Hi everyone,
Today has been my best day… my neck was the least sore today… but that’s because I tried to just keep it straight… not much turning my head. I think it will all work out soon; just taking its time.
Georgina, I sat in a chair and watched your French Team score 3 points to Senegal’s 1. Congratulations! France played very well today!
Rosemary, I really didn’t think you were scolding me… I was just kidding… sorry if you felt bad. I didn’t mean for you to.
Thankfully we have super dolly moms like Linda who can step in and help me out quite often lately… I’m thrilled for her to do so!
Jeanne, if you need more pictures, here are some that aren’t dolls, but closely related…dollhouses! This is a replica of my childhood dollhouse that I got for my 6th birthday. I do not know what happened to it, but about 18 years ago, I found this one on EBay, bought it and furnished it with all the same Renwal furniture it had originally. I had the best time fixing it up! It now sits on top of my dryer in the laundry room, hence all the pipes in the background! Of course, I see it all the time while doing the laundry!😊
You can click on the pictures to enlarge them!
Here is the front. It is a Playsteel dollhouse from 1948.
This so the patio I created for the family. That barbecue grill is actually a Christmas tree ornament!
Here is the kitchen! Notice the sewing machine? It is closed up but does pop up, so Mother can sew.
The nursery.
Here is the parents bedroom. Wish the lighting were better. Some people have little lights on the ceiling so things can be easier to see. Notice the twin beds!
The bathroom is where Mother does her ironing, good grief!
Here is the living room, with a baby grand piano, no less! The difference in this one and my childhood house, was I had a dining room table and chairs, but I decided it was too crowded, so I just had the buffet instead.
What a cozy little doll house Linda! Question… does the front of the house face you, or do you turn it around so you see the insides when you are doing laundry? Just curious… :o)
Tomorrow, I have more doll dresses from Sylvia… Remember me questioning Sylvia if she had MADE 250 outfits or was she just celebrating the 250th Anniversary for America… well come back tomorrow and find out JUST HOW MANY DRESSES SHE HAS MADE! She might love to sew more than ALL of us put together… or at least get MORE accomplished than we do! I hope you won’t miss it!
See everyone tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
First of all, thank you all for your kind comments, thoughts, and prayers on the loss of Sarah, the daughter of my heart. I will pass them along to the rest of the family. I have talked to Isaac and Lily tonight, and I think the initial shock and stress have worn off somewhat. Isaac assures me that the family has decided to forgive the young man who hit and killed their mother. Yes, he will still have to face a judge (he’s been charged with involuntary manslaughter) and pay whatever penalty/jail time/etc. is determined, but the kids have decided that forgiveness is the right thing to do, and I am proud of them. I told him, that sounds like something Grandpa would have done. Apparently there had been some altercation and the kid was trying to get away from whatever the situation was. Not only that, he was from out of state, visiting his grandparents, and it was his 17th birthday. He will no doubt remember this every birthday for the rest of his life.
Today I had a lunch with some of my HS classmates (the Glacier Gals). This is the year most of us turn 80, and we decided to celebrate! I haven’t attended a reunion or “Glacier Gals” function since our 50 year reunion, in 2014, so it was fun seeing everyone again. My good friend Judy was there, too, and we have reconnected and now have each other’s email addresses! She and I hung out together quite a bit in HS.
Linda, I so enjoyed seeing the pictures of your dollhouse! I, too, had a metal dollhouse when I was growing up, and I absolutely loved playing with it. It may have been from a different company, though, as the room decor was different, and the windows were, too. (And my master bedroom had a double bed, as I recall!) But, oh how I loved playing with it!! I think mine had a roof-top patio above a garage. Of course, it was one of the things I gave away when we moved in 1960, so I haven’t seen it in all those years, but I’ve seen pictures of similar ones.
I don’t remember having an ironing board, a washer, or a sewing machine in mine. I did have a nursery, though, and a living room. I don’t remember for sure about a dining room.
Regarding cousins, Joy, I am sorry to hear of the loss of one of yours. I have lost two cousins so far, both younger than I, and sisters to each other. In that family there were three girls and one boy. In all, I had 18 cousins, and only two are older than I. Last year I saw 9 of my remaining cousins when I was visiting Michigan.
Nice update Charlotte. The loss is so shocking for you.
I am so happy that you were courageous to go out and be with some old friends. Incredible friends.
