Another drive through the mountains

A year ago, I hired a car and drove my mother home from Sydney, because the plane was booked out. We had a good trip and were able to go to a bookshop in the mountains, so this year we decided to drive again.

However, this year we made the trip on December 30th, rather than in January, and the highway was so busy (and had long stretches of roadworks leaving only one lane each way), that at times we were doing only 10 km an hour, bumper to bumper with all the other cars. Some no doubt were returning from or going on holidays, as we were; others were Sydney-siders spending the day in the mountains.

Apart from the traffic, the trip is really too long for Mum now, as her strength and stamina have decreased a lot in the last year. So I don't think we'll do it again - maybe I'll hire a car to travel up to see her instead, or to get back to Sydney after visiting her, as there's a lot to see in the mountains.

This time, I wanted to visit Leuralla Toy and Railway Museum in Leura. It has beautiful large gardens (which we didn't attempt), and imposing stone steps up to the entrance (which we managed) - and a wonderful collection of Lenci dolls, model trains, tintoys, and many other toys. Here are some things that caught my eye.

All the comforts needed for your railway trip:





Some relaxing places to visit:








Interesting people:



and impressive buildings:


More Lotts Bricks! a different set from the one I have - it looks like these were not intended to be painted.


This tall tower looks like it's made from a wooden construction set, but I'm not sure.

As well, there is a vintage, homemade dolls house. It is also called Leuralla, and was part of the exhibition of Dolls Houses in Australia 1870-1950 ten years ago. It's the main reason I wanted to visit the museum, but it's not possible to see it close up, as it sits in the children's bedroom by the window:




There's so much to see at Leuralla, I'd love to go back one day.

As we drove on over the mountains, we passed Trains, Planes and Automobiles. I had been to their shop in Annandale when I stayed with my sister last year, and I'd hoped to get to the Mount Victoria shop on this trip. We left Leura much later than I'd expected, because of the heavy traffic, so I thought that the shop would be closed. However, their Open sign was still out, so I pulled over and went in. Here's what I found:


A tiny caravan, with stars and moons on the roof! It's marked only with the number 2, on the inside of both the roof and the cabin, so I don't know who made it. It's quite light metal - aluminium, or an alloy of some kind? - and is missing the yoke for the horse. I love the colours and the design - and as the roof lifts off, I could furnish it, for a very tiny person - it's only 2 inches long!

In which I become an internationally exhibited photographer ...

in the miniature world of dolls house bloggers!

Rory Hill, a successful accountant in Houston, Texas, recently moved out of his mother's house at the age of 37. His new bachelor pad, a mid-century modern Schönherr bungalow, is the subject of a recent spread in the Houston publication My Vintage Dollhouses.

© My Vintage Dollhouses

Looking for just the right art work to compliment his "new" furniture, Rory visited a couple of his favorite galleries, Nau-Haus and John Cleary. Finally, in a small gallery in his new neighborhood [Rice Village , north of Rice university], he discovered several prints he thought would be perfect for his new space. The prints were listed by Australian photographer Rebecca Green, but no titles were given. ...For now he decided to refer to them as Table Tops and Stacked Tables.

I was thrilled to see that not only have I made my first international sales*, but they have been featured in this wonderful publication!

The prints that Rory Hill chose were originally published here as part of my study exploring differences of scale. I'm delighted that Rory gets such enjoyment out of them! And I like his names - I would probably have called them something like Tables Scales I and Table Scales II. Thank you, Rory - you have given me great encouragement, and I wish you all the best in your new home.

© My Vintage Dollhouses

*The author of the spread on Rory's Schönherr bungalow informed me that "Rory said he is sure the check is in the mail....;)". I didn't ask which postal service he used!

Kitchen Table Scales

It's been a while since my last post - partly I was busy working on my part of an article about Keystone for Dolls Houses Past and Present, and partly I have been a bit down - having some ideas for posts, but not the energy to put them together. This weekend I decided that I would start decorating the inside of my Lines DH/D, even though I haven't finished scraping the outside. So I'll take photos of that in the next day or so, and meanwhile, here's one of my ideas!


Several of you have posted photos of your dolls house furniture in different scales. When I was putting together my dolls house study and the Super City mini-building, it occurred to me that it would be fun to stand pieces in different scales on top of each other.

These kitchen tables can also nest:


and by placing them next to each other and looking from above, you can see that the long end of the smaller table equals the short end of the bigger table!


The largest table is 1/10th scale, and is vintage German (from Oese). The next one is 1/12th scale, and is also vintage German - it came in my VERO Rügen, and I think it's Crailsheimer. The pale green soft plastic table is 1/16th - 1/18th - it says 'Made in England', and I think it's Kleeware. The next table is marked Kleeware - it's 1/24th scale, and hard plastic. Then there's a tiny 1/48th scale cream coloured plastic table, which I think is by the Ohio Art Company (or a copy of their furniture) - and the tiniest is 1/144 scale, from the Sylvanian Toys dolls house for their dolls house.

