A new Patty Cooper Book: Grandmother Stover's Doll House Miniatures

 

What makes a dollhouse a home? Why, all the accessories that have been available since the first dollhouse was constructed in the late 1600s. From little girls with their first dollhouses to the mature collector of fabulous homes, the  multiple accessories that have been available have made their dollhouses complete. 

One of the most prolific suppliers of dollhouse accessories was the company known as Grandmother Stover's. Patty has included a fascinating history of the company and the man behind it,  John Stover.  Starting out as a cottage industry about 1943, Grandmother Stover accessories were still being produced as late as 1983. 

With 294 pages in color and black and white, you will be amazed at this collection of dollhouse accessories produced by Grandmother Stover's. Included is information about the The Stover Rooms that were produced in 1950, a grouping of "solidly constructed wooden" furniture popular with collectors of today. This furniture was sold by Marshall Fields and in the Chestnut Hill catalog, and advertised as late as 1962 in the Mark Farmer mail order catalogs.

This book provides catalogs and advertisements which identify Grandmother Stover's products as well as over 600 examples, most in their original packaging.

This is number 15 in a series of informative books produced by Patty Cooper on dollhouses, dollhouse furniture and dollhouse accessories....in my opinion the best on the market! 

Grandmother Stover's Doll House Miniatures can be purchased on Blurb.com.

In search of Donna Lee dollhouses or boxed furniture sets

 A new book on dollhouse furniture is in the works....the working title is  Nancy Forbes and Donna Lee Dollhouse Furniture. Patty Cooper is looking for pictures of Donna Lee dollhouses or boxed sets of Donna Lee furniture. 

Donna Lee dollhouse furniture was made by the Woodburn Mfg. Co. in the mid 1940s. It was made entirely of wood in the ¾" to one foot scale. It came in boxed sets to furnish the bedroom, bathroom, living room, dining room and kitchen. A dollhouse was marketed using the Donna Lee name in 1944.

If you would like to share pictures of boxed sets of any of the Donna Lee furniture or a Donna Lee dollhouse with Patty, please contact her at gardenmont@aol.com. 

Dollhouse Wonders is open again!

                     

                       DollhouseWonders

                                           Reproduction dollhouse parts as well as misc. items

Dollhouse Wonders, the go to shop for reproduction parts for Rich Toys and Keystone of Boston vintage dollhouses and other miscellaneous items, has reopened for the winter to spring months. 

If you are not familiar with Dollhouse Wonders on Etsy, it's a shop, run by JoAnn and Don Belanger, that specializes in providing reproduction parts for those missing pieces on vintage Rich and Keystone dollhouses that were made between 1935 and 1960. Made of Masonite and wood, these vintage houses are often missing chimneys, light fixtures, windows and shrubbery that were original to the house when it was new. 

JoAnn is a long-time collector of these vintage houses, and luckily for her, Don is an excellent craftsman with wood. JoAnn silk screens and makes items from resin, so between the two of them they were able to bring JoAnn's vintage dollhouses back to their original beauty. She started making small items for her friends that also collected these vintage Rich and Keystone houses, resulting in her opening this Etsy shop for other collectors of these wonderful old dollhouses. 

Here are some recent orders sent to customers....

....flowers strips for Keystone and Rich window boxes, brown shutters for a Rich house, doors for Keystone and Rich houses, latticed windows for a Rich house, and a Rich porch with pink vases.

This is a fireplace first found in a 1936 Rich dollhouse but can be used in any dollhouse of your choosing.

These items are made from resin....a flower urn or bird bath, Strombecker bowls, and a shrub that adorned the front of a Rich dollhouse.

Here are Rich and Keystone chimneys made of wood, and three lattice windows with hanging rods for the Keystone houses of the late 1930s and 1940s.

You can locate many items made by the Belangers at Dollhouse Wonders that will complete your dollhouse....even if it isn't a Rich Toys or Keystone of Boston dollhouse!

A 1938 Rich Toys Plantation

Rich Toys produced this lovely colonial mansion dollhouse in 1938, No. 288. 

 It is decorated with a wood medallion in the pediment above the porch, four large pillars,

 seventeen windows with painted on shutters, printed shrubbery, 

           

and two large chimneys on either end.  A vintage ad for this house shows two lawn extensions with six imitation pine trees. George Mundorf is lucky enough to have discovered an example, shown here.

 

This is a large house, 34" wide, 24½" tall at the chimneys, and 16" deep. It is also bulky and heavy when one has to move it alone. This house became part of my collection in 2021. Some of the original furniture has traveled with it over the 84 years of existence. 

I have used most of the original furniture and additional pieces from my collection. 

The kitchen is furnished with Lynnfield appliances and a Kage table and chairs.  

The stool and waste basket are Strombecker.

Lynnfield appliances.

The pantry is one of my additions.

The Kage table and chairs are one of the earlier sets, I added two chairs. 

Kage produced dollhouse furniture from 1938-1948. 

The dining room is furnished with what is referred to as

 German red-stain furniture.

The table and two chairs came with the house.

The hutch is also original to the house; I added the accessories.

These pieces are from my collection.

The clock, hanging by the stairs, is original to the house.

The living room is furnished with Lynnfield, Strombecker, Dolly Dear 

and the built-in fireplace.

The piano and clock are original to the house.

The coffee table is the only item pictured that is original to the house.

The wing back chair and ottoman plus the side table 

are part of the furniture original to the house.

Upstairs, the bathroom is furnished with Strombecker, Dolly Dear

 and Grandmother Stover pieces.

The sink and commode are original to the house....

 also the bathtub, hamper and vanity with bench.

The nursery is furnished with Strombecker, exception is mom's chair.

The youth bed, step stool, side table, the small desk and chair behind

 the little girl, and the bed covers also are original to the house.

The yellow duck shoofly, toy box and chifforobe completed 

the nursery set original to the house. I created the

 bannister rail and then discovered that on Ebay 

austinnoggles sells a lovely one at a reasonable price. 

The parent's bedroom is furnished with Strombecker, 

Lynnfield and Dolly Dear. 

The bed and dresser are original to the house.

This house is over-flowing with pink roses....not what I originally planned.

The fireplace is original to the house, however I have updated it.

                                                 Original                                       Updated with fire box, grate

                                                                                                              with logs, and fender.

 

This original fireplace has been found in Rich Toys dollhouses as early as 1936. 

I have always thought it had a 1970s design. 

Rich continued to use the fireplace in later editions of their houses 

but without the wooden andirons.

                                          

Kitchen, with Lynnfield appliances and Kage table and chairs.

Dining Room, with German furniture.

Living Room, with Lynnfield side table with books, grandfather clock, sofa, coffee table, wing chair and ottoman, Strombecker round side table, piano and bench, and Dolly Dear lamps.

Bathroom, with Strombecker commode, vanity and bench, bathtub, sink and hamper, Dolly Dear magazine rack, and Grandmother Stover bath scale. 

Nursery, with all Strombecker furniture and unknown upholstered chair.

Bedroom, with Lynnfield wing chair, desk and desk stool, 

Strombecker  vanity, bedside table, bed and chest.

Dolly Dear lamps.

Below are the pieces of furniture that have lived in the house for the last 84 years. 

(Accessories are mine.) It is in surprisingly good condition for its' age. 

Items that came with the house that I didn't find a place for:

 

Strombecker chair, radio, clock, small round table and candle stick. 

The white candle sticks are probably Dolly Dear.

 The desk and bench are newer items 

as is the coat that hung on the coat rack by the front door. 

I think it is wonderful that these lovely vintage dollhouses have survived over the decades

....and particularly happy when they come to live with me.