouse measures 16” x 9½” x 13” 
with a front door situated to the side. It also contains four rooms. 



This is how it looked when I purchased it from Ebay. It is evident that it had paper attached...most likely in a brick design. It has taken me several years to decide how I wanted to restore it. I chose this paper from Itsy Bitsy Mini thinking it would go with the red roof and green shutters. Well it didn't. So I ended up painting the roof green. 
I also wallpapered the interior to cover the stains from many years of play. 



I found this picture of a Schoenhut house on Ebay several years ago.  
I think my house must have looked similar when new. 



Four rooms decorated as bedroom, bath, living room and kitchen dining room combo. 


I've furnished this house with Jaymar Specialty Company Happy Hour dollhouse furniture circa 1933. Jaymar was associated with the toymaker Louis Marx and Company. 
Five rooms of this furniture were produced in a ¾” to 1’ scale with an Art Deco look. 



 In red and black, simple lines and no moving parts....
included were sofa, chairs, end tables, lamps,


 library table, grandfather clock and a floor lamp. Orange and red and black...nice combo. 


I've combined the kitchen and dining room furniture and hung the curtain crooked.

The kitchen included a stove with top oven, a two-legged sink, a hutch, a kitchen table and one chair in a bright yellow with black trim. A carpet sweeper was included with the kitchen set.


The dining room came in green with black designs that included a dining room table made in the same style as the library table, a buffet, and four chairs. 
A pair of black candle holders with orange candles were part of the original set.


Notice that the Happy Hour furniture is the perfect size for this small house!


The bedroom furniture includes twin beds, a bed side table and a dresser. Also included but not with my set was an orange and green table lamp and a pair of orange and black candle sticks. 


All of the curtains in this house were printed on colored index paper. I included an extra dresser and dining room chair for the lady of the house to use as a vanity.


My bathroom collection contains the necessary pieces. Jaymar also included a bathroom stool and two towel bars. The commode lid lifts...so there is a moving part to the Jaymar collection!



Ranya and Sanjay  Chowdhury are Dol-Toi dolls in national dress made in United Kingdom in 1960. These dolls came to me as a pair but representing different countries. And now they have immigrated to America....and are accepted and welcomed in my Dollhouse Village!

All the information on the Schoenhut dollhouse furniture comes from 
Schoenhut Dollhouse Furniture 1928-1934 by Patty Cooper. 
It can be found on the Blurb.com website in softcover or instant PDF version. 


Information on the Jaymar Specialty Happy Hour furniture was found in 
Antique & Collectible Dollhouses and Their Furniture by Dian Zillner and Patty Cooper.

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Wren Cottage Weekend

Chip and Birdie Wren are on the way to their weekend cottage 
with their twins Pip and Pippa. 

Their cottage is appropriately named.

 The first thing Pip and Pippa do is rush to their swings that 
dad set up on their last visit to the cottage.  
While the kids swing, Birdie and Chip relax on the patio. 

Birdie suggests they invite their close neighbors, 
the Lapins, over for a cook-out that evening. 
Chip thinks that is a great idea,
 as the Lapins are good company. 

Bunny and Peter Lapin arrive with 
a large bottle of his homemade elderberry wine. 
Amazingly, they have no children.


Peter uncorks the wine while Chip fires up the grill.

 Peter silently hopes that is not one of his relatives Chip is grilling. 

The adults are having an enjoyable evening....

 but where are Pip and Pippa?

 They are not in the family area.

Or the kitchen....


or their parent's bedroom.


 Surprise! Not hiding in the water closet either!

Oh here they are! Practicing gymnastics on their bunk beds.
Did you notice that Pip can bend his knees forward? 
That's the photographer's fault.


 After dinner, when the Lapins have gone back to their rabbit hole, Pip and Pippa join mom and dad on the patio. Mom and dad are still putting away the juice while Pippa continues to  practices her balancing act and Pip pretends he is a statue. 


 This dollhouse is in two parts. 


It does not show signs of ever being attached.


It was sold by the F.A.O. Schwarz Toy store 
in their Christmas catalog in 1960-61. 
I'm quite sure it was a German import. 


Most of the furniture is marked West Germany. 
 The side table above and the 2 red stools are Lundby.


 The beds are West German, with the bunk bed being similar 
to the original furniture sold with this weekend house.

In order....Dol Toi, Lundby, West German. 

The grill is marked Japan. The chairs are not marked, 
but are just the right size for my little family.



Pip, Birdie, Chip and Pippa Wren...
German Caco dolls measuring 2¼-4" tall.

 Bunny and Peter Lapin are Kunstlerschutz ornaments 
made in Germany.  At 4" tall to the top of their ears, 
they make great dollhouse dolls.


A special thanks to George Mundorf for sharing 
pictures of his weekend cottage so I was
able to copy the front sliding doors!