Return to childhood...

Santa brought my first dollhouse in 1948 when I was 4 1/2. It was a Keystone of Boston tudor style dollhouse. It looked just like this one below. :)

I looked like this in Spring, 1949. That's my big sister Charlene on the left and my wonderful mom who picked out this great dollhouse and all of the furnishings for her two girls. Even though it was a gift for both of us, it was always considered my dollhouse.

When I was 13, my dollhouse went to live with some other little girls; I hope they enjoyed it as much as my sister and I did. Mom kept 3 items from our little house....I have 2 of them in this house. Look for the Renwal sewing machine in the bedroom and the pink and blue chair in the nursery. I remember picking out the chair at Woolworths before I started to school; they came in several color combinations, but I liked the pink and blue the best. The other item Mom kept was the Renwal radio; my sister has that. :)

The furniture in this little house is just like I had in my little house. I've added accessories, but otherwise it's just like the dollhouse I played with 60 years ago.

In this house live the Ballou family....Mr. Ballou, Mrs. Ballou, Buddy Ballou, Gail Ballou and little Sweetness Ballou (so named to counter-act Evil Baby who lives on Lundby Lane in Amy's Miniatures and Smalls blog).

I see that Mrs. Ballou set the table for dinner before she rushed off to the store to get milk for Baby Sweetness.

Mr. Ballou is sitting by the fire listening to the radio. He wants to have a talk with his son so he calls out, "Buddy! Buddy! I need to talk with you before dinner. I'm in the living room. Buddy! Come now!" Wonder where Buddy is.....

He's not in the nursery with Gail and Baby Sweetness.......

He's not in the bathroom either..........

He's not in his parent's bedroom, but their dog Pug is there. Pug has his ears up. Did he hear mom opening a bottle of milk....better go down and check that out.

Oh look, Buddy is there talking with Dad. Dad tells him, "Son, I don't ever want to see you wearing a lime green suit again! Especially with a red tie!"

Yes, there is Mrs. Ballou warming milk for Baby Sweetness.....and Pug hoping he will get lucky!

Mrs. Ballou hears the doorbell ring and wonders who could be coming to visit. She calls out to Mr. Ballou asking him to answer the door. Wonder who is there....

OMG, it's President Obama!! It's their lucky day!!

Radios....I have radios, lots and lots of radios!

Children of my generation learned to use their imaginations well because, before TV, the most dominant home entertainment medium was the radio. I remember lying on the floor in front of the radio listening to concerts, musical shows, dramas, comedies, and one that threatened to "catch you in the jaws of a vise". My imagination always made me worry about that one.

These radios were made by Strombecker. All radios on the back row are 1" scale; from the left, the dates of production were 1936, 1938, and 1931. The art deco blue radio, part of their "Modern Design" line, was first marketed in 1938. The table radio was listed in their catalog in 1934.

Other dollhouse radios marketed during that period and later were...

first on the back row left is the US Menasha Woodenware radio from 1934;

US Converse produced this radio as part of their "Realy Truly" dollhouse furniture starting in 1931; the radio last radio on this row was made by UK Barton around 1957.

On the front row is a radio made by US Nancy Forbes circa 1940; US Kage made the second radio from 1938 to 1948; the last radio was  made by US Strombecker in 1942.

Plastic dollhouse furniture became popular after World War II. The 3 radios grouped on the left were made by Renwal. The open drawer housed the phonograph...this is almost an exact replica of the Philco radio that my family had in our living room. I remember when I was old enough to play my colorful cardboard records on the phonograph without supervision. I sometimes see old cardboard records on eBay. :)

The next two radios are almost duplicates...the dark radio was made by US Ideal and the brown one by Canadian Reliable. The only difference is each radio has their brand name posted on the front above the dial. In Zillner's Furnished Dollhouses 1880-1980 she says that "Reliable was licensed by the Ideal Toy Co. to copy some of Ideal's products." That explains the identical radios. The last radio was made by Jaydon during World War II.

Not only did Renwal have a phonograph in the opening drawer, they also had radio tubes and speakers as seen from the back!

Renwal super BIG!!

