For some time now, I've had an overwhelming desire to grab onto a small piece of my childhood and try to relive the happy memories associated with it. I came across an old photo of me standing by my beloved dollhouse and I thought ..."boy, I wish I still had that dollhouse"!!!! Of course I don't remember who my mother gave my original dollhouse to, so I kept looking on ebay to try to find one just like mine. I had to be careful because my original house had a garage and so many on ebay don't have the garage. Many from the early 1950's have a garage but with a Disney character nursery which my original house didn't have. I researched the history of the Marx dollhouse and I learned that my model was made from 1949-1951 with a garage and no Disney characters although the same house was available with a garage that included the Disney nursery. 
The following is an excerpt from the Marx dollhouse history.
A PLACE TO PARK THE CAR.... This house was first produced in 1949 along with the Disney house. It had a cute little animial motif in the nursery instead of the Disney motif. The other rooms were the same: living/dining room, kitchen, garage on the main; nursery, bathroom, master bedroom and patio on the second floor. The exterior of these earliest houses seemed to be the standard white clapboard with coloured brick style. Inside this house was pretty much identical to the Disney house, except of course for the aforementioned nursery. After 1951 however, the houses were produced with a utility or laundry room rather than a garage. Please go
here for a superior reference to the Marx dollhouses.
Sooooo I kept finding houses with the utility or laundry room instead of the garage!!!!!
I finally found a dollhouse exactly like my original and it arrived today!!! Yipee! I had to put it together which was quite a chore with all those metal tabs, but I finally managed and you can see the finished product above.
Here is the nursery with the animal motif instead of the Disney characters.
Here is garage instead of the utility/laundy room.
Here is the kitchen which is identical to my original house complete with the clock, curtains, and other things on the walls.
The living room/dining room exactly like my original house.
The identical bathroom
The master bedroom
Now all I have to do is furnish the thing! I'm going to try to furnish this house like my original even though it's kind of difficult to see each piece of furniture in my original black and white photo.
The colors and the lithographs are so clear in this dollhouse and there isn't any rust which is a problem with so many houses on ebay. Overall, I'm very excited with my recent purchase and the memories that come with it.
My mother in all of her plum finery. She recently passed away only 20 days short of her 96th birthday and I enjoy looking at all the vintage photos that I have of her. She was a sharp dresser and she always put together just the right accessories to top off her outfits. I've always loved this special photo of her.
A pretty hankie with the color violet mixed in somewhere.
Please visit Mrs. Matlock and all the other summer school participants. This is linked back to Alphabe-Thursday for the color violet.
