Thursday, April 8, 2010

VTT: Miniature World


Whoa!!! Holy déjà vu Batman! 51 followers! I’d like to welcome Jade and a mystery follower; I hope you will enjoy your visits.


As I was digging in my brain for a good topic for VTT (Vintage Thingy Thursday) I remembered one of my childhood passions…A dollhouse with all the furnishings. My mom gave me her doll house but it had seen better days and had been fixed with duct tape painted over. The walls were made of arborite and you couldn’t nail anything to it…Needless to say I was pretty bummed out and dreamed of a HUGE dollhouse. I also remember some plastic furniture from the 50’s or 60’s, chocolate brown and blah in my little girl eyes.

In 1976 (my first seaside vacation in Maine) I discovered the amazing world of miniatures. OMG! I was fascinated, totally! You could get everything miniature! Books, place settings, chandeliers, food…I was totally hooked!

I talked to my Dad about those today and he reminded me that I could stay in a certain miniature store in Ogunquit for hours just staring at all the little things. My faves? Little house wares! Are you surprised??? I’m not.



I remember waiting in line with my parents in the basement of Filene’s on a Saturday morning for the doors to open. It felt like the gold rush…literally! Women fighting with each other, changing in the middle of the place…I saw a lot of stranger’s girdles that summer! I got the sink with the pump and the china cabinet seen in this post. Also I got a full bathroom and a bed. I didn’t take pics of those ‘coz they are in bad shape…

My favorites piece didn’t come from a store, my dad gave it to me. It’s the leather chaise lounge. It is very old. My Dad says he saw it all through his childhood. It was made by my grandmother’s uncle Georges. It is beautifully crafted and is as nice as the day it was finished probably more than 80 years ago. We don’t know if it had been made as a practice piece, a sample or a toy and we don’t know much about uncle Georges either. He was an upholsterer. He worked in NYC and later for the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway). He never married, lived with his mom, then his sister. He killed himself. He probably was depressed. It seems to be a trend on both sides of the family. Back then mental illness was not well seen and there wasn’t a lot of options; that’s my opinion.
Oh yes the books have real pages! I'm sorry that one is a bit fuzzy.

So today I made little vignettes for you since the house is long gone. Maybe one day I will get a new one.

I hope you will enjoy them!


Did you notice the duck on the china cabinet? And the pewter plates?


I made the vase with some clay more than 30 years ago....Yesterday I spent a good couple of hours cleaning and fixing all my miniatures. I had negelcted them over the years. I put them in a new box with tissue paper and bubble wrap. No way it's going back to the basement....

Now you scout over to Suzanne's @ Colorado Lady
for some super thrusday FUN!!! Go on, I know you want to! :) 

24 comments:

Unknown said...

OMG - let me not start on how much I love miniatures. For real and even long before I started loving vintage stuff.

I used to go to these shows, like at convention halls. The stuff they had.

Loved this post and you should totally get a house. Ive never seen anything like that leather chaise.

Old Time Cindy said...

What a fascinating story and history on your family and all connected to your miniatures. Thanks for sharing!
Blessings,
Cindy

LV said...

Those are great miniature pieces. I still see them around antique malls.

Postcardy said...

I love miniatures but have never collected them.

Sweet European Dreams said...

I love miniatures. A few years ago the massive miniature of the White House came through Austin so I took a group of kids to see it. The kids thought it was cool, but I was entranced - it was unbelievable! I also had a doll house and it's no longer with me - but I kept the furniture and things. I can't part with mine either! Oh, and thanks for stopping by my page!

Linda @ A La Carte said...

Never knew a lot about miniatures but yours are so cute. I love the history and stories!! Don't put them back in the basement, they are much too special.

Maureen said...

How great that you still have these. I loved dolls and doll houses and would play for hours.

Jennifer said...

I would have emailed you, but I don't have an address. Are you having another garage sale this year? Will you be selling extra plants again? If you are, I will be coming to buy them all!

CC said...

Oh My!!!!! I so love miniatures. Love,love,love them. You have so many sweet pieces,the chair,the little bowl with the knitting.. oh,the little table and chairs.
*sighs. I could look at miniatures all day long. Happy VTT,,have a beautiful weekend.

viridian said...

Yes, keep up on your miniatures. they are lovely.

Coloradolady said...

My goodness...what a great story and the chaise...it is one of a kind goodness! How amazing someone made that all those years ago, and it looks new....I love your miniatures! I think they have become collectible so they may be worth more than you think...not that you'd get rid of them :) Have a great VTT!

Miri said...

These are wonderful! simply wonderful! I just can't stop looking at each piece!

LOL at the Filene's story :)

Jade said...

Thanks for the welcome! :) I was actually following on my other account before, when I contributed on Thriftaholic. But now I started a new account for my very own blog, yay!

I also love those miniature housewares. Also not a big surprise for me either, hehe.

Jess said...

I love these pieces! We just inherited some old dollhouse pieces and I think I am going to keep them to myself rather than let my daughter play with them...we'll see. I would love you to post this on my favorite things friday party if you would like!

Richard said...

I love these little miniatures! I use them for playing pieces in boardgames.

So, e.g. in Clue you discard Miss Scarlett and her cohorts, to replace them with mini cornflakes and mini Reynolds wrap! It's awesome!

Sarah said...

What a fun group of minis. Thanks for sharing!

Tallulah's Antique Closet said...

Thank You for visiting today. Great collection of minatures. Have a good weekend and happy treasure hunting..Julian

Roslyn said...

I think every little girl dreams of a doll house but most of us never have one, we settle for the real thing!

Jocelyn said...

Oh wow I love the miniatures. Very cool!

Jocelyn
http://justalittlesouthernhospitality.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

absolutely adorable pieces!

Diann said...

Oh those miniture are just awesome!

Zootsuitmama said...

Don't forget everybody-Come to Zootsuitmama's blog and enter the Kitchen contest! All you gotta do is post a pix of your kitchen on your blog, let Zootsuitmama know about it by posting me a comment, and voila -youre entered! Zootsuitmama

concretenprimroses said...

What delightful minis!
I used to visit Ogunquit with my parents too, when i was a kid. The beach there is so pretty and has good surf. I brought my husband there for the first time. Even tho he grew up mostly in Maine, he didn't go to the beach! He went to the "shore".
Kathy

Jess said...

Thanks so much for linking to Favorite Things Friday!