Tim at home (MA 15+, Contains scenes of nudity)

Tim has invited Johnno home to his bedsitter for a game of cards.


What's the design on his pack of cards?


Hmm, pin-ups! It seems that Tim is rather fond of images of women in bikinis (or less), as he has a few around the room, including his collection of lighters on the cabinet:


He also has a few men's magazines:


And what channels can he get on the TV?



Definitely adult only!

Tim's collection was inspired by a comment in a book about antique and vintage dolls houses and their furnishings. I cannot now remember which book, or who the author was, but she wondered whether all dolls house inhabitants would have been of such good character if, as well as The Times, the Bible and Punch magazine, they had had miniature Playboy magazines.

I think that erotica and pornography has probably always been made in miniature, as well as full size, but it was of course not intended for children.

All of my dolls houses were made for children to play with (and, in fact, have been played with by children!), and mostly I furnish and decorate them with pieces also made for children's play. I do use vintage buttons, jewellery, charms and other small items that were not originally made for dolls houses - but so have children done.

These miniatures, however - the mini lighters, the playing cards, the TV - were presumably made for adult men (or at least teenage boys). So they probably didn't often find their way into children's dolls houses. I found the mini cards on Australian ebay - the seller remembered "trying to get those tiny decks of nudie cards out of the claw machine at the funfair".

The TV is made in Hong Kong, and looks exactly the same as those which are souvenirs of Jersey, for example, or show fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel, as the one in the Bodensee house does:



(Tim's bedsitter is furnished with some Europa pieces, a ca 1960s Bodo Hennig bed/couch (and probably the wooden cabinet too), and a vinyl-covered sofa and armchair from the US (I don't know whether they're homemade or not). The room is 1960s German, and came with the room I have furnished with Dora Kuhn furniture. I made the miniature men's magazines myself, as I don't actually know of any vintage ones! As I don't have any 1960s pinup magazines (or any other vintage, come to that), they are composites of covers and centrefolds found on ebay, with entirely other images as back covers!)

The Swans visit Tim's Secondhand Furniture Shop

The Swans have come to see what they can find in Tim's shop.
"Good morning, can I help you?"
"Oh, good morning. We don't have any kitchen appliances - do you have any in stock?"
"Certainly, if you'll just come through to the other room."

"Oh, Mummy, look at these gold cups! They must be for giants! Have you met a giant, Mr Tim?"

"Just through here you'll find stoves, washing machines - even a kitchen sink!"
"Terrific - we don't have a sink either."

"Come on, darling, we can ask about giants later."

"Hmm, an old twin-tub, even one with a wringer - don't fancy washing the baby's nappies in those. But this stove looks alright."


"This washing machine looks better - much more modern. Can we have it down to have a look at it?"
"Certainly, madam."


"Oh yes, that looks fine, don't you think darling? What about a fridge, do you have any?"

"I'm sorry, madam, we don't get them in very often, and unfortunately I've just sold one."

"Oh, OK, we'll have to try the Trading Post then. So what else - could we have a look at that kitchen sink you mentioned?"


"Just back in here, madam - here we are. I can get this down for you too if you'd like to have a look?"

"Oh yes, please, that would be good.
Oh, this wall unit is great! And it's got a built-in stereo system. We'll take this too, thanks."


Tim gets his assistant Johnno in to help him move the sink.

Johnno's a young bloke who looks a bit rough - shaves his head, and doesn't look too clean. But he's a good worker, and is a real help to Tim with moving the stock in and out.


The sink and matching kitchen cupboard are rather out-of-date, but they'll do for now.

"What else do we need, darling? Oh yes, kitchen chairs. We have an old table, but nothing to sit on, just the good dining chairs."
Johnno sets out several kitchen chairs for the Swans to try.



"Oh, this red plastic one is much too low. How's yours, darling?"
"It's fine - do you have any to match it, mate?"
"This other red one is really too small, I can't get comfortable on it."
"We have one chair to match the wooden one, sir - and there's a single chair that's very nice - we'll just get that out for you to try, madam."



"Oh yes, very comfortable. I suppose it won't matter to have odd chairs in the kitchen for a while. We'll take the white one and this wooden one - not that other one, it's too old-fashioned."

"I noticed a few things in the first room you might like to have a look at, darling."
"And so did I, Mummy! Come and see what I found!"
"What do you think of this cabinet for the dining room?"


"And I want the ballerina lamp, Mummy - ple -ee- ease!"
"Yes, we do need some lights, so you can have it, darling, especially as you remembered the magic word. The blue one would be good for the family room, too."
"Oh thank you, Mummy! And look at this little desk! It's just the right size for me. Wouldn't it be good when I start big school?"

"There's some more things over here too, darling - come and have a look."
"If we could just have a look at this bookcase, please, it might do for the kids' books and toys."
"Oh, and look, here's another lamp in the corner, it would look good in our bedroom."



