This dollhouse was manufactured by the A. Schoenhut Company in Philadelphia, PA during 1934, their last year of producing dollhouses.
This is the dollhouse when it came to live with me, dirty and missing the long edge of the fence. Darn, it had more character when it was dirty. I had planned to take a picture of the refurbished house in front of the ferns in my courtyard again....however, although protected, the ferns bit the dust in the Texas freeze of 2021.
Because the exterior of the house has a stucco finish, I was not able to clean it easily and ended up painting it an off white. I renewed the roof with a coat of Fiebing's dark red leather dye, covering 5-6 tiles at a time then buffing off to a glossy finish.
My brother made a wonderful replica of the original fence for me.
He may have felt a bit guilty after his grandpup, Winston, visited me
and decided the original fence was a very nice chew.
Lucky sister, yes?
Meet the Caco doll family that lives in this little house.....
Horace and Glenda Crenshaw,
their children Madelyn, Marguerite and little Lionel,
and their pups, Snowball and Fred.
The house is furnished with Schoenhut furniture,
a combination of their productions of 1931-34.
Starting with the living room, we find Horace gazing into space while pretending to read a book.
Caco dolls are good at gazing into space.
Has someone been playing Ragtime on this piano?
Someone needs to give Mrs. Crenshaw
a bottle of Old English scratch cover.
Still gazing....
Over the sofa is a picture the Crenshaws purchased in Germany
on their last vacation away from the children.
Crossing the stairwell into the dining room....
we find a picture of the three Crenshaw kids.
Entering the dining room, with countryside mural,
we find heirlooms gifted to Mrs. Crenshaw from her parents.
A lace panel from Grams hangs in front of the window above the
pewter compote and peacock statues, also from Grams.
The Scotch and Bourbon decanters are a gift from Grandad.
Grams made him give up spirits.
and glasses on the trolley in the dining room.
The children haven't managed to break it....yet.
The kitchen, in shades of blue, has the necessary appliances....
....a hutch that also serves as a pantry,
a stove with four burners and oven,
and a table with 2 chairs. Evidently the children
do not dine with the parents.
Also an electric refrigerator and a sink with drainboard.
Mrs. Crenshaw is lucky to have modern appliances
to make her household chores easier.
Ah, the convenience of an indoor bathroom.....
with both a tub....
and a shower.
Modern living at its' 1934 best!
Madelyn and Marguerite have matching twin beds...
while little Lionel's crib in placed on the opposite wall.
Snowball likes hanging out it the kid's bedroom.
In the upper stairwell ...
we find more pictures of....guess who!
Glenda and Horace's room is across the stairwell
from the children's room.
and twin beds for Glenda and Horace.
There was a picture on the wall above the beds....
all I see now is a spot of "tacky wax" that didn't do its' job.
Because she has modern appliances and indoor plumbing,
Glenda is able to spend a lot of time on her chaise reading large books.
The furniture in this house was made by Schoenhut during their 1931-34 production years.
The information found here comes from a Patty Cooper book,
Schoenhut Dollhouse Furniture 1928-1934.
The sofa and chair were first introduced in 1931 in maroon, with the set in blue in 1932.
The piano was produced in 1930 and was included
with the living room set in their Apartment House Rooms.
The library table was part of the 1931 living room set,
while the floor lamp was introduced in 1932.
The maker of the small lamp on the piano is not currently known.
The dining room table and chair set was first produced in 1931.
The buffet and server were redesigned for 1932 production
with a scalloped rail beneath the non-opening drawers.
The tea cart first appeared in 1932.
The kitchen refrigerator, sink, stove and hutch were new designs in 1931 and were originally green. The table and chair set is from 1933, and the stool is Strombecker.
Schoenhut produced this charming bedroom set in 1934.
It included a scalloped design on the head and foot boards
with a matching design on the metal mirror attached to the chest.
No bolsters were attached to the beds.
The chaise longue was a new design for Schoenhut,
while the lamps first appeared in 1931.
In 1931 Schoenhut produced this bedroom set in pink and in green.
The beds and bolsters are covered with printed paper.
Missing from my set is the mirrored vanity.
The lamp is Strombecker, the baby crib Dol Toi.
This bathroom set was new to the line produced in 1931
and available in green or white. This orchid set was available in 1932.
Schoenhut to hold the electric bulbs to light the house.
I painted, then inverted them, to resemble the ceiling lights
found in homes of the 1930s.
The fixture in the bathroom was missing;
this is a wooden bowl painted white.
More missing original fixtures led me to install "crystal" bottle caps in the stairwells.
Refurbishing this wonderful dollhouse took up a lot of my down time during the ongoing pandemic. Now, on to the next one that has been sitting on my work table since November!