UPDATE: Oese wondered on flickr if the scale of the pink table might be 1/10th, and the wooden table larger still. It's a very sensible question - it's clear that the tables are different sizes, but as I didn't measure them or include a ruler in the photos, the actual size, and hence the scales, was not obvious. So, I've now measured them, and here are their actual dimensions and the dimensions they would be in 1:1 scale. (Only in metric so far - I have measured them in inches too, but multiplying inches is a bit more complicated, so one thing at a time!)

The wooden table is 15.4 cm long x 10.2 cm wide x 8.5 cm high.
In 1:10 scale, this makes it 1.54 m x 1.02 m x 85cm.

The pink table is 11 cm long x 8.3 cm wide x 6.7 cm high.
In 1:10 scale, that would be 1.1 m x 83 cm x 67 cm,
and in 1:12 scale, it would be 1.32 m x 99.6 cm x 80.4 cm.

The pale green table is 8.85 cm long x 5.8 cm wide x 4.7 cm high.
In 1:16 scale, that would be 1.41m x 92.8cm x 75.2 cm,
and in 1:18 scale, it would be 1.59m x 1.04m x 84.6 cm.

The white table is 5 cm long x 3.1 cm wide x 2.8 cm high.
In 1:24 scale, that would be 1.2m x 74.4 cm x 67.2 cm,
and in 1:30 scale, it would be 1.5m x 93 cm x 84 cm.

(I don't actually know if 1:30 scale exists for dolls house furniture, but I wanted to see what it would be in a smaller scale than 1:24.)

I don't actually have a real-life rectangular kitchen table, just a small round dining table and the built-in kitchen work benches. So I can't measure a 1:1 scale table! What do you think? I think I'd be happy with the wooden table in 1/10th scale and the pink one in 1/12th - but the pink one certainly could be 1/10th. Perhaps the wooden one could be 1/8th (1.23 m long x 81.6 cm wide x 68 cm high), but again, I'm not sure if there are many 1/8th scale dolls.

I'm not very strict about scale in my own dolls houses, and especially with vintage furniture from many different makers and old dolls houses, I tend to do what I do with clothes - try it and see if it fits, within a scale up or down. But that means knowing roughly what will be a good fit - so knowing about scales does have some use!

St Patrick's Day

For those who are Irish, or have Irish ancestry, today is celebrated as St Patrick's Day.


My only Irish ancestors (that I know of) are my great-great-great-great-grandparents John and Clotilda Smith, who emigrated from Ireland to the United States in about the 1820s. I don't know much about where they came from - try finding a John Smith in any country! - although I have discovered that the information my Californian great-grandmother recorded in a book that her father was given by his grandmother was not correct. It seems that Clotilda Smith came from County Sligo, not County Cork (and her maiden name was Elliot, which should be a bit easier to trace than Smith).


Anyway, St Patrick's Day seems like a good time to show this little Erna Meyer doll, still in his original packaging. He looks like a leprechaun to me, dressed in his orange cap and cape, green outfit and brown boots - and I think he is carrying a bag of gold!!!


Perhaps he was made as a decoration, as he has a string loop attached to his back.


The back of the packet shows the name of the original seller, Georg Fleisswolf of Rothenburg, the doll's number, 635, and the original price - 6.50 DM.

Happy St Patrick's Day - and happy day whenever you read this!

1st Blogiversary*! Erna Meyer Scales

Today (7th February) is exactly one year since I started this blog.

I had planned a dolls house party to celebrate, and may still have one, but in real life in the last couple of weeks I have moved to a new office, have a new manager, and our team is working on our new role. The new office and manager are great, but the changes have still taken a fair bit of energy.

So, for today, I thought I'd show some of the different scales Erna Meyer dolls have been made in.


The first photo shows five couples with cloth feet, one of the features of Erna Meyer dolls that helps to date them: cloth feet were replaced by plastic feet in the (mid?) 1970s.

The tallest dolls are the 18th century couple, still in their cellophane wrapping. He is 18.5cm (7 1/4 inches) tall, and she is 17cm (6 5/8 inches). I measured from their heels to the top of their wigs - so without the wigs, they would be slightly shorter!


As you can see, these dolls have very detailed faces - the lady has a beauty spot as well as rouge on her cheeks. The label says "Liliput Biege-Püppchen - Ermey" in green and gold foil on the front, and "Made in Germany" printed in green on white card on the back.

Next to them stand a couple who are almost as tall - the man is 17.5cm (6 3/4 inches) and the woman is 16.5cm (6 1/2 inches).


