A Modern Dollhouse....now on eBay

** Plans to build this dollhouse can be found in the column to the right under PAGES

A couple of weeks ago I was looking through some old dollhouse stuff I had from when I was trying to decide how to build my daughter's dollhouse, and I found this article from Woman's Day magazine dated October 1976. (yeah, I have a hard time throwing stuff away).   

This dollhouse was designed by Ira Grandberg, A.I.A., and at the time this article was published, it was being presented to the Museum of the City of New York to become a part of their famous dollhouse collection.

The roof and the bedroom wing lifts off for easier play. The article says that with this dollhouse children play in "right now" or even "when I grow up" time as opposed to "once upon a time" in a reproduction dollhouse.

Plans for this dollhouse were not offered for sale in the article, or perhaps my daughter would have had one of these! It is a large dollhouse sitting on a base of 47" x 49" and 2 feet high, the scale being one inch to one foot.

The interior design was by Marilyn Budnick-Wein.  The article gives hints and a few instructions on how you can make the furniture shown.

These are great....

but I think Oese has them beat!!

Well, guess what's listed for auction on eBay this week....

Evidently plans were sold for this contemporary dollhouse, possibly at the museum to which it was donated. The auction states that a dollhouse of this design was built in 1976 and presented to the Museum of the City of New York and is part of their famous dollhouse collection. Has anyone seen this 33 year old beauty at the museum?

Ebay item is 200463543993 and listed as pick-up only.

Rear view with pergola added.

This is a great house...

I hope it goes to a good home!

Thank you Amy for a great spring vacation!

Rigoberta and Felipe Hogarin have just returned from a wonderful stay at the Lundby Lane time-share on Amy's Miniatures and Smalls site.  They stayed busy with horseback riding, dining and dancing and just enjoying the relaxing atmosphere on Lundby Lane.

Rigoberta is showing her beautiful new crystal vase to her daughter Talina and granddaughter Rocio.  "Oh, I must get my suitcases unpacked! I always dislike that part of a trip...but at least Consuela will do the laundry for me!" says Rigoberta.

"Oh NO!  Felipe!!  Where are the clothes? All that's in our suitcases is champagne! What have you done with our clothes?"

Felipe is busy sharing a really big homemade Ding Dong that sweet Millie sent back to Consuela and doesn't hear Rigoberta.

[Felipe enjoyed their stay at Millie and Martin's time-share so much that  he made a big sign to show his appreciation, and has asked me to post it on my blog so everyone will know how enjoyable the time share is.]

"NO NO NO, Felipe!" says Rigoberta, "That's what you write on a restroom wall to advertise a loose woman.  Oh, Felipe, what will I do with you?"

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To get to the other side? 

Nooooo, not this chicken!  This chicken DRIVES down the road.....because this 15 foot tall chicken is on the chassis of a 1988 Mazda truck...and goes anywhere he wants to.

This chicken is an Art Car...and Houston, city of this chicken's hatching, lays claim to hosting the world's oldest and largest Art Car parade.  The parade is a 4-day celebration that attracts 250+ vehicles and other entries from the US, Mexico and Canada, and has a live audience of some 250,000. The Art Car parade, a free public art event, is created by and for the people. There is no pre-selection process; anyone who makes a decorated, augmented, or decked-out wheeled vehicle can participate.

The 2010 Houston Art Car Parade will be held on May 8 with Dan Aykroyd hosting as Grand Marshall. Events include the Art Car Ball held Thursday nite; on Friday is the Main Street Drag (where caravans of art cars visit children's hospitals, schools, community centers, and senior living facilities); Friday nite is Sneak Peek and shop talk; Art Car parade held downtown on Saturday at 1 pm; and the Art Car Artists Award Ceremony on Sunday. If you have never experienced an art car parade, plan to come to this one or get yourself to the one nearest you!

I took my son to his first art car parade in 1989, the second year Houston hosted an Art Car parade sponsored by the Orange Show.  I guess it left an impression on him, but it took a good 12+ years before he and a friend created their first art car...named Laundry Car. He followed that with  2 art bikes (Horsie Bike and Automobike) and a coffee scooter (Smitty's Percolating Coffee Psycho). He evidently enjoyed the art of creating so much that he changed his major to art, and in 2009 graduated summa cum laude  from the University of Houston with a BFA in Studio Art - Sculpture. Drew is now teaching art to students in an area high school.

This big chicken was actually a project in one of Drew's sculpture classes.  Big chicky is made  of new and used corragated steel with the tail feathers being interior pieces from hot water heaters.  Entered in the 2008 Art Car Parade as Hen-a-tron II, this big chicken won the People's Choice Award out of  250 entries. Mom was proud.

Big chicky got some new feathers for the 2009 parade.  To see the big chicken in action in 2009, go to this  local news segment. The Psychedelic Surfer Dude 60's era Porsche shown in the segment was the big winner in the 2009 parade.

....Horsie bike

....coffee scooter

...Laundry car with the performing artists Lonely Maytag Man and Smuggles the Fabric Softener Bear

Drew's 1966 VW Variant is at the age where it needed a little help seeing just to drive around town...just an art project, not made for the parade.


