Happy Birthday, Sharon!

Happy Birthday, Sharon!!!  Here is an old Queen Anne wooden doll for you.

Renwal Doll House Furniture (February Program)

Renwal Doll House Furniture 

The Renwal Manufacturing Company was started in about 1939 by Mr. Irving Lawner (the name “Renwal” is Lawner spelled backwards) in New York.    The company produced toys from1945-1958 and then went on producing other products until 1976.  When toy production ceased the molds for the furniture were sold.  Other companies produced the furniture including “Empire Company” and companies in Hong Kong.  One must be careful when buying the furniture.  The original mold markings may still be on later pieces, but the quality was not up to Renwal standards.  The doll house furniture could be bought in stores such as Woolworth, Grant, and dime stores.  The furniture was sold in boxed sets (Jolly Twins) and as individual boxed pieces. The pieces were also used as advertising products for other companies.  The furniture was made on the 1 ½” scale.   There were various room settings, a hospital nursery, school, doctor’s office, animal hospital, etc.  Identifying markings varied over the years.  Early furniture was marked with a letter and then the catalogue number.  B = bedroom, D = dining room, L = living room, and T = bathroom.  Later the use of the letter was discontinued. The pieces were also marked “a Renwal product pat. Pend., USA (or USA and Canada).  Made in USA”.   Early pieces of furniture came in different shades of brown and muted colors.  Later furniture came in bright colors and may have stenciled designs on them.  Many of the pieces had various moving parts.  The doll house people were produced during various years. The dolls had metal riveted joints at the shoulders, hips and knees and were made in a solid color of plastic (color of the clothes) with the skin color and facial features painted on.  There was a family with a father, mother, brother, sister, and baby.  There were also various professions including a doctor, veterinarian, nurse, mechanic and policeman.  Average prices for the different pieces vary.  On Ebay the prices can be a few dollars to $15 to $20 a piece.  Mint-in-box sets sell for potentially hundreds of dollars.   

An excellent reference for Renwal doll house furniture is the book Renwal World Finest Toys, Doll House Furniture by Charles F. Donovan. 

BAPS Cloth German Dolls

BAPS Cloth German Dolls

Where did the BAPS dolls come from?

Let’s go back to the 1940’s and meet Frau Edith von Arps.  She was born and lived near Burgkunstadt in the northern part of Bavaria – not far from Thuringia.  She founded the firm in 1946 and registered it under the name BAPS.

Frau von Arps suffered the deaths of her husband and 2 sons during WWII.  In order to support herself, she returned to a hobby that she had done in her past – doll making.  She was well traveled and educated – and a natural born businesswoman.  With the influx of U.S. military personnel near Nuremberg where she lived, her customer base was easy.  Who wouldn’t want a sweet doll souvenir to take home to kids, esp. of stories the children know?

Many people with BAPS today will tell of an older woman bringing the dolls on the Army base and selling them to Americans.  The items were also sold in the local German shops and exported to the U.S. – in 1948, dolls were sold in Harvey Stores and several department stores in the US.

As the business grew, Frau von Arps hired village women to help with sewing and selling the dolls.  These women peddled the dolls by going door to door. 

Now – for the dolls themselves –

The size averages about 4-5”.  Adult dolls are 5 ¼ inches to the scaled child 3 ½ inches.  The dolls are made on a wire upper frame which is attached to standard purchased wire legs with metal feet.  The framework is wrapped with a strip of a soft, fibrous paper material; legs and arms are then covered with felt.  The head is the last thing attached after the facial painting is completed.   Some exceptions exist that have arms that are thread wrapped rather than felt – like the English Grecon dolls. 

Facial features are hand painted.  Post war faces have more detail with faces being darker and eyes shadowed.  The later dolls have faces with stenciled features rather than hand painted. Many of the animals have embroidered eyes or sequined eyes and the entire metal foot is covered with felt. The later witch has a much more detailed face than earlier one.

The cloth covered doll head was sewn with floss cotton hair.  Fine stitches complete the seams, and then the dolls were then clothed with fanciful outfits.  A great deal of craftsmanship was given to these dolls along with props in many cases.  While some have a few moth holes or faded color, for the most part the dolls have remained in great condition considering their 50-60 year age.

