Jump to content

newbie joins ... remembering Marshall Field's wood house


Jen50

Recommended Posts

Hi, I did a search on doll house forums and found you. I am happy to find a community that values the doll house world. I think my most purely happy childhood hours were spent playing with my doll house.

I'll try to write this where it's appropriate in the forum: what sends me to find you is that my mother, bless her heart, thinking she was doing me a favor, threw out my wonderful wooden, plantation style doll house from Marshall Field's. After a career in teaching, I had gone back to graduate school and temporarily have moved to another city. Needless to say, I am devastated. I am trying to find/ locate / see pictures of a white plantation style wooden doll house, with columns, green shutters - and other terms I don't know about - Greek revival, perhaps, with the 2-story columns and triangular shape of the roof front. There were plastic windows with white tied back curtains designed on the plastic windows. The inside had 3 rooms up and 3 rooms down, all wall papered. It originated from the Chicago store of Marshall Field's. If anyone has more info or can post a picture for my memories, I'd be so grateful. I would love to replace it, but have searched on ebay and other sites in vain. I think my heart broke when she led me through the house to "admire her handiwork" and so many things were gone, including my cherished doll house. She had promised my stuff would be safe, but apparently that didn't include things I currently don't use.

As a child, I made things for it. I even made a porch light for the outside.

Thank you for any and all help. You all would understand what a doll house means.

-Jennifer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jennifer, :welcome: to the forum. There are several members who know a lot about old doll houses. Hopefully they can help. Do you have any old photos of the house?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forum, Jennifer!

You might want to try and google images for "Rich Toy dollhouses" - A few came up that kind of looked that way, especially the two story columns at the front.

I hope someone can help you more than that,

Chris

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the little family, Mary. In the event you are unable to locate the Marshall Fields house of your childhood there is the Artply Worthington kit that shows up from time to time on Ebay and there is Greenleaf's own Beaumont kit: http://shop.greenleafdollhouses.com/Search.aspx?Keyword=beaumont

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome Jennifer!

I am so sorry to hear about your dollhouse. I know the heartbreak as my Mom did something similar with my dollhouse furniture many, many years ago (I didn't have a dollhouse that went with it).

I wish you worlds of luck finding it or something similar. Someone on here is likely able to help. This is an amazing group of people.

Again, welcome. And Good Luck.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome! I understand your pain. My mother used to throw-out my precious things, too. She was not at all sentimental, so if she decided a thing was old, or had been in the house for too long, or she just didn't like it, OUT it went. I can't speak freely, even now, about the day she INSISTED on throwing-out my old Teddy Bear - I loved him dearly -AND my all-time favourite toy, my white shire horse ('Silver') He was big and beautiful and he had a wheeled stand. Countless dolls had sat on his broad back. I begged for those toys to be saved. No chance.

Late that night I crept into the hall, took Silver out of the rubbish bag, and cut off his head. I had to keep at least one part of him! I put the head under my pillow.

Wow - I've just started to cry. I remember Silver so vividly - I can visualise him right now - and I can see and feel my old, beloved Teddy Bear.

Maybe this contributed to my grown-up hoarder tendencies! These days nobody NOBODY takes my precious things and throws them away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all so much for the warm welcome. I can tell this is a wonderful group.

I'm so sorry that others have had the same experience of dearly loved objects being thrown away. I wish I had the words to ease the pain of it. Thank you for sharing your experience with me; I'm just so sorry. (I have been crying on and off since I learned it was thrown out).

With the help of this forum, I think we are narrowing in on a brand (Hall's Lifetime Toys), although I haven't nailed down for certain the exact model or year (it would have been early 1970s). (Oh, my, I just noticed my use of "nailed down" - I guess that's what I want to do with all my things right now!) It seems Hall's had a "plantation house" that had those columns and green shutters and plastic windows. I haven't found an exact picture yet; the models I've seen in pictures are not as fine on the inside as I remember the interior. But I am so glad to be on the trail. It must be Hall's or a close variation.

I've heard of a book that has some pages about Hall's toys in it, the International Dollhouses and Accessories book. It's pricey, but it might go on my wish list.

I'm eager to learn more, and to be among friends who understand the magical nature of the doll house world. Thank you for the warm welcome.

Jennifer

Edited by Jen50
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, Thank you all for the kind welcome. I am writing most of the details in the other thread about the house specifically. It is really nice to come back here and see the welcomes.

As I wrote in the other thread, I don't think it was the Hermitage because it had no side structures, and I gather the Hermitage has those two side wings. (I wrote more in the other thread). But I'm grateful for all the ideas of what to look for!

I am just so grateful for this community. You've given me the brand of the doll house (Hall's Lifetime Toys), which I thought I'd never know, as Marshall Field's is closed. Now I can be on the trail.

Thank you all for giving me hope.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome aboard Mary,

We are the cream of the crop, when it comes to miniatures and dollhouse assembly/disassembly. Just ask us. :) Just kidding. There is a vast well of knowledge here though. Holly, and the others can give you many tips and tricks on how to do just about anything! Amy's good at food creation! and the others each have their own gifts as well.

~morningstar~

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 years later...
On 1/11/2014, 12:41:33, Jen50 said:

Hi, Thank you all for the kind welcome. I am writing most of the details in the other thread about the house specifically. It is really nice to come back here and see the welcomes.

 

As I wrote in the other thread, I don't think it was the Hermitage because it had no side structures, and I gather the Hermitage has those two side wings. (I wrote more in the other thread). But I'm grateful for all the ideas of what to look for!

 

I am just so grateful for this community. You've given me the brand of the doll house (Hall's Lifetime Toys), which I thought I'd never know, as Marshall Field's is closed. Now I can be on the trail.

 

Thank you all for giving me hope.

 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mary, dear, NEVER ever post ANY personal contact information online!  Even here, because anybody can see it and spammers and webbots are constantly garnering such info (besides who knows who or what else!)  At the bottom of your post there should be an "Edit" button you can click on to remove you phone number; in the event you don't have one, I have requested one of our moderators to remove it for you.  We have an internal messaging function we use to ask for/ give personal contact info.  If you hover your cursor over the username of the person you want to contact you the drop down box will have an envelope icon at the bottom you can click on to send them a message.

I see you're in Dothan; I'm in Seminole, AL..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

I removed the email address. Lisa, you might want to try sending Jen50 a private message since she hasn't visited the forum in many years. Hover your cursor over her username and you'll see a Message link with an envelope in the menu that pops up. Click that to send her a message and she'll get an email alert about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...