Finding a set of Renwal kitchen furniture on eBay 5 years ago is what started my miniature obsession. My son insisted I sign up to buy on eBay; but 5 months later, when I had yet to purchase any items, he walked me through searching for items....and what did I find but a set of Renwal kitchen furniture just like I had in my childhood dollhouse! I think I paid a premium price for that set and made the seller very happy AND brought much joy to my daily life.

Renwal Manufacturing Company started producing plastic dollhouse furniture in 1945. Charles F. Donovan, Jr. has published a wonderful reference book, Renwal, World's Finest Toys, for collectors of this vintage furniture. This particular kitchen set was produced in 1948-50; and was probably sized for 6-8" dolls as the sink and stove are 4" by 6", while the fridge is 7" by 4" ....much too large for most dollhouses.

All the drawers and doors open; there is a lid to cover the burners on the stove; the handles on the stove and the freezer compartment move; the ice tray and shelves in the fridge are removable; and, best of all, a built in tank behind the sink allows the faucets to have running water...well, at least drop by drop! The refrigerator came equipped with ice tray with cube grid, a white painted bottle of milk and packages of butter, eggs and cheese. I'm lucky to have 3 of the items even though the butter has lost its wrapper.

The stove came with 3 ivory pans; I have the small sauce pan and the frying pan. The burner lid slides down behind the burners with much difficulty; my stove has a piece broken out at that point.

The sink came equipped with scaled packages of soap, soap powder and cleanser...plus a sink stopper. Turn the faucets and water comes out! Not exactly, Donovan explained that water flow operated by gravity whether the faucets were "on" or "off". And since my sink didn't come with a stopper and I couldn't find a replacement item, I had a lot of fun taking the next picture!

And here is a picture of that original kitchen set that got me started .... next to this super BIG set that must have delighted a lot of small girls back in 1948!

Another Tudor dollhouse by Rich Toys

In American Dollhouses and Furniture of the 20th Century, Dian Zillner lists several characteristics of the early dollhouses made by The Rich Toy Manufacturing Company which fit this little house....doorbell, front chimney, metal shutters (similar to the Keystone houses but smaller), interior walls and floors without graphics, solid color roof (Keystones houses had silk-screened shingles).
This house arrived with one cream colored metal shutter; I've recreated the acetate window panes found in other Rich Toys home of this same period (1935-1939) , but hope to add something in cream at a later date.
This house also arrived falling apart! The gypsum board/masonite of the 1930's is soft and flaky; I had to replace the second floor and add a piece underneath the first floor. I took the liberty of creating a bathroom for this house at the same time, but I forgot to add flowers in the window boxes!

This house is filled with furniture made by The Kage Company from 1938 to 1948. I have always been fascinated with the living room furniture that is upholstered in small printed fabrics; several designs of chairs and sofas were made. Although mine are not originals, Kage also produced beds with spreads and pillows. The dressing table and chair pictured below retain their original fabrics. Kage made several designs of the kitchen pieces...and the cutest little fireplaces! The only functioning piece is the desk/secretary which has a drop-down writing surface.

Brightly painted wooden books grace the bookcase, while short pieces of small branches are used as logs in the log basket. (That's a Toncoss fireplace in the living room.) This wall clock still has its' decorative decals, most haven't survived with the decals intact. A Renwal mom and dad live in this house with their twin daughters....such a stern looking family!

Older pieces of Kage furniture featured round dowels for legs on the kitchen and dining room pieces. At a later date, Kage started using turned legs. The designs are considered 3/4":1' in size; some of the earlier kitchen tables/chairs are so short I use them as children's furniture!

Kage produced bathroom furniture but it is extremely hard to find. This bath furniture is the Nancy Forbes line from 1945 and also an original coiled braid rug from the same era.

Check out that chest-on-chest in the corner... and the reading lamp by the chair....really cute! The area rugs in the living room and both bedrooms are vintage 40's-50's upholstery samples. Those of you old enough will remember how scratchy they were to sit on.

Here is a close up of the little dressing table and vanity stool with the original fabric...and a close up of the adorable fireplace. 

The Renwal twins have plenty of dollies to play with in the room they share.... they should look happier!