"OK, that's pretty much it. Oh, but do you have any occasional tables?"
"Just this one, madam, I'll get it out for you."
"Mm, the top's loose, but I'm sure I could fix that. It'll do for now."



"Thank you, that's all for now. Can you deliver everything, please?"
"Certainly, madam. There's a $20 fee for delivery. Could I have your address, please?"
"Swan House, Caroline St, Barton."
"No problem, we can deliver it first thing tomorrow."
"Oh great, thank you, that will be wonderful, then we can unpack and move in."
"Thanks, mate, we'll see you tomorrow morning, then."
"Thank you, sir. Goodbye, madam, and thank you."

(Time for Tim to re-stock, I think!
The furniture the Swans bought includes a washing machine and stove by Marx; sink and kitchen cupboard by Twigg; wall unit by Lisa; cabinet and white chair by Lundby; ballerina lamp (and others?) by Sufa; desk by Dol-toi; wooden chairs by Barton; and side table and small green and white bookcase by unknown.)

(Sorry, I cannot get the small pictures to line up across the page. They do it in the preview, and stubbornly go one above the other when I publish!)

The Secondhand Furniture Shop's First Customers!

The secondhand furniture shop is now open, and Tim is here to welcome customers.


The Bodensee family are the first customers. Mrs Bodensee is making some large paper flowers to decorate her bedroom, and wants something to stand them in.


"Mm, what about the stoneware jug? No, the mouth is too narrow. This copper jug will be perfect when I've cleaned it up and given it a polish."

The kids are looking around too. The boy spots some binoculars. "Can I have these, Dad?" "What for?" "I've been reading that bird book, and I want to go out bird-watching." "OK then," says Dad, thinking this is a good hobby - quiet, and gets him out of the house.


The little girl has spotted the ballerinas on the lamp.


"We're not getting that," said Mum.
"You've already got a lamp in your bedroom, and there isn't room for another one."
"Can I have the doll then?"
"You've already got dolls."
"But I want this one in the green dress."
"OK," says Mum.

The teenaged daughter spots the record player.


"What do you want that for?" says Dad.
"So I can listen to records in my bedroom," she says. "The other kids are getting things, and everything else in this place is too old-fashioned. It's not fair if I don't get anything."
"OK, OK," says Dad.

Dad wanders off into the next room.


"This is more like it," he says.
"What do you want that old fridge for?" says Mum. "We've got a perfectly good one at home, and that one doesn't even have a door on the freezer compartment."
"It'll be just right for keeping the beer in on the patio," says Dad.


"What on earth do you think this is?" says Mum. "Is it a teapot? But the handle's really thick. Do you suppose it could be an old-fashioned bedpan? Where on earth do they find these things? It's so ugly."

"OK, that's enough," says Dad. "Can you deliver the fridge?"


"Oh, but look," says Mum. "Here's a phone. We haven't got a phone, and this is a nice yellow one."
"All right. Now let's go. We've bought more than enough for one day."

A Secondhand Furniture Shop!

Inspired by Pubdoll, I have put together a secondhand furniture shop.



It's not as pleasant as hers, but is based mainly on one here in Darwin where I have bought a desk, some bookshelves, etc. It is crammed - tables sitting on top of other tables, passageways so narrow in some places that you have to go sideways - and sometimes you come to a dead end and have to go back.


The other room in this little secondhand shop is more inviting - nice lounge suites, embroidered doilies and table cloths, tea-sets, nick-nacks, and even a couple of dolls - are all displayed to tempt the buyer.

The shop assistants are not here at the moment - it must be after closing hours. But I hope they do sell some of their stock - I could fill this space over again with other spare furniture!

The roombox I've used for this secondhand shop is one I bought from Germany in its box:


(The drawings along the bottom of this box no doubt illustrate one of the reasons for giving little girls dolls houses and roomboxes - so they could learn about housekeeping!)


It's a construction set, made of wood and masonite. The upright wall posts slot into the floor with pegs, and the wall and window sections slide down between the posts. It's very easy to put together! I've chosen to have both windows in one room, but you could put one in each, on the side walls or back walls, or even one in the wall between the rooms, I think. If I was using it for any other purpose (such as the hospital I need a building for), I'd probably want to paint or wallpaper it. But it's perfect as it is for a secondhand furniture shop!

As with the German bedroom furniture in my VERO house, the maker is a mystery here. DBGM just means 'Deutsches Bundes Gebrauchmuster' - 'German Federal Registered Design'. I suspect the castle motif on the top of the box signifies the maker - if only we knew whose motif it was!

PS - I forgot when I wrote this that I had seen a similar box on the Puppenhausmuseum website (50er - 32). I have checked, and indeed it is the same - according to their information, it was made by the firm W. Fritzsche, ca 1958.