As you can tell, this post is not about one of my old dollhouses....so I guess it falls under "other treasures".  But the other treasure is not this big chicken, the treasure is my son!

Schoenhut versus Converse "Realy Truly"

This is a Keystone of Boston dollhouse...one of the earliest dollhouses made by Keystone Mfg. Co.  This house can be found in the 1935 Keystone catalog. This post is not about the dollhouse, it's about the 2 sets of doll furniture I keep switching in and out of this  little house!

Two American firms that manufactured dollhouses in the early part of the 20th century were the Schoenhut  and the Converse companies. Both firms made dollhouses for several years before they started manufacturing furniture to fill their little houses.

Here's my house filled with furniture manufactured by Schoenhut.......

Schoenhut's first dollhouses were produced in 1917, but they didn't start manufacturing dollhouse furniture until 1928. Although they  made dollhouse furniture for only 7 years, the designs of the furniture changed almost on a yearly basis. 

And here it is filled with furniture made by Converse.......

 Converse started manufacturing dollhouses around 1909, using colors lithographed directly on to  wood. Furniture for dollhouses wasn't produced until 1930 when they changed the style of their houses to one of  fiberboard and wood. The new house was called the Realy Truly dollhouse, and the furniture made for the dollhouse is referred to by collectors as Realy Truly. 

Four rooms of furniture were produced... living, dining, bedroom, and kitchen, with the design not changing for the short period it was made. Later bathroom pieces were made. Their furniture was very similar to the Schoenhut furniture produced during the same period.

This ad for Schoenhut furniture appeared in the Sears and Roebuck catalog in 1933; not all the Schoenhut  furniture in my house is from this ad.

This ad shows the Realy Truly furniture from the 1930 Sear and Roebuck catalog. 

SCHOENHUT FURNITURE....

This Schoenhut  living and dining room furniture was made in 1931.

A library table was part of the living room set (I don't have one), but I'm not sure if smaller tables were also produced.

My dining set needs a touch of Old English scratch cover...just like in real life!

This bedroom furniture is from Schoenhut's 1934 line. The top of the mirror has the same scalloped design as the head and foot boards on the bed. Removing the frame from the dresser's mirror  was a cost cutting design on the part of Schoenhut. Underneath this yellow calico, the sofa and chair are just like the set in the living room. In fact, the set in the living room came with these cute  slip covers.  Since they were in better shape than the set now covered, I  removed all the 1/4 inch nails and recovered the set that was in poor condition (using a hot glue gun). And now I have over 30 tiny vintage nails to make other repairs to my houses!

The bath furniture is also part of the 1934 line, the last produced by Schoenhut. The vanity stool is not part of the set; it was an unfinished piece that came with other funiture.

   

I love the way the dollie can still see her reflection in the mirror....after 76 years.

The Schoenhut kitchen is from the line produced in 1933, with the exception of the stove which was made in 1934. I'm sure yellow chairs came with the set, I just haven't found any! These blue chairs were part of the bedroom set. The green table in the back is from their 1931 line.  The tea trolley came with the dining room furniture; as it has the same legs as the kitchen table, I assume it is from 1933-34.

CONVERSE REALY TRULY FURNITURE........

Converse Realy Truly living room set came with a library table and a cute little footstool....

and a radio just like real houses had in 1930!

The dining room included two different sized buffets just like the Schoenhut line.

The bedroom set included twin beds, dresser, rocker, end table and lamp (not the one shown).

The beds were covered with paper printed to look like coverlets.

The kitchen set included 7 different pieces....table and 2 chairs, stove, refrigerator (although I'm sure in 1930 they were still "ice-boxes"), hutch, and a 2-legged sink.

Here are some comparison pictures.....

Realy Truly on the left..........Schoenhut on the right

So, I wonder which little set will win out and get to live in my little house?

All of the information on these sets of Schoenhut and Converse doll furniture comes from one or more of Dian Zillner's wonderful dollhouse books.

Leaving...on a jet plane

Rigoberta is so excited about the trip she and her hubby Felipe are taking to a sweet little time-share cottage in Illinois. She has all of her suitcases out and is busy trying to decide what to take with her. Isn't that always the problem? Oops, must leave a little room for Felipe!

Their good neighbor, Gund Slinger, volunteered to take them to the airport. Gund is thinking... that's a lot of suitcases!  Rigoberta is wishing Gund would keep his eyes on the road in front of him.  Felipe is wishing the windshield were higher because he is getting a lot of bugs in his teeth.

"Felipe!  Get a trolley to carry these bags. Why did you bring your lunch box? Don't you know they will serve  food on the plane?" says Rigoberta.
"Oh, Honeybun, I filled my lunchbox with Ding-Dongs just in case they don't have them in  Illinois!"
"Oh, Felipe, what to do with you! I bet that was Consuela's idea."

"PUSH! Felipe. PUSH!  I think I'm stuck!"

OH!  IT'S A FUN JET VACATION!!      T--A--K--E--O--F--F   !!!


        to be continued again.....but where?