A 1934 Schoenhut Dollhouse

 

This dollhouse was produced  in 1934, the last year of production for the A. Schoenhut Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It has suffered some water damage, is missing the chimney, and was missing the door and two windows when it arrived. I will get around to making a chimney one day. I made the door....and then installed it the wrong way, that's why the door knob is on the right side. I "borrowed" two windows from the side of another small Schoenhut, because in my Dollhouse Village, having front windows is more important than having side windows!

This illustration is from a 1934 dealer's catalogue and appears in a soft cover book Dollhouses and Dollhouse Furniture (Manufactured by A. Schoenhut Company Philadelphia, Pa. 1917-1934) compiled by Margaret Whitton. Notice that it came with lights in each room and a removable back cover. This illustration shows the extension on the right side, while the extension on my house is on the left.

This illustration of the entire page might explain why. Notice that all of the houses are facing left. It is possible that the graphic designer flipped the image to create a more visually pleasing composition.

A cute little family has moved in to "No.208E". I might know their names by the end of this post.

The house has 5 rooms....two bedrooms, a kitchen, dining room and living room. No bathroom, and no outhouse in sight. 

The living room is furnished in German Red-stain furniture. The seating pieces and the clock can be found in International Dollhouses and Accessories by Zillner and Cooper, page 214. This book, published in1998, indicates the maker of German Red-stain furniture was unknown at that time. Twenty-six years later we are still trying to discover that information. 

The lamp table is Donna Lee  from her Deluxe Bedroom set no. 302. 

The lamp base is incised Germany; it came without the celluloid shade. I fashioned one of textured paper, not the same as the original but it works for me.

The dining room has a Schoenhut dining room table set and buffet from their 1931 production line. 

The maker of the hutch is unknown, possibly a German or Japanese import.

The kitchen is furnished in Schoenhut with a Kage fridge. 

The stove, sink, table and chairs are Schoenhut from 1932. The fridge is Kage from the late 1940s. 

I found this wonderful handmade crazy-quilt on Ebay and thought it was just perfect for the Kage bed. 

The bedside table and dresser are Nancy Forbes with a Strombecker clock to wake dad in case he has a job. A former owner added the knobs on the dresser. I added the mirror, but it should have a border around it. Just another error I need to correct because I didn't research. The chair is not marked as to maker. 

The children share a room, each having their own little corner. I see a girly toy but no boys toys. Hmmn, girls rule? Yea!

A Kage chest holds a Strombecker lamp. The small chair  part of the Tiny Suite made by The Spartan Company in the late 1940s. The blue bed may be from Miniaform, made when they were moving away from making the more expensive Art Deco furniture with wire legs. The brown bed is early UK Barton.

My little family has introduced themselves! Gervais and Colette Perreault and their children Laurent and Lisette. They are new immigrants from France....because of the way they are dressed, possibly time travelers? 

Ohio Art Midget Manor Neighbors

Midget Manor is a good descriptive name for this little tin dollhouse manufactured by Ohio Art between 1949-1951, as it measures only 6" wide, 2" deep and 5" tall. 

It sits on a base 8¼" by 3", lithographed as a yard and side patio.

Theodore and Maxine Bumfielder live on the

west side in their little tin house.

Their house is well furnished with the plastic furniture 

that came with it when they bought it. 

Theodore is waiting in the kitchen for Maxine to fix his breakfast.

He is dressed for work and has his briefcase and umbrella at the ready

....and his hat on in the house.

Maxine is dressed to go to her job as a bartender at Smitty's Downtown Tavern. That explains the lowcut dress, nothing explains the brown hat.

The second bedroom is for Theodore's mother when she comes to visit.  

It is sparsely furnished for a reason.

The living room has a comfy sofa and two chairs. 

Also Theodore's grand piano and a radio for Maxine.  

Hmmn, they have their chairs close to the fireplace. 

Hopefully they won't catch fire and melt their house. 

Both Theodore and Maxine enjoy sitting outside on their patio. 

 Theodore always claims the green chair.

Theodore is still in the kitchen waiting for his breakfast.

Maxine is still in the bedroom, 

thinking that Theodore already has his hat on, 

and his briefcase and umbrella in his hands. 

To the east side live Mickey and Minnie Maus.

Because both of them work at Disneyland as stand-ins 

for a pair of famous movie stars, they are able to afford 

Toostietoy Midgets furniture for their house. 

Their bedroom has art deco beds in a shade of green

 with a pale blue chiffonier.

Their spare bedroom is for family visits, 

but when not in use, Minnie likes to think of it as her boudoir. 

Their living room has a stylish sectional sofa in red, with a casual blue chair. 

Also in the living room is Mickey's piano and guitar.

Their kitchen has appliances made of index card

 and a plastic table and chairs.

Their patio has more Tootsietoy Midgets

....a library table and two lounge chairs.

Mickey is deciding whether he should play his guitar or piano

....maybe he will play both at the same time!

Oh, look who is visiting Minnie and Mickey!

According to Dian Zillner's American Dollhouses and Furniture From the 20th Century , Ohio Art Company offered this tiny house in 1949 furnished with 28 pieces of plastic furniture. My set is missing 2 straight back chairs. 

It is certainly sized for tiny hands 

with the bed 1 ⅛" long, chest ⅝" tall,

table  ¾ " wide, 

chair ½" wide, piano 1' long, and sofa 1 ¼" wide.

The Tootsietoy Midgets furniture is on the same scale 

as the plastic furniture that came with the Midget Manor. 

The Dowst Brothers Company produced Tootsietoy dollhouse furniture 

from 1922 thru 1937. These Tootsietoy Midgets 

reflect the art deco style popular during that period. 

  

I have the beds in green and pink, 

but it is possible they were also produced in blue. 

I was delighted to find the piano. 

The piano stool is  plastic from a modern production.

 

I am not aware if Dowst produced a kitchen 

for their Midgets line of furniture.

The gold chairs came with the living room or bedroom  set. 

The table can be used as either a coffee table or library table.

When there is space enough, some of the

 Midgets furniture is marked TOOTSIETOY. 

Other pieces, like the gold chairs and 

the living room chairs, are marked with a winged T.

 

The furniture was sold in room sets. I am not aware if they were sold individually.

The bedroom set.

With the great graphics on the box, 

any little girl seeing it 

would definitely want this dollhouse to play with!