I’m so glad to hear Isaac and Lily are willing to forgive the young man. It will end up being less painful for them. Every time I hear of a situation where a young person makes a bad decision and causes a tragedy I pray for both families because there are people hurting all the way around. But I do wish people would stay out of their cars when in a bad emotional state. I had a boyfriend years ago that I had dated for a few years. One day at work I got a call from his brother that he had been killed on the way to work that morning. I was in shock. Evidently the driver had a fight with his wife that morning, grabbed his four-year-old son and hit the highway. He lost control of the car and crossed a divided highway and ran head on into my boyfriend. Neither the driver nor his son were hurt but my boyfriend was DOA at the hospital. December 20, 1978. Five days before Christmas. Forever in my memory.
My grandparents had thirteen grandchildren. Five that I know of (one being one of my sisters) have passed away. I’m not sure about my uncle’s first son because they didn’t keep in touch after my uncle and his mom divorced when he was still a baby. I am now the oldest of the remaining seven that I know about. Most did not keep in touch as adults but our families did a lot together when we were kids. I miss those days.
The high chair brought back memories — of cleaning one. I had a younger brother and 3 younger sisters, and was old enough to clean up after the youngest ones. Amazing how sticky one baby can make a high chair and how much territory the stickiness could cover. Ours was wood and varnished. When my nephew was born, his mother asked for it, painted it, antiqued it, and turned it into a showpiece.
That’s a wonderful doll’s house, Linda. Someday you might send in close-ups of some of the most interesting furniture, like the sewing machine.
Oh, that sticky highchair. I so remember those times from our girls. After our doggie crossed the rainbow bridge, I couldn’t believe the mess underneath that highchair. Apparently, little Snookie had been doing the cleanup, and I hadn’t noticed. Memories. 🙂
Yes, we certainly did not even think about taking the chair outside and hosing it off. That would have been a great solution. Or how about just putting the whole chair right into the shower 🚿 😂 Nope, I used wash clothes and wiped it down and the floors. We had niiiiice plastic floors.
I had a plastic removable tray that sort of fit in my kitchen sink.
Ah memories. We had a removable tray too and that was a blessing. I also had a mat underneath the chair that I could take outside and shake and then wipe it off. My son and daughter-in-law never had a highchair for the grandkids. At first they had no room for one so we bought them one that would strap to a regular chair. They decided that was too much trouble so she fed the kids on her lap until they were older and then she bought them a wonderful kid-size picnic table that sat in the living room for years. Great for eating, arts and crafts, etc. They were about to get rid of it when Azure was born so it had a few more years of use but has now been retired.
Sean and Dionne had a Cavalier King Charles vacuum cleaner. At least that’s what she sounded like when she was cleaning up something that had spilled on the floor. One day Jaiden knocked over a bowl of dry Cheerios. I heard this horrible noise and realized it was the dog “vacuuming” up the Cheerios. Creepy!
Jeanne, in answer to your question, I keep the front of the dollhouse like it is, and turn it around when I dust it. (yes, I do, occasionally!)
Marilyn beat me this morning, but then Charlotte always does! Actually, I’m not in a race with anyone, I just get here while having my breakfast.
Charlotte, you probably had a Marx dollhouse, which was very popular and made after mine was, since you are a bit younger than I am. I belong to a Facebook dollhouse blog, and they show many different houses, which is how I learned about them. I also have a book about various dollhouses and another about Renwal furniture, which is what I have, and learned a lot about that way. It was a lot of fun furnishing my dollhouse from EBay, and I am so glad I was able to get it done before prices went up considerably, much like dolls and doll clothes have, if you are trying to collect the earlier things.
Marilyn, I will have to show how the sewing machine opens up sometime. What I liked about Renwal dollhouse furniture, was how realistic it was, drawers open, vanities had real mirrors, the toilet had a real crank, the lid and toilet seat open, the baby bassinet opens, the ironing board folds up, even the refrigerator door opens and has removable shelves. And the record player in kitchen, which is hard to see opens and you see a record playing! Also the Playsteel dollhouse was a bit larger in scale, so required larger furniture, which Renwal was. Most Marx dollhouses had smaller, less detailed furniture.
That high chair is a bit larger in scale than it should be, and I don’t know why, maybe to be able to put a Renwal baby in it. We also had a wooden high chair, with some sort of decal on the back of the seat, so common back in the 40’s and 50’s. To me, today’s high chairs look like camping equipment!
Thank you both for the compliments, and especially to Jeanne for showing it!