Most unique to the dolls is the weighted metal feet.  In most cases, the dolls can stand on their own without a doll stand.  These metal feet are one way to identify the dolls, since there are no marks or tags, but some Grecon dolls did have metal feet too.

Click on photos to enlarge.

December Luncheon and Secret Santa Party

Our hosts Debra and Beverly provided a lovely lunch, which was followed by opening of our Secret Santa gifts.  We had a happy time together.

 Lovely decorations for the table.

 Santas for the serving table.

 Mary with fairy furniture chair from our workshop..

 Sharon, Billye, and Janet

 Debra with half (broom) doll.

 Beverly with Steiff owl.

 Barbara's gift of a Valentine Storybook doll.

 JoAnn liked her 2 dolls with ice skates.

 Jill S. admired her 3 black dolls.

 Sharon is happy with her special wooden carved bust.

 Billye likes Annalee.

 Jill Mann's handmade Santa made by Dorothy.

 Ann with her sweet bisque doll.

 Janet with her special gift.

 Mary likes her mouse (?).

 Dorothy got a special ornament.

Jill cuddling her Santa, which she said she'll display year around.

Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle to be Restored

http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/fairycastle/

November Workshop with Dorothy - Making Twig Furniture for Fairies

This summer was a very wet one and the mushrooms were absolutely great. So many colors, shapes, and sizes. There was a fairy ring in my front yard. I picked the mushrooms and made a display for the table outlined with the fairy ring. Fairy rings are known to have lived for 600 years.  Daytime is safe to get into the ring because fairies come out at night to frolic, play music, and dance in the ring. If you hear music at night in the woods, stay away because if you enter you may never come out. Remember what happened to Rip Van Winkle.  Accepting a fairy is only up to them. Fairies are alien, they do not think like humans or feel like humans. They represent  magical power humans don't understand.  to make fairy furniture, you need to gather natural material. However, they will steal manmade things from humans to make their world more comfortable.   I know fairies have stolen from me because things seem to disappear in my house.  I spent all summer gathering things in the woods. Twigs, acorns, cones,wild flowers, moss, mushrooms, vines, and any interesting materials. I used only the natural. Fairies use flowers, mushrooms, and acorn caps for hats. They are very artistic, musical, and clever. There are Flower fairies, water fairies, hill fairies, swamp fairies, low garden fairies, tree fairies, witches, trolls, leprechauns, elves, goblins, dwarfs, brownies, pixies, and mermaids.  Most fairies should be left alone by humans. 

There are many websites with instructions on making miniature twig furniture.

 The mushrooms are from a real fairy ring.

 Brownies.

 Pillows are mushroom caps.

 Debra's neat twig chair.

 Natural ingredients gathered over the summer.

 Starting a chair.

 Some of our successful finished projects.

 Mushroom table and seed pod cradle.

 Creative chair.

 Canopy (dried pansies) bed with moss cover and leaf blanket.

 Fairy throne and mushroom table.

Back of throne.

Hitty Alert!  The missing doll pictured below is approximately 6.25" tall and made of wood.  Her hair and face are painted.  She was hand carved by Janet Cordell and is Janet's personal doll, Hitty Sequoia.  She was last seen this past weekend in Dayton, Ohio.  Please contact Janet at janet_cordell@yahoo.com if you see or find Hitty Sequoia.

 

An Evening with Miss Iwate, Japanese Friendship Doll

http://bplolinenews.blogspot.com/2013/02/bpl-and-birmingham-doll-club-present.html


Here is the Birmingham Public Library article about the February reception and lecture concerning  Miss Iwate's restoration.  The Birmingham Doll Club of Alabama is a sponsor.  The expert Alan Pate was our speaker.

16" Heinrich Handwerck from the Huntsville, AL Doll Sale

She is marked only "109."  This is the original dress.  I added the hat and made the jewelry.  Click on photo to enlarge.

UFDC Convention Souvenir Dolls (Double Click to Enlarge Photos)