Antique Dollhouses: The Business Side

Organizing a dollhouse collection is no joke, considering the multitude of factors and the attitude that you must have with regard to do it. Dollhouses may be a toy to some, but to most, like in the case of dedicated collectors, they are an obsession and can fetch a hefty sum. However, this only covers dollhouses that have been made in the past – hand carved and painted by renowned craftsmen and painters – and not the plastic ones that are mass produced and are played on by children today.
   
Back in the day, dollhouses were a symbol of wealth, since they were mostly owned by children of rich families. These toys were not mass produced in Europe until the start of the Industrial Revolution, where machines were able to help out in the creation process. In the middle of the 20th century, at the time where plastic toys were introduced, the prices and the effort took in their creation were drastically downsized, however, this did not hinder their quality. The miniature pieces are also mass produced, however, these are of lower quality since these do not pay much attention to details. Ones that are handmade are a pricey commodity, but in terms of aesthetics, they are a must-have.

Organizing a Dollhouse Collection

Now that we’ve learn to determine your dollhouse’s space and scale, let us move forward on the steps to build and organize your collection. Maintaining, organizing and arranging these miniatures are no easy task if you do not have the patience, creativity, and perseverance of a collector. In this entry, we would like to share easy and practical ways to map out scenes using the items that you already acquired within your collection.

If you already have the decided on your focus at the planning process of your dollhouse collection, now creating a concise arrangement plan has to follow. Let your creativity and resourcefulness shine this time. Different dollhouse displays can showcase interesting scenes to unify every piece in your collection. Below are tips to help you through the tricky process.

Determining Your Dollhouse’s Space and Scale

In starting your own dollhouse collection, there is more than deciding the items that you would like to collect. It is a must for every collector to think of how much available space they have before determining the dollhouse scale. The scale affects how large or small the dollhouse will be and how it will fit in the room where it will be showcased for display.

 

Dollhouses differ not only in architectural styles, but also in the range or standard scales or sizes. It is vital in dollhouse collecting that you decide on particular scales because this will also be the basis of the dollhouse furniture that you will place in the interior. Before investing in a dollhouse, you should understand the different scales available and pick the scale that best fit your collection and skills.

To those who are not fully aware what is Scale in relation to dollhouses, the Scale is the ratio used to relate smaller to larger sized objects. The first scaled dollhouse was the Queen Mary's Dollhouse designed by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens.

How to Start Your Own Dollhouse Collection?

Barbie is a little girl’s best friend, and she should have a house of her own to showcase her fashionable lifestyle. However, dollhouses today are not merely child’s plaything; they are also created to complete collections and preserved in museums to depict architecture of the past centuries.

Dollhouse collections and miniatures are becoming popular these days. People who have interest in dolls are also encouraged to start collecting miniatures of all kinds to create a dream village of their own. With numerous choices of miniature collectibles, deciding to start a dollhouse collection can be a real challenge especially that a collector has to choose over a very diverse selection of materials, prices, types, models, and make.

If you are planning to start your own dollhouse collection, narrowing your choices to miniatures that interest you the most is the best way to start. With a focus, vision, and a goal, you will find it more enjoyable to build a collection that will have a good chance of gaining public interest than being kept in antique drawers.

The Benefits Doll Houses Give to Young Children

Believe it or not, toys are still a big thing in today’s generation, contrary to what most people believe. With the rise of electronic devices like smart phones, tablets, handheld gaming consoles and other digital electronics, you might probably believe that kids nowadays prefer electronics than traditional toys which will probably be a dead business in the near future. However, toy companies are still thriving despite the competition and challenges posed by the consumer electronics market. One past time includes playing with actions figures created in the image of superheroes (for the boys) and dolls like Barbie (for the girls). However, one toy that would actually catch major attention would be a doll house, whose industry is still thriving. The toy is inherently popular to girls and is a good collector’s item. A doll house may not only entertain your child for hours, but it can also teach them a lot of life lessons and interpersonal skills.

Popular Architectural Styles of Dollhouses

If dollhouses start to interest you and you wanted to build your own collection, the rush of excitement for venturing into a new experience brings about feelings that you can barely contain. Collecting these beautiful miniatures is really fun, not to mention that it is a worthwhile hobby that not only you can benefit. A dollhouse is one of those things that increases value over time, and having your own collection can be your legacy to the future.

When starting your own dollhouse collection, you should have an idea on the designs that you would like to collect. There are different architectural styles that dollhouses are made, but the classic designs are the most popular for the collectors. Whether you will collect only a particular style or you want a village of different houses in different sizes and shapes. There are designs (Colonial, Saltbox, Cape Code, Tudor, Victorian, Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Mansard, Queen Anne and Carpenter Gothic) known to experienced and avid collectors, but let us discuss only three at first that you can choose to be the first in your collection.

Dollhouse Collecting: A Fun and Meaningful Hobby

There is a vast and varied world of collectibles. People since then would be interested in accumulating almost anything to build a collection of bottle caps, figurines, and many more, including dollhouses. The collector’s world is quite organized and categorized, just like their collections that upon seeing you can identify what kind of thing have caught their fancy with.

Dollhouses are one of those popular collectibles that is truly very interesting to venture with. Dollhouses, together with dolls and other miniature artifacts are very valuable for collectors because these items have been once owned by the rich and powerful for the previous societies. If you think that dollhouses are merely the toy house of Barbie and Ken, you can ask Google to give you a bit of clarification. These miniature houses can be dated back 5000 years ago as wooden models made by Egyptians, but the recently recorded that rose into abuzz are those “baby houses” that originated in Germany in the 16th century. Collectors acquire dollhouse of different styles and sizes according to the era of their interest. Tudor dollhouses and pieces from the Victorian era are known to be the most popular among collectors.

Brief History and Significance of Dollhouses

Nowadays, many of us consider dollhouses as mere child’s play thing. However, a brief research of the origin of these miniature houses reveals a far better interesting background than one can ever imagine. Dollhouses were not conceptualized as a toy dated back centuries ago, spanning thousands of years these pretty houses significantly change in its function and appearance.