Linda, thank you for sharing your photos. YOu are a great photographer, really! You are so lucky to have this adorable doll house!
Thank you, Rosemary!
Oh! the baby grand piano, so great, and the grandfather clock always important, and the silver punch bowl, all ready and waiting to serve the punch how adorable. A very happy family lives here!!
I love doll houses. So nice that you could recreate that part of your childhood. My dad made the ones for me and my sisters. The first was a Colonial style two story. Our basement flooded during a hurricane, Hazel I think, and the house was ruined. He built another one for my younger sisters, since Beth and I had outgrown dollhouses (that was during my first childhood). The new one was a contemporary ranch style and was built in a kind of u-shape with a sort of courtyard in the front which he landscaped. I really liked that dollhouse. Mostly I would like to design and make my perfect dollhouse but so far that is a dream that is not even close to fruition.
I will be gone most of the day, just saying I love the doll house and also to hear from you, Jeanne, that your neck is some what better today, so is mine. I hope George is better as well. I will read all of the blog when I get back late this afternoon. Have a good day, everyone.
Thank you, Sissy!
Loved seeing Linda’s great dollhouse. So many of the Renwal were what I too played with as a child. Love Renwal. I had to laugh seeing Mrs. Renwal out in the yard with the laundry. So authentic for the time. Thanks for the great memories Linda and Jeanne.
Off to the shower and will be heading to the other house soon for the great tree cutting.
Glad that Jeanne is feeling better, but hope that she doesn’t forget and turns her head. Not fun.
Thanks Joy! Nice to hear that you also had a dollhouse with Renwal furniture! Oh yes, clothes on the line, a staple in those days!
I just lost my reply to Joy, I think! At least I can’t find it! I mentioned that I was happy that you also had Renwal furniture, and yes, the clothesline was a staple in those days! Also, how about Mr. Renwal barbecuing in a suit?🤣
yes, Mr Renwal, he was quite the man, coming home from his CPA job and cooking up dinner. Mrs, Renwal does look exhausted, a newborn in the carriage and a one year old on the swing! — or perhaps the small adult on the left side is the visiting neighbor. Both of those ladies have been going non stop all day 😂
Good morning Jeanne, I am so relieved you are not vexed with me. Funny how typing comments can be misinterpreted, especially when we are being silly, it can also be kind of hurtful. I have a sensitive heart. I hope your neck is improving slowly. Does heat or ice help? Well, you are doing the right thing, taking it cautiously. I hope George is managing well too. Both of you are always on my mind.
Linda, thank you for sharing this amazing “Playsteel” doll house. I am from the 50’s and we did not live in the US until the 60’s, I was about 9.
I do not remember too many toys. I have a photo my daddy took of me, when we lived in a very tall house in Paris, France. I am in my bedroom with a wooden doll house? no furniture. I should find it. I was the only child that loved dolls.
My sisters? Hmmm, Dolley, my oldest sister loved books and reading. Joyce? I should ask her. I think she had a doll.
This doll house is beautiful I love the furniture. You found some very good pieces. It is really in fantastic condition.
Yesterday afternoon, with a kitty on my lap, I looked at a webpage from daily art magazine. I am sure most of you have heard of Pieter Bruegel. He made this painting of children playing. It is dated 1560!! This article studies each section of the painting and the author attempts to explain the various games.
https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/pieter-bruegels-childrens-games/
Usually the authors of these pieces are from other countries. Sometimes their English is not perfect, but I love what they can share. I should find some different or other analysis of this painting. I do like this webpage and receive email from them, but not daily.
Thank you Linda, for sharing your doll house!
Charlotte and Joy, I am praying for you and your families.
Please take good care of yourself and your loved ones. You have so many thoughts, and memories and at this moment all of your days are heavy.
I am praying for both of you, for courage.
Love to all of you. Today is a lot of house selling chores at the old place.
Thank you, Rosemary! How wonderful that you did have a dollhouse that you remember, and from Paris, France, no less! I also have a wooden dollhouse that is in my doll room, and the two dollhouses kept me very busy for awhile decorating and buying furniture for them.
Although I have 3 sisters, I was the one who loved dolls and dollhouses! We each had a dollhouse and had them on ourping pong table, which was divided into 4 “lots”. My youngest sister had a barn, and she sold veggies to us! We spent many a day playing happily in the basement!
excellent memory Linda.
My little brother has the two ping pong tables in his room and my father set up a trainset. I believe it is HO scale. My brother and I would play for hours.
