Dollhouse c.1950

I've been posting all of my crazy sketches and I'll be back to that soon, as I've done several major ones, but today as I was dusting and cleaning around the house I looked up and saw my dollhouse! It is metal and comes apart in about 10 pieces and stores flat.  Each room is decorated, so there's no guessing and no changing your mind, as we move through the rooms you'll see what I mean, there's even utensils hanging in the kitchen.

Just like the my table and chairs that I featured on here several months ago, this is one more thing my mom kept for me.  Because it was flat and wrapped in cardboard and plastic it has remained in amazingly good shape.  I was putting it together to snap some shots for Etsy and thought why not up on my china cabinet.  Looks kind of cute I think and is such a sweet memory.  It can always go to Etsy and another home when we tire of it.

So let's travel through the rooms.  I had lots of furniture, but that has all gone by the wayside.  My dad built dollhouses for a number of years and so most of it was used by him, some given away and some just simply discarded, but the rooms came with lots of decorations.   Let's look at the inside of the front door and the rest of the living room.  I love that there's drapes, rugs, books on the shelves and pictures on the walls.  Ready for the furniture and the people!

Also, on the lower level you found the garage and the kitchen. The picture on the left shows he left side of the garage and the kitchen wall and the one on the right side of each. I love the bike and the "lawn mower" and dishes in the one pix and the garden tools and utensils in the other! Like I said these houses were ready!  The funny part is I have no recollection of the dolls.  I remember the furniture, but not the people.  If anyone remembers what we used for people, please let me know.  Anyway, let's proceed with the home tour. As you can see already, this is not a big home - very modest even in the early 50's.  Actually not unlike the home I grew up in.  And so we move upstairs to the master bedroom, bath and child's room.  There is I might note, a very nice patio off the master bedroom, but the bath, well, there's only one - no suite in this house!!!!!

Note, the patio off the french doors in the master bedroom. Nice touch and use of the space above the garage.






Next, is that not so big bathroom next door and you notice we had to provide all of the essentials, like the bathtub, sink and toilet.  I remember that we had a variety of styles we could choose from and of course the towels came with the house!  There was also a built in medicine cabinet on the opposite wall, I just didn't' include photos of everything! Almost, but not quite.



And then this adorable child's room.  With the cute wallpaper and toys on the shelves.  But the one most peculiar part is that the room came with a little girl and boy playing on the floor!  I always thought that was so odd, after all the other rooms didn't come with people, but this one did!

And this final shot is the back, always open so you could decorate etc.  The more I think about this house, it's really quite cute, but strange.  How did we play this?  I guess it was mostly just a decorating and play house kind of toy.  Oh well, now it's a decorative item in my home and someday it will be passed on to someone, someway, for something!  It's already around 60 years old!!!! What?  And I said it was mine!  My goodness, it's a wonder it has survived and that I remember playing with it at all!

Thanks for traveling down memory lane with me today.  I'll be back soon with some of my funny new sketching techniques.

Looking Forward and Preserving Memories

I have so many treasures!  My mom was 36 when I was adopted and she had wanted a baby girl for a long time and so everything was a special treasure for her.  She was dedicated to writing everything down in my baby book including what I got for Christmas, at least through the first six years!  She also saved my toys and clothes, especial my dolls and doll clothes and now I'm the one with these things in my home.  I love these things and the memories they hold, but it's time to think about the future.

This adorable little vintage circus themed table was under the tree on my second Christmas.  Just looking at it I'm filled with memories of tea parties and coloring books and for 60+ years, it's in pretty good shape.  I'm like my mom and I don't like to let go of things (surprise to those of you who know me) but it's time. So I've decided to make a memory book.  I've got my mom's award winning quilts, my toys, my dolls and their clothes, my first day of school (Kindergarten and First Grade) dresses and so much more, including a baby bed and kitchen cabinet that my Dad made and I want to be the one to see them go to other homes, so I will take pictures and write notes and make a wonderful book and my treasures will move on to other loving homes.

Bev Ann's Mixed Bag - K-T Antique Mall

So soon this little table and chairs will be the first of my childhood things to move to my store in Katy and or Etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/bevannsmixedbag.

I will post more fun memories here as I move them into the book and out of the house!  If you have any questions about the items I post, please leave me a comment or email me directly.  I would love to visit about their history and, of course, they can always become your treasures before they even go to my shop.


I would love to hear about your special memories, so be sure to comment or email me - I know you have great things to share!