1930's 40's farmhouse: I wasn't around in the 30's or 40's, but the first items that came to mind for your farmhouse are: an old wire screen round fan on a stand, a space heater, an oval braided rug, rag rugs, an old toaster where the sides drop down, a Hoosier cabinet for the kitchen and a wringer washer.

Janet

30's & 40's House: I hate to admit it, but I'm a HUGE fan of The Waltons and that is just the time period and style you are looking for. If you can't catch any repeats on TV, you might see if they have a book about the show in your library. My cousins had an old farmhouse I used to go visit, and little had been done to the place since the 40's. The beds were all metal, not brass. Wood floors with floorcloths. Main heating was by woodstove in the living room and kitchen. You may want to have a piano and an old stand up radio in the living room, cause there wasn't TV. The whole house had one bathroom and there was no hot water heater. If you wanted a hot bath, you heated it on the stove (which was gas). Most farms then probably still had iceboxes, not fridges because they were so expensive. Most of the curtains were hand made. You have to have relaxing furniture on the front porch cause there was no a/c and when it got hot inside, you could relax outside.

Dale

30's & 40's House: I adore 'The Waltons'! That surprises most of the people who know me, as I'm more of the Gothpunk type, but my family comes from rural Pennsylvania and life is/was very much like that. If you watch the eps, you see that the show wasn't nearly as syrupy sweet as it's gotten a reputation for. Yes, that would be a wonderful source for a 30s farmhouse. The farmhouse we lived in when I was born (I was born in 1960, lived there until I was five) was bigger and darker (probably because of the climate), but the heat from the basement hardly ever reached the upper floor, so during exceptionally cold spells we slept in the humongous kitchen. We had both a wood stove and a gas stove, and no indoor plumbing until my mother was pregnant with me and laid the law down to my father, lol.

Molly

30's & 40's House: Phyllis Jellison's Remember When Dollhouse book mentioned recently has lots of good patterns for DIY, and Joan McElroy's Dollhouse Book also has a lovely chunky 30s look sofa pattern. Patricia King and Andrea Barham's books have directions for 30's style radios with deco speakers. Barham has some other deco accessories. Jellison and McElroy are out of print but pretty available at used stores including http://bn.com/ and http://www.amazon.com/. Shop around for the best price if your library doesn't have them. Can't remember the title, but Vivienne Boulton has a DIY book which is somewhat simplistic but includes a chapter of 30s period items, and many of her patterns can be used with better materials (wood, not card, deco bookcase) to make nice things. Several artists do Fiesta ware when you're ready for accessories, including some SS members. Barbara in S. Africa does some lovely Clarice Cliff dishware, too.

Loretta Sniarowski

30s-40s farmhouse: Remembering my grandparent's farmhouse during those years: Living room had an "overstuffed" sofa with two matching chairs in a claret-color cutwork velvet type fabric. There was a Victrola "talking machine" record player that played flat 78-rpm disks, it had to be hand-cranked. This was definitely country, there was no indoor plumbing, no electricity until after W.W.II. They used kerosene oil lamps for lighting. In the dining room there was a long table with straight chairs of the ladderback type and a hutch that held dishes. Beds were carved oak or wrought iron with patchwork quilts and one had a spread made of yo-yos (we talked about those a few weeks ago on SS).

There was a wood-burning range in the kitchen but I cannot remember much more about what was in there except a bench that held the water bucket and dipper (for family drinking water) and a bench with a basin for washing hands before meals. Besides the beds in the bedrooms there would be a "bureau" (dresser); the older ones had a wavy-distorted type of mirror, and some of the bedrooms had trunks to hold linens and clothes.

There was also what was called a "wardrobe" which was a free-standing closet for clothes. The window glass also gave a rather wavy view when you looked out through it. I think the curtains in the bedrooms were made of flowered cretonne or white cotton material.