With dolls, My oldest sister had her own room but we never played in her room! Joyce and I shared a room and we made every effort to accommodate the Barbie dream house I got one year for my birthday (we were not huge Barbie fans though) I do not believe I ever had a doll house when we moved to the US. I had shelves in my bedroom (a room divider) that I often made into a sort of doll house for my smaller dolls.
Those memories are just the best. I love remembering 🥰
Oh, Linda, I had that exact same doll house… and most of the furniture! So fun to go down memory lane with you! I remember buying individual pieces at Woolworths Dime Store. Loved the intricacies of each piece. But once I had everything where it was supposed to go, I didn’t know what else to do with it. I guess I have the same approach to home decorating now. Lift it up, dust under it, put it back down. My dear DIL chuckles at me. My uncle had wired the house so that the rooms had light… but I was always forgetting to turn them off when I was done playing. Then the battery wore out and I would haul it next door and leave it on my uncles door step! I did hear he got tired of replacing the taped on big battery!
Several years ago, I did a “downsizing” of mine and my kids old toys. Took photos of everything and then sold some stuff and gave the rest to a thrift store. Made a Shutterfly book of memories for each of us. I did keep the fantastic sewing machine for the AG mini dolls.
Hope this posts…. I’ve had trouble for the last few months and gave up. But this struck close to the heart!
Linda again… Yay! It posted!
Jeanne, you and hubby are in my thoughts and prayers.
Fun to read all the chatter from the Sofa Sisters daily lives.
Oh, Linda, what fun we would have had playing together with our “twin” dollhouses! Once I had things where I wanted them to go, I would change them again and again, to see what I liked best! And then, things got knocked down while trying to to fix the rooms! It took forever to get things right but I loved doing that. Still do!
Yes, I too got my furniture from the dime store. Do you remember the ones that had pictures painted on them? I had those too! I thought it strange that the kitchen table had a cat licking milk out of the bowl on the top, while the dining room had Cinderella and the Prince dancing!
I’m happy that these pictures gave you som fun memories!
I’m glad your neck is feeling less sore, Jeanne. It is great to see your dollhouse, Linda. I especially like that some of the leaves have fallen off of the tree =)
Thanks, Karen! It’s always fall at my dollhouse!🤣
Hi To All The Girls, We do have so many sad things that go on in our life, it is fun to think about dolls to help with that saddness! I will try to answer your questions! I do sew all the dresses. I started 1997 when my 3 granddaughters received American Girls for Christmas. I made their dolls so many clothes, the dolls had more outfits than the girls did. I just kept sewing every evening I would go up to the sewing room and sew. My husband would come up and tell me it was time to go to bed. I was active in the Craftworkers Guild for 7 years and then I didn’t sew for about 9 years and said to myself I need to pass on the fabric in my stash on to someone else. I couldn’t !!!!! So I started sewing again. I do have 3 of the patterns from American Girls I use parts of them! but I make a lot of them up myself now! To take pictures I use my iphone! Hope you all have a great day, I am heading to the garden and plant some more zinnias !
I was just outside giving my zinnias a drink. They are still seedlings, but are coming along. They stay blooming here until fall.
Thank you Linda for sharing photos of your dollhouse! I remember the hard plastic furniture pieces and the details printed on the walls! I wish my mother had taken pictures of the dollhouse she made for my Ginny dolls! It was my favorite play-with item of my childhood.
Mom had stacked three long banana boxes and glued them together. Bananas used to come in long cardboard boxes…maybe 30 in. long by 12 in. wide (?), and there were cut-out oval handle shapes at each end of the boxes, so they could be handled when loaded with bananas. Mom used those cut-out shapes as windows for the Ginny house, and she covered the walls and added small carpet samples for rugs.
She made a chandelier from clear and pink see-thru beads, draped in swags and attached to a 3 in. circle of cardboard, and then glued the circle to the ceiling. I had saved that chandelier for a number of years after I had outgrown the Ginny house, but I don’t know what happened to it over the years. The house was furnished with the Strombecker(?) blond wood furniture for Ginny sized dolls back then, and I still have one of the beds….in headboard, footboard, and slat pieces as the glue did not keep it together over the years. Also have the couch and chair with loose tied on cushions. I still have the Vogue Ginny and Jill dolls and the clothes my mother made for them. Those little Ginny dolls may have been the start of my love of dolls!
