Thursday, April 30, 2009

Blue Box 1980 dolls house


I have three dolls houses made by Blue Box, a Hong Kong based company. This one dates from the 1980s - the base of the house, and the bed, have 'Copyright 1980' on them, as well as 'Blue Box Made in Hong Kong', like all the other pieces. The front of the house is so typical of many houses built in Australian towns and suburbs in the 80s - a light-coloured exterior (light bricks or brick veneer, or brick covered with cement rendering, in contrast to the dark brown, liver-coloured or red brick of earlier years), an arched porch to the front door, a carriage lamp to light it, and French windows opening to a balcony enclosed by columns, rather than metal or wooden railings.


The house and furniture are both made of plastic. Some of it is a bit discoloured - Bundaberg and Darwin both have hot climates. The flooring is made of loose cardboard inserts. The colours seem typically 80s - beige, tan, mushroom (a muted browny pink very popular in Australia) - much softer than the bright orange, green, yellow and dark brown of the 1970s.

I bought this house on Australian ebay from Bundaberg, in Queensland. It was definitely owned by a Queensland child, who has added stickers to decorate the walls and floor:


In the upstairs room, there are two stickers for the World Expo held in Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, in 1988. The platypus on the left was the mascot of the show (and probably had a name, but I don't know it.)


In the downstairs right room, there is a Queensland Police 'Stranger Danger' sticker, warning kids of the dangers of talking to people they don't know.


There's also a Commonwealth Bank sticker (from before it was privatised):

No doubt at all that this was owned by an Australian child!

There is a 'garden' stuck on the front of the base, perhaps by the original owner:


This child also acquired a second bathroom, so one is in the entrance hall! I have put the main bathroom in that little room on the right downstairs, which actually looks to me like a garage - but on the original box, it's furnished as the kitchen, and the bathroom is upstairs:


Mine didn't come with its box, but I have seen them on other ebay auctions.

I like this house, so typically 1980s, but I would prefer to have dolls which can move (or be moved). The plastic dolls which come with the house are posed and not jointed, so can't be moved. (One, the mother, is missing from my house.) As the house is 1/24th scale, it's not easy to find other dolls of the right vintage and scale. (I tried some of the Ari dolls who used to live in the Vero house, but even the smallest was too big.)

17 comments:

  1. Hi! I was doing a search for this dollhouse online and came across your blog. I was 6 when I got this house for Christmas in 1986. I live in the US, and this brings back many memories! The "garden" came with the dollhouse - I had the same one. I think I made the rooms the same as they had on the box. Anyway, thanks for sharing!

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  2. Thanks Linda! Lovely to hear from somebody who played with this house as a child. It's good to know about the 'garden'. I've seen another model, without the balcony, but I prefer this one!

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  3. Hi Rebecca, I have the Candy home 28 piece doll house with furniture brand new in the box. It was given to me for Christmas in 1981 but for some reason I never got to play with it. I came across it recently and my kids were very excited and want to play with it. Im very excited to play with it for the first time in 28 years! I decided to look it up and came across your blog which i've enjoyed looking at. Mine didn't come with people but i also have the old fisher price doll house, so those play people will have to do for now. Thanks.

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  4. Hi Michelle, Wow! Christmas has come 28 years later! I'm sure the house will appreciate being played with - and it's great that your kids want to play with it too. I guess the furniture and house were modern enough that it doesn't seem outdated.
    Do you know, although I have the picture of the box, I'd never noticed it was called Candy Home until you mentioned it? Now I see that it is on the box, but in rather missable brown writing before the large yellow DOLL HOUSE. So that's great to know, finally!
    I'm sure the fisher price dolls will have a great time in it - they're a good size for this house! Have fun, and thanks for your comment :-)

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  5. I had this house too, I think I still have it in the store room somewhere since my parents rarely dumps anything. From the beginning the glass doors broke,and I could never lock the stairs down. But I had good memories with this dollhouse. Wish there was one on sale now. I got another one from the 70s from blue box. Same dolls but difference pieces of furniture.

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  6. Hi Heinousgerbera, thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I hope you do still have your Blue Box house! I can imagine the sliding doors would break easily, as you were moving the dolls in and out. I'm lucky this one is in pretty good condition.
    It certainly seems like this dolls house was very popular with kids who played with it - I wonder if manufacturers will pick up on that and bring another one like it out?

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  7. Hi Rebecca,

    I live in the Netherlands and bought the same house whit its box this week.
    Today it arrived here and it's lovely.
    The only thing thats missing is the carriage lamp.
    I have the same furniture you have only the kitchen furniture is green.
    Well sorry fore my bad English and greetings from the Netherlands,
    Elisabeth

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  8. Today I was thrifting at my local thrift shop and found a bag of doll house parts. It was quite a mess...but for $1(canadian) I thought it was worth a look see. I had no clue how to put it together but managed to figure it all out. It is fully complete! It is your exact same doll house! I am happy to see the box you have pictured...but The kids and I agree the living room should be upstairs like yours. Funny thing it came with a garden sticker...I thought it was just thrown...But seeing your pics I realize it is the original sticker to go with the house!
    I just want to thank you for sharing your doll house, now I know what it is!
    Angie

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  9. Here is a link to a post I wrote about my house. I borrowed your picture of the original box.
    http://justwannabeabloggy.blogspot.com/2011/04/thrift-share-monday-1980-doll-house.html

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  10. Hi, My name is Sara, I came across a dollhouse at a sale and got a good buy on it so i bought it. I would like to know if anyone would know a round about figure of what the house is worth. Its a 1981 Lundby Manor Dollhouse in good condition and from what i can tell from research is its all original. Can someone please help me with the value

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    1. Hi Sara, Lundby Manor Houses are quite sought after by Lundby collectors. Several have sold recently on UK ebay - if you do a search on the Complete listings, you will get an idea of the prices they sold for. Value is affected by factors like condition, and also the seller's location, as fewer people may bid if it's harder to get to or expensive to post or freight. Good luck with finding it a new home! Rebecca

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  11. Does anyone know where you can find replacement parts for house NO 32068?

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  12. I received this exact dollhouse in 1987 when I was 5 years old. I would absolutely love to have one. All I have left from mine is the little white desk. If anyone k own when I could purchase one. I would be so excited

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  13. I came across your post on this house I had this as a child and loved it , its my most favourite memory and I would love to own this again thank you for sharing this it really has opened old memories of my child hood

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  14. My sister used to have a doll house just like this! We're in Canada, but I couldn't tell you where my parents got it. All I remember is my brother and I enjoyed it as well, and we donated it to our kindergarten class when I was around 6, and I know I was pretty upset we were giving it away.

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