This house was quite old at the time and my grandfather had remodeled and "modernized" it around 1925, a lot of the furniture had come down from his parents also. Much of it was homebuilt or handmade by local people of the time. Unfortunately the house burned in l952 and essentially everything was lost, including my grandparents who died in the fire, so much of this comes from rather hazy memories. It was in a lovely setting, against the rolling hills that sloped down to a creek -- wonderful for playing and wading in the summer, there was an apple orchard and horses, and an old "molasses mill" where once the neighbors had brought their cane to process into molasses, and a blacksmith shop where horses still were shod when I was very young. I have always wanted to do a house of this type and have been collecting furniture and accessories for years with it in mind.

Susan

Art Nouveau Furniture: In a pinch you can fake your own art nouveau. Decorate plain furniture ornamented with jewelry findings. Paint to meld the "ingredients" or consider them ormolu. You can order findings from JAF or prowl Goodwill/yard sales for likely bits. I just got some very nouveau large dangle earrings to disassemble and add to a commercial brass bed to glitz it up at the Goodwill for fifty cents. For ideas, see Patricia King's books; the Victorian furniture book has several nouveau designs.

Loretta Sniarowski

Art nouveau: My neighbor says that you can bend wood (and animal bones, btw) by soaking it in vinegar. I've never tried it, but if you want to duplicate the bentwood 'whiplash curves' in some Art Nouveau you might want to give it a try (test run first, of course).

Molly

Art nouveau: The Art Nouveau furniture in Patricia King's books is cheap import furniture or odds and ends (buckles, hair ornaments, pizza props) assembled into furniture that she decorates with nouveau-style findings as grillwork on glass doors, galleries on chest and tabletops, drawer pulls, etc. Then she spray paints the whole thing to meld the elements together (can also use faux finishing techniques).

Loretta Sniarowski

S-shaped Sofa: The s-shaped sofa has two names. The first is a "tête-à-tête", which literally means "head to head" in French. Colloquially, it means a frank conversation. In terms of your sofa, it means a place where two people can converse. It is pronounced tet a tet.

It is also known as a courting sofa. Ostensibly, a courting couple could converse closely and privately, but with a distinct separation between them, while a chaperone would be occupied with needlework or reading in another part of the room.

This piece of furniture originated in 18th century France, but became fashionable in Victorian times; more so in Great Britain than in the United States.

Jonathan in Israel

Medieval Loom: If the person needs one for *early* medieval (500 AD-ish), especially N. Europe, they need a warp weighted loom.

http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/hsc00b.htm

also see Barber, Ancient Textiles, p. 105, 178

Nancy

Medieval Loom: how about a 13th century horizontal loom?

http://scholar.chem.nyu.edu/~tekpages/loom.html

Tom Berkner

Anderson Shelter - named after the guy who invented it - this was built in a family's back garden to protect them from the bombs during WWII. Basically a hole in the ground, lined with brick or planks, the roof being made of corrugated iron.  On top of the roof earth was placed to give added protection. When enemy planes were flying over a siren would be sounded - the Air Raid Warning - and, those people lucky enough to have a shelter, would take their torches or candles (they should only put the torches on once inside the shelter as lights were not meant to be shown at night - hence 'the blackout' if anybody shone a light at night they would be 'told off' by a Warden whose job it was to wander about the neighborhood to ensure the blackout was observed.) ...... and go out into the garden and down into their shelter. Some were fixed up with shelves on which they stored food, candles, blankets etc., Some people kept folding beds down there, and whatever comforts were available.  For those people without such accommodation the official advice was to get underneath a strong table!!

In cities people would go down into the Underground (your Subway) Stations and shelter on the platforms......When the Air Raid was over an 'All Clear' siren would sound and people could then emerge and go about their lives until the next air raid......

Hope that isn't too muddled! It's possible that there is a British Museum Site where more information could be found, might be worth doing a Search.

