I came across these dolls' houses on ebay:
This was on German ebay, and it's a Vero Erika house.
I've seen pictures of other Vero houses from the 60s (bottom of page) and 70s on a virtual museum of German dolls' houses, and on The Shopping Sherpa's blog, and I actually have a Vero bungalow, which I must set up (first, I have get more shelves put up, so I have somewhere to put all these houses!).
This one I hadn't seen before. It's furnished with a mishmash of styles, but what caught my eye was the simple design, and the very groovy floor patterns:
Top right:
Top left:
Bottom right:
Bottom left (unfortunately you can't see much of the floor):
and the balcony:
I would love to furnish this house! but the seller was not posting it out of Germany.
Another one, with very similar design, was also listed on German ebay:
Not such groovy floors, but a great staircase.UPDATE: Karin Wester has very kindly identified this house as one made in the Netherlands by OKWA. Diepuppenstubensammlerin has one too.
On US ebay, I saw this house, a folding cardboard house which the seller stated was made by Ideal in 1963 (I'm not sure which Ideal, and now I wish I'd asked for a photo of the maker's name):
I would have bid for it (cardboard is surely lighter than wood or metal, for shipping), but the dimensions exceeded those accepted by the USPS.
This is the living room (with extra patio furniture):
and a bedroom with team pennants on the wall:
The kitchen:
It looks like a few pieces are missing, but still, it's a nice mix of early 1960s pastels, with some orange creeping in to the living room. And so easy to store!
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hello, I have this cardboard dollhouse with a lot of furniture. It has on the bottom edge :: Stock #9308 Made in U.S.A. 1963 Ideal Toy corporation, Hollis, N.Y.
ReplyDeleteI am going to be listing this in my ebay store -
tammigreatbuys
Thanks for that info! Coincidentally, right now there is another similar cardboard folding house listed on US ebay, which does have Tammy's Ideal House printed on the side. It seems to be only one room - maybe it was a later version of this house?
ReplyDeleteMy father designed the Tammy dollhouse- I put MANY of them together,
ReplyDeleteJane
I have my original of this house all packed up like a time capsule. I've been doing research on it blind as it is in a closet. Today I hit pay dirt and found out the year and maker, having thought it was a dream house. I'm am absolutely thrilled to dreams to see YOUR post. I'm so touched. I love my house. I have almost every piece that was originally in there plus some small additions like a record player. we used to cut out the "record club", stamp sized, cardboard pix and use them as an album collection in the living room. That is all still in it. The furniture fit in there like a puzzle. I'm so happy and hope you are glad to hear my story. I am saving it for my granddaughter. She won't get it until she's an adult because can you imagine how it will look then... about 15 years more. THANK YOU AND YOUR DAD FOR THIS DAY
DeleteI even have the movie projector and grill, tv.
DeleteHello Jane,
ReplyDeleteWow, that is great to know! Thanks for adding this information!
I have seen a few of them on ebay now, in several versions, but all too big to ship to Australia, sadly.
It would be wonderful to know your father's name - with dolls houses, we often know who sold it, and hopefully the brand which marketed it, but very rarely who actually designed it.
Thanks again, Rebecca
I wonder if Jane ever posted her father's name for history. I'd love to knwo more about him. this is my absolute fondest childhood toy along with my large vintage barbie collection. This was my Barbie house.
DeleteRebecca,
ReplyDeleteThe house you saw on Ebay, the one with the white plastic stairs is Dutch, made by the OKWA toy factory.
See my website www.pwcollections.nl
Karin Wester
Hello Karin,
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting my blog and leaving comments! And thank you for the link to your website - I've had a quick look, and I'm really impressed by the information as well as the photos. I'll add your website to my list of useful websites.
Thanks for pointing out that the middle dolls house is by OKWA. One of my fellow dolls house bloggers and flickr friends has an OKWA house too - you can see it at http://www.flickr.com/photos/diepuppenstubensammlerin/sets/72157623604608620/ - but I had forgotten about the photo I put here! I'll update the post with the name.
Thanks again, Rebecca
Hello Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteThe OKWA toys and also the dolls' houses and toys shops as well as the SIO toys were exported to other countries. Both Dutch factories had a stand at the toy fair in Nurnberg. The SIO factory had connextions with toy factories in England and the US (Dunbee-Combax-Marx)and even exported toy shops to Australia.
The disingner of the OKWA toys Piet Maree has lived for a long time in Australia. The dolls' house pictured on your website was designed by Mel Maree, his nephew. He later became an architect in Gouda.
How much does this doll house sell for?
ReplyDeleteWhich one? There are two in this post .... I find a useful way to check dolls house prices is to search for the model or maker on ebay, and then click on the option Sold Items in the Show Only refinement to the search. That shows the prices that similar items have sold for recently, if you're lucky. If it's a more unusual model, you might need to contact a collector of that type of dolls house.
Delete