Yes, Virginia, cowboys do live in Texas!

 

and some of them live close to the Village.....

 

Diego Pickett is the stationmaster at the Keystone Outpost 

 on down the road * from the Village. He lives there with wife Savannah

and his children Little Zeke and Liza.

Savannah is so proud of her new Barbie cowgirl hat that Diego bought her on his last trip to  town...she is trying to figure out a way to show it off. Maybe a little hoedown*... they can  invite all the neighboring ranchers and farmers . "We can celebrate my new Barbie hat!" she says to Diego. Southern girls can be a bit shallow at times.

Little Zeke likes to climb the rocks around the fort....

and Liza follows so she can tattle on him.

Agreeing to Savannah's suggestion, Diego decides that Little Zeke is old enough to ride to the neighboring ranches and invite everyone to the hoedown. Little Zeke saddles his horse Trusty and heads out while everyone waves goodbye. Savannah is hoping he remembers to ride his horse at least part of the way.

The Flagg boys, Buck, Spud and Chance, and little sister Sissie, are excited about going to a hoedown. They dress in their best bib and tucker*, tuck their pistolas* in their belts and get an early start. Texans don't go anywhere without their pistolas. Stopping to rest the horses, Spud is the first out of the wagon and already has his pistol drawn looking for something to shoot. Chance is standing on the wagon tongue hoping he won't be played out* before he gets there. Buck has headed to the nearest rock to see a man about a horse*....Sissie is last out of the wagon.

Sissie heads behind the biggest cactus while Buck walks to the side of the wagon to stretch his leg. You notice that Buck is walking with a crutch...he lost his left leg in a bull riding accident....a mechanical bull riding accident. Ow-ooch!

Spud starts shooting at the tumbleweeds to see how far they will roll.

"Dad blame it * Spud!" yells Chance, "you're gonna spook the horses.

 

 Before leaving, they stop to take a selfie, forgetting they don't have smart phones. 

Nice smiles however guys!

 



 

 The Mueller family of the nearby Fenstermacher Ranch decide to go in style and hire a stagecoach to travel to the Pickett hoedown. Klaus assures them he can drive a stagecoach and he knows the way. Problems crop up quickly....the stagecoach doors weren't made to open so Sigrid was forced to ride on top, while Axel and Dieter hop on the back and say their prayers. 

 

 

First they ride easterly....

 

 



  then they ride westerly.......

 

and east again.....

 

Finally Deiter yells, "Whoa! I'll jus climb that tall cactus  yonder 

and see whats to see. Oh, it's still a fur piece* to the outpost!"

 

 

On his way to the Village, Little Zeke stops by Three-and-a-Half-Rocks

 to invite his climbing buddies Mohe and Kanuna to come to the hoedown.

 Of course, their parents Koatohee and Hileah, and little sister Leotie, are invited too!

Let's see who else was invited....

Ruby Lou Ketchum is headed to the hoedown

with her twins Royal and Blaze.

 

 

Ruby Lou curled her locks special for today. 

Son of a gun...she just had a bath last Saturday and she didn't want to show up smelling like a horse.

So she walked instead, hoping those handsome Flagg boys might be there. 

 

 

 Royal loves to ride carrying his Texas flag....he  pretends

he is part of the United States Calvary charging forward! 

 

 

 Aging starlet Constance Blain arrives with her boy-toy Mix Match wondering if she found the right outpost. She's hoping some producers will be around to spot her talent...after all she is a Hollywood Doll. And yes, Elvis did give her that pink Cadillac back in 1961...I told you she was talented. 

 

 

 

Timothy Twinky sneaked out of his mama's house to come to the hoedown.

 Last hoedown his cowboy hat was peppered with holes, and his mama doesn't think hoedowns are a safe place for a 19 year old town boy to be. 

Seems like no one is home....did he come on the right day?

 

 

 

 I'll just wait a while here on this rock... 

 

 

 

 Looks like the drugstore cowboys* and cowgirls 

have wandered in from town....

those two on the right look like real pale-faces.

 

I think the hoedown is finally getting started....let's see what's happening.....

 

 

There are two of the Flagg boys hustlin' Ruby LouKetchum...

or is it the other way around? Watch out, boys!

Klaus has spotted Constance Blain....

he remembers her from Saturday serials

at the movin' picture-show....

maybe she can help him break into movin' pictures!

  

Looks like Dieter has fallen head-over-hills for Miss Blaze!

Sissie Flagg is happy to have finally trapped Timothy Twinky 

in a position where he can't escape easily.
 

Sigrid is making sure Axel doesn't get too enamored of little Belle Clanton....

both of the Clanton boys carry two pistols everywhere! 

 

Royal Ketchum is trying to convince Sundance Clanton to let him

 join-up with him and brother Cody in their Wild West Shootum-Up Show.....