Jacqui

Wall-hung lavatories: We own a 1912 Maine inn which still has two original lavatories. (It only had two baths in 1912, for 26 rooms! Of course it had white ironstone washbowls/pitchers & slop jars in the bedrooms, & plenty of help to empty them.) The others were installed as additional baths were added. The original ones have backsplashes 15" or so high. Others have the 6-8" splash like the Chrysnbon kit; and I'd guess they're approx.1915-1930 vintage. The most recent ones have no backsplash at all. (I'm guessing again that it was in the 40's that they began to lose the backsplash.)

I've see the same high backed lavatoriess in English B&B's I've stayed in, all of which were late Victorian or Edwardian.

I don't know how much earlier than 1900 they were manufactured. I have just a hunch they pre-date pedestals, at least in America. That hunch is based on something I learned while touring Galveston, TX. historic district. (I won't go into it unless you're interested.) Some I've seen are enchanting: beautifully shaped corner lavatories, tiny ones w/extravagant relief patterns on the outside .

MBS makes one w/no splash--simple, utilitarian, type. Hammer-n-Smith make at least one wonderful, deep, high-splash one (The one I mentioned I saw in Miniature Collector.) Of the major manufacturers. Only Chrysnbon, to my knowledge, makes one w/any kind of vintage charm, & I can't understand why this should be.

Do you suppose it's precisely because they've been so common that no one wants one in a dollhouse? Or maybe because the delightful old sinks have faded from memory, & all people think of now is the utilitarian, public-toilet, flat kind?

HMH

Wall-hung lavatories: We used to rent an apt. every summer at the beach. These large 4 story buildings with an apt. on each floor were built specifically to house tourists in the early 1900's. We especially loved to rent here because, #1 I was much younger and didn't mind the stairs and #2 There was an "old world" charm about the apts. Every bedroom had it's own sink. They were strictly utilitarian. There may have been other places that had ornate ones, but ours weren't. There was only one bathroom per apt., 4 bedrooms, large living room, large dining room and real large old fashioned kitchens. As the years went on most owners added a toilet in a shed at the end of each back porch. Imagine today, as spoiled as most of us are with our numerous bathrooms, to rent a beach house to share with other family groups and only having one shower and one or two toilets! But the sinks in the bedrooms made it easier...and actually fun.

Now that I think of it I would enjoy making a miniature of one of those apt. houses. I'd have to find a hodge podge of worn furniture from the late 1800's to the early 1950's

Kathy Henry (South Florida)

Chairs for Colonials: You will be thrilled to know that ordinary colonial people didn't have a house full of chairs. The head of the household might have a chair at meals, but the rest of the family either stood or sat at benches. The lady of the house most likely never got to sit down at all. The table they ate on was used for many other things beside meals and was probably shoved up against a wall most of the time. If you have benches, you have all you need.

Linda Peterson in TN

Elizabethan Costuming: I found this link while surfing the web today. Looks like a great resource for anyone doing anything in the Elizabethan Period. http://www.dnaco.net/~aleed/corsets/general.html

Cindy in Dunmore, PA

Victorian Printables: I checked out the site for the 1900 House http://www.pbs.org/wnet/1900house/resources/index.html, and while there, clicked on Ginger's Old Time Graphics Emporium. There are tons of wonderful Victorian things to print, such as pictures, tiles and wallpapers. I am not certain about using any of these items for resale houses, but certainly lovely to use on the one I am doing for my niece.

Mary Barry

Bordellos: Just catching up on a bunch of unread digests and all this bordello talk reminded me of one of my "dream projects." I would dearly love to re-create the Bird Cage Theater that is in Tombstone, AZ. I've been there many times.

It is a fascinating bit of history but sadly in need of restoration. I'd love to make a mini of it to save some of the details (for instance, at this point in time you can still see what the wallpapers might have looked like, but I fear that will not be the case for long).

The Bird Cage was a combination saloon, gambling house, and bordello. The New York Times referred to the Bird Cage in 1882 as, "the Roughest, Bawdiest, and most Wicked night spot between Basin Street and the Barbary Coast." For nine years it never closed its doors, operating 24 hours a day.

There are 14 cages or "cribs" suspended from the ceiling, which is where the "ladies" would work.