Both these couples appear to be 1:10 scale - in real life, they would then be between 165cm and 185cm tall (roughly, 5' 6" - 6' 3").

Next come a couple who are both 14.5cm (5 3/4 inches), followed by a couple who are both 14cm (5 1/2 inches). These are in 1:12 scale. The woman in blue and the man wearing a suit both have the same cellophane wrapping and foil tag as the 18th century couple, and were probably made at about the same time.


(Some of these poor dolls have one leg shorter than the other, I have just realised - just like some real people.)


(The woman's wrapping has split in half, so it was possible to photograph her without it.) Perhaps they are slightly later, as the round red 'Spielgut' label has been added to their wrapping. This recognition of a toy as promoting good play is granted only to toys which meet certain criteria, and was first granted to Erna Meyer dolls in 1954**.

Finally, among the cloth-soled dolls, are two who measure just 12.5cm (5 inches). These dolls could fit into 1:12 scale houses - there are, after all, people who are 5' tall. They can also fit into 1:16 scale houses - I have some in my Lundby house and my Jenny's Home.


I don't have as many Erna Meyer dolls with plastic feet as with cloth feet - but enough to show two of the scales they come in.


The two taller dolls are 15cm (5 7/8 inches). They are slightly taller than the 1:12 scale cloth-shoed dolls, but still appropriate for that scale.


The shorter man is 12cm tall (4 3/4 inches), and perfect for 1:16 scale.



I have read that Erna Meyer dolls are now made in 1/24th scale too, but I don't have any of them - yet!

Thank you to all my followers and readers and fellow bloggers - I'm looking forward to the second year of blogging :-)

* I have borrowed this word from The Shopping Sherpa, who has just celebrated her own 4th blogiversary.

**Thank you to Diepuppenstubensammlerin for the article which told me this!

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas to all my blogging friends and readers!


In the Cupboard House, the whole family has gathered in the drawing room to decorate the tree. Richard and Allan somehow managed to carry it up the stairs and through the door. Jenny is supervising Polly and Lois as they add some decorations, while Grandma Eleanor surveys the tree through her lorgnette and gives directions. Belinda is so excited she is standing on the sofa behind Grandpa Bernie so she can see! Already there are some parcels under the tree - what can they be? and who are they for?


The decorations are stored away in a box during the year, and Susannah is looking through the collection with John to find the old favourites. (David is very patiently waiting his turn - or is he perhaps getting a bit old to be excited by Christmas decorations?)
There's a gold star to go on the top - Richard or Allan will put it in place when the rest of the decorations are done.
Now the tree is up, and the visiting uncles and cousins have arrived - and there are only two more sleeps until Christmas Day!


I wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas and a relaxing Boxing Day.

On my wish list ...

Not a dolls house, this time, but this wonderful book I discovered on the Puppenhausmuseum website:


This appears among the 1950s dolls houses, on a recently added page called Papier (Paper), which also has photos of 1950s furniture to make from cardboard. This book, published by Pestalozzi Verlag in 1958, shows a real dolls house (I'm not sure of the maker), peopled with Erna Meyer dolls!

The woman standing by the front door is almost identical to one currently in my Triang 52 house, though she has rather more hair:


The woman looking out of the window, and also dealing with an obstinate child later in the story:



must be Dianne Praeger's sister! And I'm sure some of my Erna Meyer children are just as obstinate.

I've seen a woman similar to the one standing outside the garage, ready to go out in her overcoat, listed on ebay once or twice. She's pretty rare, and goes for high prices.

The furniture and the dolls house itself are pretty cool too, but to have a whole book illustrated with Erna Meyer dolls! Wow! And one great thing about a book like this is that it dates all the dolls and furniture, probably to a year or two prior to publication. I suspect this book is much rarer than the people and furnishings within it, but maybe I'll get lucky some day, now I know to keep an eye out for it!

German (VERO?) Bungalow Kitchen

In my last post, I showed the façade of this bungalow:


So now, let's have a look inside. The patio has two comfortable chairs to relax on,


and the swinging doors lead in to the kitchen


All the furnishings here came with the house - and so did the dog. I think the people who live here must be busy unpacking in the living room, and looking forward to sitting down and enjoying this meal!
I really liked the flooring here when I saw it in the auction listing - it turns out that it has been added by a previous (original?) owner. I'm definitely keeping it, as it goes so well with the house and furnishings, and seems very 60s to me! (Not groovy 60s, but everyday 60s.)

Unlike my other German bungalow, this one has no maker's mark. I think it's also by VERO, not just because the components and construction methods are similar, but also because I found this house on the Puppenhausmuseum site:


It's labelled "Vorstadthaus mit Kamin" (suburban house with chimney) Vero, DDR, ca 1965-1970. As you can see, the swinging doors are identical, and there are other similarities too.