 

 

 

 Sundance and Cody are staging one of their shoot-outs right now...

hope those are not real bullets they are using!

 

 

Hey, those are not pistolas those two pale-faces are toting!

 

  

 

 

The Picketts are bisque dolls made in Japan, probably in the 1950s. 

The 2 smaller ones came new in the box, still wrapped in crisp cellophane.

 

 

 

Caco dolls from Germany. The 3 on the right have metal hands and feet

 which would place them as early as the 1960s. 

I think they originally came with cowboy hats.

 

 

 

 Flagg dolls made in the USA, starting around 1947,

by Charles and Sheila Flagg.

 

 

 

Bisque dolls stamped Japan.

Headbands and wigs on Indian braves are not original.

 

 

 

Hollywood Dolls made  1941-1956. Several different sizes were made. 

The earliest were composition, these are plastic.

 

 

 

Tiny Town dolls made in USA by Alma LeBlanc

from 1948 through 1955. The wig on Ruby Lou is not original.

 

 

 

Twinky doll made in USA by Ethel Strong from 1946 to 1953.

Some cowboy dolls had chaps to cover the pants.

 

 

 

 Various celluloid/plastic dolls most likely produced in Japan from 1950 -1970.

 

 

 

  

This is a "Model #823 - Keystone (of Boston) Shooting Frontier Set with Rifle and Harmless Bullets - Real Stage Coach and Covered Wagon with Cowboys, Indians, Soldiers, Buffalo and Movable Stockade Fence"

My set didn't come with the rifle and harmless bullets.

Update 2023: I listed this set on Ebay and it was purchased by a wife as a surprise birthday gift for her husband who had this set as a child. I hope he has had many happy memories.

 

 

Glossary: 

On down the road....famous quote from our illustrious gov Rick Perry when his driver was pulled over for doing 75 mph in a 55 mph zone....Perry exited the SUV and asked the DPS trooper "Why don't you just let us get on down the road?" and he was only the Lt. Gov at the time.

hoedown...an informal country party where people do square/folk dances.

best bib and tucker...your best clothes.

pistolas....Spanish word for a handgun.

played out.....exhausted

see a man about a horse....going to the restroom/water closet/loo to relieve yourself

Dad blame it!....euphemism coined to allow expressive speech without swearing.

still a fur piece....take you a while to get there.

drugstore cowboys....one who wears cowboy clothes but has had no experience as a cowboy.

 

YES!!! this is finally over!!! 

 



Kage furniture in a Keystone of Boston house.....

This is a Keystone of Boston dollhouse from 1939...one of their many English Tudor models.  It is furnished with Kage furniture just like the Rich Tudor house in my previous post. This house has  additional Kage pieces to share with you.

This small 4 room house is the perfect size for the Kage furniture. Kage made bathroom furniture but it is very hard to find. I have used a Strombecker set of the same scale.
A former owner painted the interior of this little house with a neutral color paint and added a vintage  wood-patterned linoleum to the bottom floor. I made a second floor for the one that was missing. The white flower box to the right of the front door came with the house...I added the red one, however, I have seen other models with tall shrubs on either side of the door.

New Kage items in the kitchen include the pantry and the large buffet. A smaller buffet is shown later in this post.

Several new Kage pieces are found in the living room...a piano, wall clock, flower stand, standing ashtray, coffee table, 2 lamps, and a log basket.

The lone Kage item in the bath area is the table holding the "electric" Strombecker heater....and actually it is the piano stool. 

Kage items found in the bedroom and not shown in my last post are the narrow 3 drawer chest, the larger 3 drawer chest with mirror attached, the newer model chair with spooled front legs, and the  desk with drop down writing surface. The bed came with the coverlet and matching pillows, and although it is vintage fabric, I don't think it is original as it doesn't match the fabric attached to the bed frame.

A unique thing about the Keystone of Boston houses with swing-out French windows, is the metal rods holding the window in the frame have extensions on the inside to hold the window curtains.

The radio and grandfather clock were not used in either house.

The desk may be the only functioning piece Kage made....I added the desk blotter. Pianos were made in 2 sizes.

Two different size fireplaces Kage made....one with an unstained wood mantel. The one on the right looks brand new even though production ended in 1948.

Four different chest or vanity designs...there may be more!

Three table sizes with different legs, two sizes of buffets, 2 chair sizes with different leg designs.

I have several Kage sofas, but found that all of them are one of these 3 models.

Five different chair models. I actually have 2 with the same fabric! I think the chairs/sofas with the ball feet were the newer models...anyone know for sure?

Two different models of beds, each with the original fabric and pillows. Old English scratch cover does wonders for these great old pieces...I need to get busy!

All of these pieces are in 3/4" to 1' scale. Did you know Kage also made 1 inch scale furniture? I have a few pieces....I will post about it later.