You may all know about this place because Wyatt Earp, "Doc" Holliday, Curley Bill, and a host of other figures from the Old West spent a great deal of time there. The song sung by Lillian Russell "She's Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage", was written there and was about the girls in their cages.

Last time I visited Tombstone they had opened six rooms below the theater, which previously had been closed to the public. They had been closed off for 105 years, and are in their original condition. This lower level was also where they played "high roller" poker, where the minimum stake was $1000. It is said that the game was played around the clock for over 8 yrs.

The movie "Tombstone" did a fairly accurate job in portraying the Bird Cage, so if some of you have seen it you know what place I'm talking about.

Tori

Bordellos: One reason I know a little about bordellos, besides from the movies, is that my father has worked at the Brown Palace Hotel here in Denver, for 43 years. Across the street from the hotel is The Navarre. They restored it to the original condition on the outside and made it into offices.

It was built in 1880, twelve years before the hotel was built. There was tunnel leading from the hotel to the Navarre, under the street, so the "important" VIPs wouldn't be seen going into the bordello across the street.

Some say at the hotel that the tunnel doesn't exist, but, my father had known someone who was there when they were building the hotel. They just walled up the tunnel and have said that its a tunnel that just leads up to a brick wall. There are also tracks that were for an ore car, now they just go under the brick wall.

The one I had planned on making would be in a two-story building. The bottom is going to be the sheriff's office, with the sheriff asleep at his desk and a cowboy in one of the jail cells, sleeping. Upstairs, the bordello is going to have red flocked wallpaper in a fancy parlor with a nice fireplace

I have a small copy of one of those old fashioned photos where you dress up, it's in an old saloon. My sister is dressed as the Madam with a shotgun and the rest of us are saloon girls. My father was a "customer." The picture is going to be framed and put above the fireplace. I have a couple male dolls who will be customers, one will be outside, coming up the stairs.

I also have a small sign to go at the bottom of the stairs, "BEWARE OF PICKPOCKETS AND LOOSE WOMEN."

I just haven't figured out a name yet. I was thinking of "The Denver County Quilting Bee Society"or "The Adams County Quilting Bee Society."

Sherrydon

Lighthouse Interiors:  Several people have gotten the RGT lighthouse and wondered what was inside.  This is what I personally know from having been in several - nothing much!  There are LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of stairs!!! I don't know whether it was the LOOOOng set of shallow tairs going to and from the lighthouse or the long sets of stairs inside but after going to the one at  Point Reyes in California as a teenager (so no excuse about  muscles) I couldn't walk for a week!

Seriously though, the lighthouses are all very different from each other depending on their use.  For example, the Colchester lighthouse from the shoals of Lake Champaign was carted off to the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne Vermont and is a wonderful wealth of information about a lighthouse that was lived in...in fact the last lighthouse keeper raised 8 kids there (although I think they were sleeping on top of each other).  The museum has turned it into a museum in its own right, set on the big red rocks that abound in this area.  I will say though that the lighthouse part is on top of and integrated into the structure and not a separate building.

      There were also lighthouses that had emergency quarters for keepers who might get stranded during a storm with a kitchen, sleeping quarters, etc.  That's what I had originally intended to do with mine but have found ahouse to put with it so will proceed with that idea.  There is also the Shirley Temple movie "Captain January" which has great scenes of her tapping up the stairs where Cap is going to take care of the light. Also has some interesting scenes of their living quarters- would be worth a rental to see that.  I love movie scenes for just this reason. Check with your local PBS station - I seem to remember a series on lighthouses about a year ago or so - they may have videos still available or could tell you where you could get them. Did anybody else see this series?

      As far as the small lighthouse - I would go along with another suggestion that was made which was to do a light keeper's house that would be right next to it. In a regular lighthouse nothing much is going on anyway - it's just a means of getting up and down to the light. The size you described sounds like 1/2 scale and could be really a blessing in disguise...I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to put this big monstrosity including the pile of big rocks!!! 

Ana