We had a “Doll Hospital” in our town, run by a couple from their home. Their living room was the welcome/waiting room complete with a glassed-in display counter and a register, near the front door! The dining room table was where you sat while replaced or repair items were discussed and chosen. My mother took me and my Ginny’s there to have their wigs replaced and I had chosen braids!! What a fun memory from childhood!
I will need to send Jeanne the photos I took of the 40+ year old dollhouse that my Dad made for my daughters when I only had two girls then, ages 7 and 2. All of my three girls played with that dollhouse for years and my one regret was that I did not have the time or funds to really decorate the inside. Dad had painted it white inside and outside, and painted the lift-up roof in brown (a long piano hinge was used!) and had it done in time for Christmas that year, but we never finished it completely. But my daughters loved it and played with it for years, just the way it was!
So I started renovating the house once I was retired and had time on my hands! The house numbers by the front door are 2017, as that was the year I started the reno. I cut out five more windows. enlarged a couple of windows, added French doors in the living room instead of the window that was there, opened half of the stair wall, installed hardwood flooring throughout, added siding, shingles, basswood trim around all doors and windows, shutters, painted the exterior and interior and even added a narrow front porch with a herringbone brick pattern, porch posts and roof. I wish Dad could have been here still or that we could have worked on the house together to finish it. HGTV has done wonders for one’s reno imagination!!
I only finished the furnishings, cupboards, and details a year or so ago but already want to do a different couch! My youngest daughter had her hubby come look at the copper stove hood I made, and she said she wants one like that for their stove!! The house was designed for my daughters Sunshine Doll family, so the scale is more like 1 1/2 inches equals a foot.
Oh….and silly me…I couldn’t resist and ordered a new Ruby Red dress pattern thru Pixie Faire yesterday. It is the Agatha Dress by Lady Fox Boutique! Such a cute ruffle at the neckline, puffed sleeves, and waistband detail. My daughter says scrolling and shopping for Temu items is her “retail therapy”….for me it would be purchasing a new doll pattern! Or fabric! Not sure when I’ll get to this new pattern since I am working on two small acrylic paintings for family Birthday gifts and need to start on the two baby quilts I now have the supplies for. Great-grandson is due the 3rd week of July and a new Great-granddaughter is due at the end of Sept!
Elizabeth, we would love to see your dollhouse! It sounds so lovingly made, and sounds like you had a lot of fun decorating it!
You sound like a very busy lady!
Your dollhouse renovation sounds wonderful. I would love to see pictures. And congrats on your two new great-grandchildren. One of each. How nice.
How fun to see your dollhouse again, Linda. My grandfather made my mom a dollhouse and my grandmother made the curtains and crocheted rugs that went in it. We still have it all and both my daughter and I played with it as well. My mom also had Renwal furniture and all of that still exists also.
I’ll now see what pieces you both have in common. The little baby and the lady in red, red and cream stool in the kitchen. Her fridge is white and the sink and stove are as well, but the counter cabinet is blue and white.
Same twin beds for the bedroom as well and floor and dresser lamps and side table. Her chair is blue instead. Identical bathroom – tub, toilet, sink, and hamper. Her scale is red.
Living room- Same red couch. radio, buffet, cream tuffed chairm lamps. Her fireplace had some brown with the cream and the mantel clock is red. She also has the baby grand piano as she took lessons and played for many years.
She also has little real brass candlesticks, a saucepan, and double boiler. Also a dining room and kitchen table set.
I’ll share photos whenever I can get my phone serviced.
Just saw the mirrored dressing table in the bedroom. My mom has that as well.
Thank you, Laura! I would love to see your mother’s dollhouse someday! I do have another dollhouse, a wooden one, that is a much bigger scale.
I think she and I are about the same age, and you and my daughter are the same age, or almost. I was born in 1942 and Jennifer in 1970. Your experiences are a lot like my daughter’s.
Yes, that’s right, Linda. My mom was born in September of 1942 and I know your birthday is All Saint’s Day.
I was born in 1968.
Glad to hear you neck is feeling somewhat better, Jeanne. Praying that you and George will both be feeling better. Really glad Kristoffer can help out with the yard work. I have a friend who just had hip surgery this week. He has a granddaughter who has moved in to do the cooking and a grandson who’s helping with the outside maintenance. He has four children and several grandchildren but most live elsewhere so it is good his daughter and her family live close so they can help out. Sometimes you just need help with things. I think I may have to hire my granddaughter to do some vacuuming for me. As long as it’s not something outside I think I can get her to do that.