A New Year

Sorry I haven't posted for so long. After my last post in September, I was very busy with the Dolls Houses Past and Present magazine. I finished that in mid December, and a few days later flew down to Sydney for Christmas. Christmas Day itself was pleasant - we had Christmas lunch with my aunt at my sister's place, a first, as we usually have it at my aunt's place.

Our little tree, with a White Hart from the National Gallery in London,
a vintage celluloid Santa, and  a Kits Coty dolls house decoration from the Hampton Collection.
The photos aren't terrific, I'm sorry - my camera says the batteries are low,
though they've just been recharged, and I could not actually see what I was pointing the camera at!

I had brought decorations, and did manage to put them up - but from November I had had small patches of fungal infection - the "build-up" season in Darwin (the time between the dry season and when the rains start in the wet season) was very long and very hot last year. Then I developed what seemed to be bacterial infections in the groin area - a doctor in Darwin had prescribed antibiotics, and a doctor I saw here in Sydney after Christmas prescribed a different antibiotic, and also antifungal cream.

The Christian Hacker House from the Hampton Collection,
and  the Circa 1910 Eclectic House from the Bing & Grøndahl Collection

But after 3 courses of antibiotics, it was no better - in fact, it was a solid mass of infection so painful that I could hardly stand, sit or walk - so the doctor here in Sydney sent me for intravenous antibiotics. Instead of staying in hospital, I was a patient in what they call Hospital in the Home, which meant that my sister drove me to and from the hospital twice a day for the first five days, after which I went once a day. The time we spent at the hospital varied from 2 hours to 7 hours each day, including the waiting time (as it is a GP Casualty, and they also treat people who come in with possible sprains, dislocations, and gastro-intestinal or urinary infections, etc). I was given two kinds of antibiotics, which acted on the cellulitis very quickly - we could see improvements daily. And after about 5 days, I started feeling better - and realised how sick I had been feeling. At the end of the 10 days, they referred me to a dermatologist at another hospital - they thought the remaining infection might be psoriasis.

Gertrude's House (left) and the 1920's House (right), from the Bing & Grøndahl Collection.
The jewelled cross above them is from the National Gallery in London.

It turned out not to be - the dermatologist thought it was fungal, and 10 days after I first saw the dermatologist, the ID came back - the infection is caused by a fungus called Trichophyton mentagrophytes, which can cause ringworm, tinea, and kerions - fungal infections of the hair follicles accompanied by secondary bacterial infection and marked by raised, usually pus-filled and spongy lesions - which is what I have had.
So now I am taking oral anti-fungal medication, which is given in cycles - two tablets twice a day for a week, then 3 weeks without tablets, for 3 or 4 months. This infection is responding more slowly than the bacterial infection did, but it is slowly improving. I should have been back at work in Darwin this week, but the dermatologist wants to see me again in the second week of February, before I start the next cycle, and will then see how it's going.

Angel from the National Gallery in London

The dermatologist here is more used to seeing it on the scalp and in beards, but I discovered a US Army medical history website, which says that servicemen frequently suffered from it during the Vietnam War, on their legs, groin and torso - and that it often flared up again when they returned to the hot wet conditions they were fighting in. The drug I'm taking was developed in 1984, so hopefully it is more effective than whatever was used in Vietnam - otherwise I'll have to move from Darwin to a drier climate!   

The nativity set which my godmother gave me when I was a child. The stable is plywood, and the figures are plastic.

This is a rather different kind of post from my usual, but I wanted to let you know why I've been absent - from posting, and from commenting on your blogs - and to wish you all, belatedly, a happy, healthy and enjoyable Christmas and New Year! My only goal so far has been to get well, and I have been very grateful for the care, attention and friendliness of all the wonderful doctors and nurses who have treated me. The infection is still painful, but I am feeling much, much better, and yesterday my sister and I went to an antiques and collectables mall! I even found some dolls house furniture, which I will show in my next post - very soon!

Growing up with Galt

I recently bought a catalogue of Galt toys, and was delighted to find most of the Galt things I remembered from my childhood - and to identify some which I hadn't realised were from Galt! The photo above shows most of them in a group.

The cover of the catalogue. I can't find a date, but it's pre 1971, when the British currency was decimalised.

One of my favourites among our Galt toys is the Pattern Jigsaw:


This is cut along the edges of the different coloured shapes, so completing the jigsaw is a matter of fitting the shapes together - and matching the tiny edges of colour left on some pieces. It's painted directly onto the wood. I love the animal shapes, abstract designs and the colours.
Here it is in the catalogue, described as "difficult enough to occupy for a long time the child of 6 or over who is expert at jigsaws" (strangely, no designer is named):

On the same page, there are other jigsaws illustrated, including these Picture Book Jigsaws, from a children's book by A. and M. Provenson:


I have the first two, and I didn't know that they were also from Galt! They are Farm House and Old City, and they are printed on paper stuck onto the wood; a couple of bits have come away from the wood over the years:




Also among the jigsaws is my sister's Teddy Bear, on the bottom left among the Early Tray Jigsaws, designed by Beryl Coles and J. M. Miles:



(Teddy's foot has been missing for quite some time, poor thing!)

In the section of toys for the first three years, I recognise two which I can remember playing with:



10 coloured plastic nuts to screw onto a threaded rod, and pegs to hammer down ...

And someone I recognise well, but I had no idea he was from Galt -

Moppet! We also had the girl doll - she was probably my sister's - but for some reason we didn't keep her. Moppet is mine, and we still have him! (And, as my sister said, clearly his hair is meant to be as wild as it is!)

For children in their 3rd and 4th years, there is a cute little village:

I don't think we had this, though I can remember little carved wooden trees and people and sheep - perhaps from another, similar set ....

But this I do recognise - and not only did we have it, but we still do - I found it in a cupboard!

Noah's Ark - "specially made for us by hand craftsmen using the natural colour and grain of various woods." (And coloured wood for Noah and Mrs Noah, unless they found red and green woods ....) .... "A very beautiful toy to be treasured in the family for many years."

Yes indeed! You can see the wood grain even in the catalogue photo, and I hope you can see it in the photos (sorry about the rather ordinary background):



(The Noah's Ark box is at the back of the first photo in this blogpost, and still has part of its label.)

The middle pages of the catalogue are in colour, and show the wall charts available. Here I found an old friend:

Wanderland! This poster was on our bedroom wall - all I really remember of it is "She sells sea shells on the sea shore," which is at the bottom, just to the left of the sailing ship ("I saw three ships come sailing in!")
According to the catalogue, this was designed by Philippa Threlfall, and has a landscape peopled by characters from nursery rhymes and stories - to which I would add, Christmas carols and mythology ....

Not surprisingly, perhaps, we didn't have any of the Galt out of doors equipment or the storage and furniture - much too heavy to post to Australia! Galt made two dolls houses - or rather, one open-sided dolls house:


and a set of doll's play rooms, which could be arranged to make bungalows or houses or several storeys:


I don't remember our childhood dolls house well - I just have an impression of white walls inside and out - but I don't think it was from Galt. Perhaps some of our dolls house dolls were, however, as - along with the Erna Meyer dolls and Bessie and Darlow - we had some Dol-toi dolls, which were sold by Galt in Galt boxes:


The Barton dolls house furniture pictured here sometimes comes up on UK ebay packaged in Galt boxes; once or twice I have seen some Dol-toi dolls in Galt boxes too.

This Galt catalogue includes a Memory game for children of 7 and up, "greatly enjoyed [by them] not least because they nearly always win against adults"!


We have a set of Galt memory cards (though not the box) - but they must have been from a different catalogue, because the pictures are different. Here are some of the pictures on our set:

I had trouble getting some of the colours accurate - the red of the crab and behind the paint box is more of a vermilion shade, and the blue behind the sailing ship is a deeper teal colour - very rich and bright.

The set of smaller Memory cards includes other designs too, which we also have as a set of larger cards, perhaps for Snap? I don't know who the designer was, as the larger set isn't listed in this catalogue either.

We also have Galt Octons, which are not in this catalogue - and which I don't have here to photograph. I'll add a photo when I can.

At the end of the catalogue are Stocking Fillers, and here is one thing we had:

A mobile made with Japanese paper balls ....

and another which we still have:



Glass threading beads in brilliant colours!

Galt Toys is still going, and from the look of the 2011 catalogue, still brightly coloured - but not surprisingly, a rather different range from the late 1960s. I wonder if they're as strong and long-lasting?

Childhood Furniture

In the Cupboard House are all the pieces of dolls house furniture remaining from when my sister and I were children, plus some of my Mum's. Also, the two Erna Meyer dolls which we played with as children live there.

Here they are, the poor things, the two dolls which inspired my love for Erna Meyer dolls:


I believe that my father bought these for us when he made a short trip to France during our stay in England in 1966. As long as I can remember, the little girl has been missing her face (and her hair, though that's not so unusual for Erna Meyer dolls). We must have done something dreadful to her - we were quite small when we were given the dolls. It looks as if her face has been bitten off! We attempted to give her eyes and a mouth with texta, so she would look like a person again. I suspect that there would have been two little girls (and perhaps a father doll?), but when we were properly old enough to play with a dolls house, we just had this mother and daughter pair. They lived with a family of Dol-toi dolls, which we did not keep.

On the same trip to France in 1966 (I believe), my father bought us this set of wooden furniture:


As you can see, this also shows signs of our childhood play. The grandfather clock had a paper face which got torn - the glue on the outside is from a replacement clock face which we stuck on. All the books are made from small blocks of wood, different sizes and thicknesses, and painted in different colours. We wrote 'A Book of Songs' in texta on one of them!
I would love to know who made this furniture - I've never seen it in books or on websites or ebay. I think the wood is pine, and the pieces are joined with tiny nails.

Here is our kitchen furniture:


The pale blue pieces are Twigg, and the green dresser is Pit-a-Pat. I think most likely the Twigg pieces were also bought while we were in England in 1966 - or sent by our grandparents, though I don't remember receiving them as a gift. The green dresser was Mum's when she was a child in the 1930s. I'm sure we had the second door - maybe we still do, somewhere, but I haven't seen it for years!
On the table are three little cups which we made from from acorn caps and buttons. You can also see the stains of playdough food inside the dressers:


I love the boxes in the Pit-a-Pat dresser: tea, coffee, rice, raisins and sago! Sago pudding, anyone?
I know that I used to know what the extra piece of wood is, but I have not remembered for a very long time!


I think it is a cover or lid for something - a Twigg piece, perhpas? It's painted a very pale pink on top, and is bare wood underneath. If anyone recognises it, please let me know!

The dolls house which housed this furniture was quite simple. We sold it when my sister and I were about 10 and 12, I think. I remember it being white, two storey, and open at the front - so quite a plain structure, I think. As well as the furniture here, we had a Petite Princess fireplace and dining table. I don't remember the beds or bathroom at all!

The Pit-a-Pat kitchen dresser which was our Mum's was passed on to us to play with. In the cupboard house there is also a lounge suite which was Mum's, which my grandmother kept - it came to me with the three antique dolls houses which my grandmother gave us. (I doubt it would have survived us playing with it as children!)


This is matchbox furniture, made by my mother, her brother and their governess in the 1930s or early 1940s. The fabric is quite faded and fragile, but it suits the drawing room of the cupboard house very well.